New CISC Architecture Takes on RISC

Bernard Cole, EETimes
8/5/2015 09:20 AM EDT

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz — A recent study in the ACM Transactions on Computer Systems came to the conclusion that processor instruction set architectures, whether reduced (RISC) or complex (CISC), are irrelevant to basic power and performance in today's designs, particularly in relation to either the ARM or Intel processors. However, there may be reasons to believe that a new CISC ISA, created for modern compilers without the limitations of compatibility with low level legacy code, could be more effective than either alternative.

Imsys has taken that leap of faith and is giving CISC another try. The company has begun extensive evaluation of a 3.5 square millimeter test chip with a dual core, CISC-based processor architecture with on-chip main memory for software and data. It is fabricated in 65 nanometer CMOS.

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