"A rare look into high-performance main-stream processors exposed with clarity and elegance". —Harold Stone, NEC Research Institute

"A unique combination of a very well developed, scholarly, thorough, long-term, perspective with detailed hands-on insight into actual current industrial practices". —Tore Larsen, Princeton University and University of Tromso

"There are few books on the market which can compete with this text either in the technical depth of the presentation, or the completeness of the coverage". —Ron Hoelzeman, University of Pittsburgh

"The best and easiest way to learn how the latest superscalar microprocessors really work. Not only are the microarchitectural features well presented, but they are presented along with a historical context which shows that the new microprocessors have inherited much from the supercomputers of the 60's and 70's". —Edmund Gallizzi, Eckerd College

This work describes in detail the microarchitecture of a high-performance microprocessor, giving an integrated treatment of platform and systems issues relating to the design and implementation of microprocessor-based systems. Unique in content and approach, the accompanying interactive CD-ROM provides multiple books and a wide variety of materials:

Complete data books

Articles from journals and conference proceedings

Manuscripts of important historical interest

IEEE and Industry standards

VHDL and Verilog simulators

Numerous video and audio clips

Complete text of the book, including figures and tables

Shriver and Smith use AMD's K6 3D microprocessor as a "case study" basis for discussions on microarchitecture issues and increasingly important industry specfications and platforms on systems issues. This book is an important reference for individuals building systems using microprocessors and readers looking for significant insights into fundamental design guidelines that transcend the design, implementation, and use of a specific microprocessor. Practitioners, academics, and technical and product managers alike will benefit from this detailed overview of microprocessors, platforms, and systems for years in the future.

The main sections:

Microprocessors, Platforms, and Systems

A Microarchitecture Case Study

The K6 3D Microarchitecture

Technology Components of Platform Architecture

Platform Memory Technology

Platform Optimization Techniques and Directions

System Requirements:

All of the material on the companion CD-ROM, except for the three simulators, can be used on any system with the following:

A CD-ROM reader, a video board, and a sound card

Acrobat Reader with Search Version 3.01 or higher

All of the standard plug-ins installed including the Search, Movie, and Weblink plug-ins

Adobe Acrobat Readers with Search Version 3.01 for Windows systems and some versions of Unix are included on the companion CD-ROM. The Acrobat Reader with Search for Mac systems, as well as for the operating systems with which the Reader or the Reader with Search (strongly recommended) can be used, is available on Adobe's Web-site

UNIX users may have to install a .MOV and . (see inside front flap)