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Guy Harris (talk | contribs) Microcode isn't utilized in contemporary desktops and laptops from Apple, as they use Apple-designed ARM processors, not Intel or AMD x86 processors. Add "laptops" while we're at it. Microcode is used only for instructions that can't be purely handled by the decode hardware in P6+ processors, so remove "also". HTTPS One More Place. |
Guy Harris (talk | contribs) →Examples: The 486, according to https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/63682, doesn't execute simple instructions directly in hardware, although those instructions decode to only one microinstruction. |
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* The [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalScientific/ Digital Scientific Corp.] Meta 4 Series 16 computer system was a user-microprogammable system first available in 1970. The microcode had a primarily vertical style with 32-bit microinstructions.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalScientific/7032MO_Meta4Series16RefMan.pdf |title=Digital Scientific Meta 4 Series 16 Computer System Reference Manual |id=7032MO |publisher=Digital Scientific Corporation |date=May 1971 |access-date=2020-01-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114014526/http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalScientific/7032MO_Meta4Series16RefMan.pdf |archive-date=2020-01-14}}</ref> The instructions were stored on replaceable program boards with a grid of bit positions. One (1) bits were represented by small metal squares that were sensed by amplifiers, zero (0) bits by the absence of the squares.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalScientific/7024MO_ROMmanual_Mar70.pdf|title=Digital Scientific Meta 4 Computer System Read-Only Memory (ROM) Reference Manual |id=7024MO |publisher=Digital Scientific Corporation |date=March 1970 |access-date=2020-01-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923061816/http://bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalScientific/7024MO_ROMmanual_Mar70.pdf |archive-date=2019-09-23}}</ref> The system could be configured with up to 4K 16-bit words of microstore. One of Digital Scientific's products was an emulator for the [[IBM 1130]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalScientific/7006MO_Meta16_SysMan_Jun70.pdf |title=The Digital Scientific Meta 4 Series 16 Computer System Preliminary System Manual |id=7006MO |publisher=Digital Scientific Corporation |date=June 1970 |access-date=2020-01-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923061755/http://bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalScientific/7006MO_Meta16_SysMan_Jun70.pdf |archive-date=2019-09-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalScientific/M4-005P-170_1130rom_Jan70.pdf |title=Digital Scientific Meta 4 Computer System Typical ROM Pattern Listing and Program To Simulate The IBM 1130 Instruction Set |id=M4/005P-170 |publisher=Digital Scientific Corporation |date=January 1970 |access-date=2020-01-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324115023/http://bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalScientific/M4-005P-170_1130rom_Jan70.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-24}}</ref>
* The [[MCP-1600]] is a [[microprocessor]] made by [[Western Digital]] from 1975 through the early 1980s. It was used to implement three different computer architectures in microcode: the [[Pascal MicroEngine]], the [[WD16]], and the [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[PDP-11#LSI-11|LSI-11]], a cost-reduced PDP-11.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.antiquetech.com/?page_id=782 |title=Western Digital 1600 |publisher=AntiqueTech |access-date=5 January 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103021205/http://www.antiquetech.com/?page_id=782 |archive-date=3 January 2017}}</ref>
* Earlier [[x86]] processors are fully microcoded
* Some [[video card]]s, [[wireless network interface controller]]s implemented patchable microcode (patch by operating system).
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