A variable instruction stream extension to the VLIW architecture

A Variable Instruction Stream processor architecture called XIMD is proposed. The XIMD structurally resembles a VLIW and shares many of the be@icial characteristics of VLIW; however, the XIMD architecture can dynamically partition its resources to support the concurrent execution of multiple instruction streams. The number of streams can vary from cycle to cyck to best suit each portion of the application. The XIMD concept and a comparison with other traditional architectures based on state machine models of control paths are presented. Several program examples further illustrate the capabilities of XIMD. A brief description of an XIMD prototype machine is included; details of this implementation are presented in another paper.

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