MICROCODE

Domain	Definition
Computing	Microcode A technique for implementing the instruction set of a processor as a sequence of microcode instructions ("microinstructions"), each of which typically consists of a (large) number of bit fields and the address of the next microinstruction to execute. Each bit field controls some specific part of the processor's operation, such as a gate which allows some functional unit to drive a value onto the bus or the operation to be performed by the ALU. Several microinstructions will usually be required to fetch, decode and execute each machine code instruction ("macroinstruction"). The microcode may also be responsible for polling for hardware interrupts between each macroinstruction. Writing microcode is known as "microprogramming". Microcode may be classified as "horizontally encoded" or "vertically encoded". Horizontal microcode is as described above where there is a fairly direct correspondence between the bit fields in a microinstruction and the control signals sent to the various parts of the CPU. Not all combinations of bits will be valid (e.g. two units driving the bus at once). Vertical microcode is closer to machine code because a bit field value may pass through some intermediate combinatory logic which generates the actual control signals. This allows a few bits of a microinstruction to determine several control signals and ensure that only valid combinations of those signals are generated (e.g. a field may be decoded to determine which unit drives the bus). The disadvantage with vertical encoding is that the encoding is usually fixed and takes extra time compared with horizontal encoding which allows any combination of signals to be generated and takes no time to decode. The alternative to a microcoded processor is a hard-wired one where the control signals are generated directly from the bits of the machine code instruction. This is more common in modern RISC architectures because it is faster. Microcode is usually stored in ROM chips though some processors (e.g. the Orion) use fast RAM, making them dynamically microprogrammable. (1996-11-26). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

"MICROCODE" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "MICROCODE" is used about 24 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	100%	24	71,196

Expressions using "MICROCODE": horizontal microcode ♦ vertical microcode. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "MICROCODE"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Chinese		微指令. (various references)

Pig Latin		icrocodemay

Russian		микропрограмма (firmware). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "MICROCODE": microcodes. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "c-c-d-e-i-m-o-o-r"
	-2 letters: comedic, cormoid, dormice, moidore, moodier.
	-3 letters: cicero, comedo, dermic, dormie, medico, moored, oroide, roomed, roomie.
	-4 letters: cerci, ceric, cider, codec, coder, comer, comic, cooed, cooer, cored, credo, cried, crime, croci, decor, dicer, dimer, domic, medic, micro, mired, moire, mooed, oorie, riced, rimed, rodeo, romeo.
	-5 letters: cedi, cero, cire, coco, code, coed, coir, come, cord.
	Words containing the letters "c-c-d-e-i-m-o-o-r"
	+1 letter: microcodes.
	+2 letters: microsecond.
	+3 letters: microseconds.
	+4 letters: nondemocratic, semiconductor.
	+5 letters: adenocarcinoma, clitoridectomy, conductometric, echocardiogram, microelectrode, monosaccharide, semiconductors, trichomonacide.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Expression	Frequency per Day
microcode	28
microcode studio	3
microcode plus studio	2
download microcode plus studio	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

MICROCODE

Specialty Definition: MICROCODE

Computing

Crosswords: MICROCODE

Usage Frequency: MICROCODE

Expressions: MICROCODE

Frequency of Internet Keywords: MICROCODE

microcode

microcode studio

microcode plus studio

download microcode plus studio

Modern Translation: MICROCODE

Chinese

Pig Latin

Russian

Derivations: MICROCODE

Derivations

Anagrams: MICROCODE

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

INDEX