Nec Corporation

Nec Electronics Corporation

Kouichiro Furuta

Masato Motomura

Taro Fujii

Takao Toi

Kenichiro Anjo

Nobuki Kajihara

Takeshi Inuo

Hirokazu Kami

Tooru Awashima

An array-type computer processor including a data path unit communicating with a state control unit obtains data of a predetermined number of cooperative partial instruction codes, and operates with temporarily holding only a predetermined number of data-obtained instruction codes comprising cooperative partial instruction codes corresponding to contexts and operation states for the data path unit and the state control unit, respectively, from an external program memory which stores data of a computer program. Every time the operations with the temporarily-held instruction codes, including the corresponding cooperative partial instruction codes, are complete, in accordance with event data entered in the state control unit, the subsequent instruction codes are data obtained as cooperative partial instruction codes respectively corresponding to contexts and operating states, so that the operation according to a computer program can be performed even if the data volume of the computer program is over the storage capacity of the data path unit and the state control unit.

Array&#x2014;type computer processor with reduced instruction storage

An array-type computer processor stops, with a plurality of computer programs held, a state control unit and a data-path unit, upon input of event data for task switching. The array-type computer processor obtains the operation state of the state control unit and the processed data of the data-path unit when stopped, and temporarily holds them for each of a plurality of the computer programs. Upon completion of this, the array-type computer processor reads the operation state and processed data of any other computer program and sets them in the state control unit and data-path unit. Upon completion of this, the array-type computer processor outputs to the state control unit the event data for starting the operation. The state control unit then starts to sequentially transfer the operation state, thereby making it possible to perform the process operations according to a plurality of computer programs in a time-sharing manner.

Array-type computer processor

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Kouichiro Furuta