Tuan Tran

What is CISC?
CISC stands for Complex Instruction Set Computer.
CISC are chips that are easy to program and which
make efficient use of memory.
Examples of CISC processors are:
PDP-11
Motorola 68000 family
Intel x86/Pentium CPUs

CISC HISTORY
The first PC microprocessors developed were CISC chips,
because all the instructions the processor could execute
were built into the chip.
Memory was expensive in the early days of PCs, and CISC
chips saved memory because their programming could be
fed directly into the processor.
CISC was developed to make compiler development
simpler. It shifts most of the burden of generating machine
instructions to the processor. For example, instead of
having to make a compiler write long machine instructions
to calculate a square-root, a CISC processor would have a
built-in ability to do this.
CIS PHILOSOPHY
The three decisions that led to the CISC philosophy, which
drove all computer designs until the late 1980s, and is still
in major use today are the use Microcode, build rich
instruction sets, and build high-level instruction sets.
Use Microcode: simple logic to control the data paths
between the various elements of the processor.
In a micro programmed system, the main processor has
some built-in memory (typically ROM) that contains
groups of microcode instructions which correspond with
each machine-language instruction.
Since the microcode memory can be much faster than
main memory, an instruction set can be implemented in
microcode without losing much speed over a purely hard-
wired implementation.
CIS PHILOSOPHY
Build rich instruction sets: By using a micro
programmed design, designers could build more
functionality into each instruction.
This design cut down on the total number of
instructions required to implement a program, so it
made more efficient use of a slow main memory.
Made the job for assembly-language programmer
simpler
The enhancements included string manipulation
operations, special looping constructs, and special
addressing modes for indexing through tables in
memory.
CIS PHILOSOPHY
Build high-level instruction sets : After the
programmer-friendly instruction sets were built, designers
started to build instruction sets which map directly from
high-level languages.
Because microprogram instruction sets can be written to
match the constructs of high-level languages, the compiler
does not have to be as complicated.
Allows compilers to emit fewer instructions per line of
source
CHARATERICTICS OF CISC DESIGN
Instruction sets : CISC instruction sets have some
common characteristics:
A 2-operand format, where instructions have a source and a
destination.
Register to register, register to memory, and memory to
register commands.
Multiple addressing modes for memory, including
specialized modes for indexing through arrays
Variable length instructions where the length often varies
according to the addressing mode
Instructions which require multiple clock cycles to
execute.
CHARATERICTICS OF CISC DESIGN
Hardware architectures: CISC hardware architectures have
several characteristics in common:
Complex instruction-decoding logic, driven by the need for a
single instruction to support multiple addressing modes.
A small number of general purpose registers. This is the direct
result of having instructions which can operate directly on
memory and the limited amount of chip space not dedicated to
instruction decoding, execution, and microcode storage.
Several special purpose registers. Many CISC designs set aside
special registers for the stack pointer, interrupt handling, and so
on. This can simplify the hardware design.
A "Condition code" register which is set as a side-effect of most
instructions.
CHARATERICTICS OF CISC DESIGN
CISC and the Classic Performance Equation
The equation for determining performance is the sum for all
instructions of (the number of cycles per instruction * instruction cycle
time) = execution time.
This allows you to speed up a processor in 3 different ways : use fewer
instructions for a given task, reduce the number of cycles for some
instructions, or speed up the clock (decrease the cycle time.)

CISC tries to reduce the number of instructions for a program
THE ADVANTAGES OF CISC
Microprogramming is as easy as assembly language to implement, and
much less expensive than hardwiring a control unit.
The ease of microcoding new instructions allowed designers to make
CISC machines upwardly compatible: a new computer could run the
same programs as earlier computers because the new computer would
contain a superset of the instructions of the earlier computers.
As each instruction became more capable, fewer instructions could be
used to implement a given task. This made more efficient use of the
relatively slow main memory.
Because microprogram instruction sets can be written to match the
constructs of high-level languages, the compiler does not have to be as
complicated.
THE DISADVANTAGES OF CISC
As many instructions as possible could be stored in memory with the
least possible wasted space, individual instructions could be of almost
any length this means that different instructions will take different
amounts of clock time to execute, slowing down the overall
performance of the machine.
Many specialized instructions aren't used frequently enough to justify
their existence --- approximately 20% of the available instructions are
used in a typical program.
CISC instructions typically set the condition codes as a side effect of the
instruction. Setting the condition codes take time, and programmers
have to remember to examine the condition code bits before a
subsequent instruction changes them.
QUESTIONS