The authoritative book on Intel's new 80960 microprocessor family, written by the two people most responsible for the 80960. Provides hardware and software engineers with much information not covered in Intel's manuals. Addresses the how and why of the 80906 architecture, and how one can use its features to best advantage. Chapter 1 explains why the 80960 product line was designed, summarizes the processor architecture, and provides a quick tour through the internal organization of the 80960 MC. Chapters 2 to 4 discuss the core, numerics, and protected architecture levels. Chapter 5 describes the external buses of the processors and how they interact with the 82955 bus-exchange unit. Chapter 6 describes the internal organization of the processors, and gives inside information on how to make best use of their design. Chapter 7 summarizes the tools and methodology used to produce the 80960. The final chapter provides detailed discussion of the performance of the processors, and how to generate optimal programs for them.