Microcode, which is a no-go for modern designs
Jeffrey S. Worley
technoid6502 at gmail.com
Sun Jan 6 13:03:41 CST 2019
What defines a 'modern processor'. The term is pretty slippery.
The Crusoe used microcode to emulate x86 and could therefore emulate
any processor architecture Transmeta wanted.
Crusoe was a pioneer in the low power market, the processor dynamically
clocked itself in very small steps depending on need. This is a
familiar feature now but was pretty revolutionary for the time.
Interestingly, Linux Torvalds was in on the design and was on the board
of Transmeta. A fair number were sold to Sony for their VIAO series of
notebooks.
Does Crusoe qualify as a 'modern' processor? In my book yes, but I
have a very old book.. :0
best,
Jeff
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