Architectural approaches for dynamic translation and reconfiguration

A microprocessor taxonomy is introduced based on whether: (1) the hardware is static or reconfigurable and (2) the code translation process is static or dynamic. The IBM DAISY and Transmeta Crusoe™ microprocessors are reviewed. These static hardware microprocessors support a dynamic translation process to execute programs originally compiled for the PowerPC and Intel® X86 microprocessors, respectively. Inspired by features from both the DAISY and Crusoe™ microprocessors, a conceptual design of a dynamically reconfigurable microprocessor is given. Driven by the results of a preliminary study, a specific approach to designing a reconfigurable microprocessor is presented. As a part of this approach, the concept of partitioning the instruction set of a microprocessor in order to support an application, instead of partitioning the functionality of the application, is developed.