Application-specific instruction set processor: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:46, 14 June 2009

Revision as of 05:27, 27 July 2009

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An '''application-specific instruction-set processor''' ('''ASIP''') is a component used in [[Systemsystem-on-a-Chipchip]] design. The [[instruction set]] of an ASIP is tailored to benefit a specific application. This specialization of the core provides a tradeoff between the flexibility of a general purpose [[Central processing unit|CPU]] and the performance of an [[ASIC]].

Some ASIPs have a configurable instruction set. Usually, these cores are divided into two parts: ''static'' logic which defines a minimum ISA and ''configurable'' logic which can be used to design new instructions. The configurable logic can be programmed either in the field in a similar fashion to an [[FPGA]] or during the chip synthesis.