ALU Meta-module-Based Design Methodology for Microprocessor Architecture Tools

We have been developing Meiji University Microprocessor Architecture Tools (MEIMAT). The MEIMAT can design arbitrary microprocessor instructions by using meta-instruction which can express arbitrary instruction. Moreover, since the meta-instruction can be executed in the MEIMAT, the MEIMAT simulator can execute various program of arbitrary architecture of microprocessor (MPU). However, we had to develop hardware modules of target MPU from scratch to execute program of MPU which has not implemented yet in the MEIMAT. To improve the efficiency of simulator development, we need a module design approach that is simple and quick to develop. Therefore, we propose meta-module-based design methodology. The meta-module is virtual module that generalize functions and abstract data size of similar modules of various MPUs. In this paper, we focus on the ALU module development for various MPUs. First, we design ALU meta-module carefully. ALU meta-modules create ALU submodules easily for various MPUs. ALU module is made up as a combination of ALU submodules. Finally, ALU module and ALU submodules are verified. Validity and effectiveness of our meta-module-based design methodology are demonstrated.