Microprocessors with improved power efficiency
AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorsPaul Webster, Phil Endecott
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microprocessor is arranged to process instructions at least some of which contain at least one immediate value which forms an operand of the function, wherein said immediate value is represented in a format which achieves a greater power efficiency than two's complement when said instructions are processed.
Claims9
A microprocessor arranged to process instructions at least some of which contain at least one immediate value which forms an operand of the function, said immediate value being represented in a format which achieves a greater power efficiency than two's complement when said instructions are processed;
- wherein said format is a variant sign magnitude format in which:
- (a) non-negative values (including zero) are represented by a sign bit of 0 and a binary representation of the value
- (b) negative values are represented by a sign bit of 1 and a binary representation of one less than the magnitude of the value.
A microprocessor arranged to process instructions at least some of which contain at least one immediate value which forms an operand of the function, said immediate value being represented in a format which achieves a greater power efficiency than two's complement when said instructions are processed;
- the microprocessor further comprising at least one arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) having an input arranged to receive either one of said immediate values or an alternative value from elsewhere.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.