Abstract: A processor having a sliceable architecture wherein a slice is the minimum configuration of the processor datapath. The processor can instantiate multiple slices and each slice has a separate datapath. The total processor datapath is the sum of the number of slices multiplied by the width of a slice. Accordingly, all general purpose registers in the processor are as wide as the total datapath. A program executing on the processor can determine the maximum number of slices available in a particular processor by reading a register. In addition, a program can select the number of slices it will use by writing to a different register. The processor replicates control signals for each active slice in the processor and supports instructions for transferring data among the slices. Furthermore, the processor supports a set of instructions for fetching and storing data between multiple slices and the memory.

Abstract: A processor having a modified Harvard architecture having first and second memories, an address register file divided into first and second sets of registers, first and second stream registers, and a general purpose register file for performing data streaming. The first and second sets of registers respectively address the first and second memories which, in turn, load data into the first and second stream registers. An arithmetic logic unit (ALU) accepts the stream registers and general purpose registers as inputs. Stream instructions are encoded such that a single instruction specifies an ALU operation performed on selected ALU inputs and where to store the results of the ALU operation, loads new values into the stream registers, and updates the address registers. A stream instruction has three operand fields respectively specifying two operands for the next ALU operation and a location to store the result of the current ALU operation.