Microprogrammed Control 1

MICROPROGRAMMED CONTROL

• Control Memory

• Sequencing Microinstructions

• Microprogram Example

• Design of Control Unit

• Microinstruction Format

• Nanostorage and Nanoprogram

Microprogrammed Control 2

Control Memory
• When control signals are generated by hardware using conventional logic
design techniques, the control unit is hardwired.
• Microprogramming is an alternative for designing the control unit.
• The control function is a binary variable and if 1, then that microoperation is
executed.
• In a bus-organized system, the control signals that specify microoperations
are group of bits that select the paths in multiplexers, decoders, and
arithmetic logic units.
• The control variables at any given time can be represented by a string of 1’s
and 0’s and is called a control word.
• A control unit whose binary control variables are stored in control memory is
a micrprogrammed control unit.

External
input
Next- Control
Control
Control Control Control
address data word
word
address memory
generator (ROM) register
(sequencer) register

Next-address information

Figure 7.1 Microprogrammed control organization

Microprogrammed Control 3 Implementation of Control Unit

COMPARISON OF CONTROL UNIT IMPLEMENTATIONS

Control Unit Implementation
Combinational Logic Circuits (Hard-wired)
Control Data
Memory IR Status F/Fs

Control Unit's State

Timing State
Combinational Control CPU
Logic Circuits Points
Ins. Cycle State

Microprogram
M Control Data
e
m
o IR Status F/Fs
r
y

C Control C
Next Address Storage C
S S D P CPU
Generation A (µ -program D
Logic s
R memory) R }
Microprogrammed Control 4

TERMINOLOGY
Microprogram
- Program stored in memory that generates all the control signals required
to execute the instruction set correctly
- Consists of microinstructions

Microinstruction
- Contains a control word and a sequencing word
Control Word - All the control information required for one clock cycle
Sequencing Word - Information needed to decide the next
microinstruction address
- Vocabulary to write a microprogram

Control Memory (Control Storage: CS)

- Storage in the microprogrammed control unit to store the microprogram

Writeable Control Memory (Writeable Control Storage:WCS)

- CS whose contents can be modified
-> Allows the microprogram can be changed
-> Instruction set can be changed or modified

Dynamic Microprogramming
- Computer system whose control unit is implemented with
a microprogram in WCS or from an auxiliary memory (as a magnetic
tape)
- Microprogram can be changed by a systems programmer or a user
Microprogrammed Control 5

TERMINOLOGY
• Each control word in control memory contains within it a microinstruction
• The microinstruction specifies one or more microoperations for the system
• A sequence of microoperations constitutes a microprogram.

Sequencer (Microprogram Sequencer)

A Microprogram Control Unit that determines the Microinstruction
Address to be executed in the next clock cycle
- In-line Sequencing
- Branch
- Conditional Branch
- Subroutine
- Loop
- Instruction OP-code mapping

Note: It should be mentioned here that most computers on reduced

instruction set computer (RISC) architecture concept use hardwired control
rather than a control memory with a microprogram.
Microprogrammed Control 6 Sequencing

MICROINSTRUCTION SEQUENCING
Instruction code

Mapping
logic

Status Branch MUX Multiplexers

bits logic select
Subroutine
register
Control address register (SBR)
(CAR)

Incrementer

Control memory (ROM)

Figure 7.2 Selection of address
select a status for control memory
bit
Microoperations
Branch address

Sequencing Capabilities Required in a Control Storage

- Incrementing of the control address register
- Unconditional and conditional branches
- A mapping process from the bits of the machine
instruction to an address for control memory
- A facility for subroutine call and return
Microprogrammed Control 7 Sequencing

CONDITIONAL BRANCH
Load address
Control address register

Increment

MUX
Control memory

...
Status bits
(condition)

Condition select Micro-operations

Next address

Conditional Branch
If Condition is true, then Branch (address from
the next address field of the current microinstruction)
else Fall Through
Conditions to Test: O(overflow), N(negative),
Z(zero), C(carry), etc.

Unconditional Branch
Fixing the value of one status bit at the input of the multiplexer to 1
Microprogrammed Control 8 Sequencing

MAPPING OF INSTRUCTIONS
Direct Mapping Address
OP-codes of Instructions 0000 ADD Routine
0001 AND Routine
ADD 0000
. 0010 LDA Routine
AND 0001 . 0011 STA Routine
LDA 0010 . 0100 BUN Routine
STA 0011
BUN 0100 Control
Storage

Mapping
10 xxxx 010
Bits Address
10 0000 010 ADD Routine

10 0001 010 AND Routine

10 0010 010 LDA Routine

10 0011 010 STA Routine

10 0100 010 BUN Routine

Microprogrammed Control 9 Sequencing

MAPPING OF INSTRUCTIONS TO MICROROUTINES

Mapping from the OP-code of an instruction to the
address of the Microinstruction which is the starting
microinstruction of its execution microprogram

Machine OP-code
Instruction 1 0 1 1 Address

Mapping bits 0 x x x x 0 0
Microinstruction Figure 7.3 Mapping from instruction
address 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 code to microinstruction address

Mapping function implemented by ROM or PLA

OP-code

Mapping memory
(ROM or PLA)

Control address register

Control Memory
Microprogrammed Control 10 Microprogram

MICROPROGRAM EXAMPLE
Figure 7.4 Computer Hardware Configuration

MUX
10 0
AR
Address Memory
10 0 2048 x 16
PC

MUX

15 0
6 0 6 0 DR
SBR CAR

Control memory Arithmetic

128 x 20 logic and
shift unit
Control unit
15 0
AC
Microprogrammed Control 11 Microprogram

MACHINE INSTRUCTION FORMAT

Machine instruction format

15 14 11 10 0
I Opcode Address

Sample machine instructions

Symbol OP-code Description
EA is the effective address
ADD 0000 AC ← AC + M[EA]
BRANCH 0001 if (AC < 0) then (PC ← EA)
STORE 0010 M[EA] ← AC
EXCHANGE 0011 AC ← M[EA], M[EA] ← AC

Microinstruction Format
3 3 3 2 2 7
F1 F2 F3 CD BR AD

F1, F2, F3: Microoperation fields

CD: Condition for branching
BR: Branch field
AD: Address field
Microprogrammed Control 12 Microprogram

MICROINSTRUCTION FIELD DESCRIPTIONS - F1,F2,F3

F1 Microoperation Symbol F2 Microoperation Symbol
000 None NOP 000 None NOP
001 AC ← AC + DR ADD 001 AC ← AC - DR SUB
010 AC ← 0 CLRAC 010 AC ← AC ∨ DR OR
011 AC ← AC + 1 INCAC 011 AC ← AC ∧ DR AND
100 AC ← DR DRTAC 100 DR ← M[AR] READ
101 AR ← DR(0-10) DRTAR 101 DR ← AC ACTDR
110 AR ← PC PCTAR 110 DR ← DR + 1 INCDR
111 M[AR] ← DR WRITE 111 DR(0-10) ← PC PCTDR

F3 Microoperation Symbol
000 None NOP
001 AC ← AC ⊕ DR XOR
010 AC ← AC’ COM
011 AC ← shl AC SHL
100 AC ← shr AC SHR
101 PC ← PC + 1 INCPC
110 PC ← AR ARTPC
111 Reserved

Table 7.1 Symbols and Binary Code for Microinstruction Fields

Microprogrammed Control 13 Microprogram

MICROINSTRUCTION FIELD DESCRIPTIONS - CD, BR

CD Condition Symbol Comments

00 Always = 1 U Unconditional branch
01 DR(15) I Indirect address bit
10 AC(15) S Sign bit of AC
11 AC = 0 Z Zero value in AC

BR Symbol Function
00 JMP CAR ← AD if condition = 1
CAR ← CAR + 1 if condition = 0
01 CALL CAR ← AD, SBR ← CAR + 1 if condition = 1
CAR ← CAR + 1 if condition = 0
10 RET CAR ← SBR (Return from subroutine)
11 MAP CAR(2-5) ← DR(11-14), CAR(0,1,6) ← 0

Table 7.1 Symbols and Binary Code for Microinstruction Fields Continued …
Microprogrammed Control 14 Microprogram

SYMBOLIC MICROINSTRUCTIONS
• Symbols are used in microinstructions as in assembly language
• A symbolic microprogram can be translated into its binary equivalent
by a microprogram assembler.

Sample Format
five fields: label; micro-ops; CD; BR; AD

Label: may be empty or may specify a symbolic

address terminated with a colon

Micro-ops: consists of one, two, or three symbols

separated by commas

CD: one of {U, I, S, Z}, where U: Unconditional Branch

I: Indirect address bit
S: Sign of AC
Z: Zero value in AC

BR: one of {JMP, CALL, RET, MAP}

AD: one of {Symbolic address, NEXT, empty}

Microprogrammed Control 15 Microprogram

SYMBOLIC MICROPROGRAM - FETCH ROUTINE

During FETCH, Read an instruction from memory
and decode the instruction and update PC

Sequence of microoperations in the fetch cycle:

AR ← PC
DR ← M[AR], PC ← PC + 1
AR ← DR(0-10), CAR(2-5) ← DR(11-14), CAR(0,1,6) ← 0

Symbolic microprogram for the fetch cycle:

ORG 64
FETCH: PCTAR U JMP NEXT
READ, INCPC U JMP NEXT
DRTAR U MAP

Binary equivalents translated by an assembler

Binary
address F1 F2 F3 CD BR AD
1000000 110 000 000 00 00 1000001
1000001 000 100 101 00 00 1000010
1000010 101 000 000 00 11 0000000
Microprogrammed Control 16 Microprogram

SYMBOLIC MICROPROGRAM
• Control Storage: 128 20-bit words
• The first 64 words: Routines for the 16 machine instructions
• The last 64 words: Used for other purpose (e.g., fetch routine and other subroutines)
• Mapping: OP-code XXXX into 0XXXX00, the first address for the 16 routines are
0(0 0000 00), 4(0 0001 00), 8, 12, 16, 20, ..., 60

Partial Symbolic Microprogram

Label Microops CD BR AD
ORG 0
ADD: NOP I CALL INDRCT
READ U JMP NEXT
ADD U JMP FETCH

ORG 4
BRANCH: NOP S JMP OVER
NOP U JMP FETCH
OVER: NOP I CALL INDRCT
ARTPC U JMP FETCH

ORG 8
STORE: NOP I CALL INDRCT
ACTDR U JMP NEXT
WRITE U JMP FETCH

ORG 12
EXCHANGE: NOP I CALL INDRCT
READ U JMP NEXT
ACTDR, DRTAC U JMP NEXT
WRITE U JMP FETCH

ORG 64
FETCH: PCTAR U JMP NEXT
READ, INCPC U JMP NEXT
DRTAR U MAP
INDRCT: READ U JMP NEXT
DRTAR U RET
Microprogrammed Control 17 Microprogram

BINARY MICROPROGRAM
Address Binary Microinstruction
Micro Routine Decimal Binary F1 F2 F3 CD BR AD
ADD 0 0000000 000 000 000 01 01 1000011
1 0000001 000 100 000 00 00 0000010
2 0000010 001 000 000 00 00 1000000
3 0000011 000 000 000 00 00 1000000

BRANCH 4 0000100 000 000 000 10 00 0000110

5 0000101 000 000 000 00 00 1000000
6 0000110 000 000 000 01 01 1000011
7 0000111 000 000 110 00 00 1000000
STORE 8 0001000 000 000 000 01 01 1000011
9 0001001 000 101 000 00 00 0001010
10 0001010 111 000 000 00 00 1000000
11 0001011 000 000 000 00 00 1000000
EXCHANGE 12 0001100 000 000 000 01 01 1000011
13 0001101 001 000 000 00 00 0001110
14 0001110 100 101 000 00 00 0001111
15 0001111 111 000 000 00 00 1000000

FETCH 64 1000000 110 000 000 00 00 1000001

65 1000001 000 100 101 00 00 1000010
66 1000010 101 000 000 00 11 0000000
INDRCT 67 1000011 000 100 000 00 00 1000100
68 1000100 101 000 000 00 10 0000000

This microprogram can be implemented using ROM

Table 7.3 Binary Microprogrm for Control Memory (Partial)
Microprogrammed Control 18 Design of Control Unit
DESIGN OF CONTROL UNIT
- DECODING ALU CONTROL INFORMATION -

microoperation fields
F1 F2 F3

3 x 8 decoder 3 x 8 decoder 3 x 8 decoder

7 6 54 3 21 0 7 6 54 3 21 0 76 54 321 0

AND
ADD AC
Arithmetic
logic and DR
DRTAC shift unit
PCTAR

DRTAR

From From
PC DR(0-10) Load
AC

Select 0 1
Multiplexers

Load Clock
AR

Figure 7.7 Decoding of microoperations fields

Microprogrammed Control 19 Design of Control Unit
MICROPROGRAM SEQUENCER
- NEXT MICROINSTRUCTION ADDRESS LOGIC -
Branch, CALL Address
External RETURN form Subroutine
(MAP)
In-Line
S1S0 Address Source
00 CAR + 1, In-Line 3 2 1 0
S1 MUX1 L
01 SBR RETURN SBR Subroutine
S0 CALL
10 CS(AD), Branch or CALL Address
11 MAP source
selection
Incrementer

Clock CAR

Figure 7.8 Microprogram

Control Storage sequencer for a control memory

MUX-1 selects an address from one of four sources and routes it into a CAR

- In-Line Sequencing → CAR + 1

- Branch, Subroutine Call → CS(AD)
- Return from Subroutine → Output of SBR
- New Machine instruction → MAP
Microprogrammed Control 20 Design of Control Unit
MICROPROGRAM SEQUENCER
- CONDITION AND BRANCH CONTROL -

1 L L(load SBR with PC)

From I MUX2 Test
CPU S T for subroutine Call
BR field Input
Z Select I0 logic S0 for next address
of CS I1
S1 selection
CD Field of CS

Input Logic
I0I1T Meaning Source of Address S1S0 L

000 In-Line CAR+1 00 0

001 JMP CS(AD) 10 0
010 In-Line CAR+1 00 0
011 CALL CS(AD) and SBR <- CAR+1 10 1
10x RET SBR 01 0
11x MAP DR(11-14) 11 0

S0 = I 0
S1 = I0I1 + I0’T
L = I0’I1T
Microprogrammed Control 21 Design of Control Unit

MICROPROGRAM SEQUENCER
External
(MAP)

L
I0 3 2 1 0
Input Load
I1 S1 MUX1 SBR
logic
T S0

1 Incrementer
I MUX2 Test
S
Z Select
Clock CAR

Control memory

Microops CD BR AD
... ...
Microprogrammed Control 22 Microinstruction Format

MICROINSTRUCTION FORMAT

Information in a Microinstruction
- Control Information
- Sequencing Information
- Constant
Information which is useful when feeding into the system

These information needs to be organized in some way for

- Efficient use of the microinstruction bits
- Fast decoding

Field Encoding

- Encoding the microinstruction bits

- Encoding slows down the execution speed
due to the decoding delay
- Encoding also reduces the flexibility due to
the decoding hardware
Microprogrammed Control 23 Microinstruction Format
HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL
MICROINSTRUCTION FORMAT
Horizontal Microinstructions
Each bit directly controls each micro-operation or each control point
Horizontal implies a long microinstruction word
Advantages: Can control a variety of components operating in parallel.
--> Advantage of efficient hardware utilization
Disadvantages: Control word bits are not fully utilized
--> CS becomes large --> Costly
Vertical Microinstructions
A microinstruction format that is not horizontal
Vertical implies a short microinstruction word
Encoded Microinstruction fields
--> Needs decoding circuits for one or two levels of decoding

One-level decoding Two-level decoding

Field A Field B
Field A Field B
2 bits 6 bits
2 bits 3 bits

2x4 6 x 64
2x4 3x8 Decoder Decoder
Decoder Decoder

Decoder and
1 of 4 1 of 8 selection logic
Microprogrammed Control 24 Control Storage Hierarchy

NANOSTORAGE AND NANOINSTRUCTION

The decoder circuits in a vertical microprogram storage organization can be
replaced by a ROM
=> Two levels of control storage
First level - Control Storage
Second level - Nano Storage

Two-level microprogram

First level
-Vertical format Microprogram
Second level
-Horizontal format Nanoprogram
- Interprets the microinstruction fields, thus converts a vertical
microinstruction format into a horizontal
nanoinstruction format.

Usually, the microprogram consists of a large number of short

microinstructions, while the nanoprogram contains fewer words with
longer nanoinstructions.
Microprogrammed Control 25 Control Storage Hierarchy

TWO-LEVEL MICROPROGRAMMING - EXAMPLE

* Microprogram: 2048 microinstructions of 200 bits each
* With 1-Level Control Storage: 2048 x 200 = 409,600 bits
* Assumption:
256 distinct microinstructions among 2048
* With 2-Level Control Storage:
Nano Storage: 256 x 200 bits to store 256 distinct nanoinstructions
Control storage: 2048 x 8 bits
To address 256 nano storage locations 8 bits are
needed
* Total 1-Level control storage: 409,600 bits
Total 2-Level control storage: 67,584 bits (256 x 200 + 2048 x 8)
Control address register

11 bits

Control memory
2048 x 8

Microinstruction (8 bits)
Nanomemory address

Nanomemory
256 x 200

Nanoinstructions (200 bits)

Microprogrammed Control 26
Microprogrammed Control 27