On Tue, 6 Mar 2001, Bruce Ray wrote:
And of course the WCS - Writable Control Store -
feature of Data
General Eclipse computer starting with the S/130 system permitted
dynamic creation of your own instruction set. The microcode is
downloadable while the system is operating, so the instructions could
be changed on-the-fly. The microcode word is 56-bits long and
described in several DG documents, including a rather well written
"how to program" manual. Not a high-profile series of microprogrammed
systems, but custom microcode was invaluable in many projects.
Don't forget, the floppy diskette was invented by IBM as a medium to
distribute microcode on ;)
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org