Interpretation and Instruction Path Coprocessing

Many languages and interactive software packages on personal computers use interpretive implementation techniques. Interpretation and Instruction Path Coprocessing presents an analysis of interpretive systems, and cost-effective software and hardware optimizations of the interpretive process on CISC and RISC architectures. It groups and presents concepts that are seldom found together and elaborates on ideas that are not part of the mainstream of recent hardware developments. The authors explore the techniques used in interpretive systems on general purpose microprocessor architectures. A key contribution is their investigation of how, and to what extent, interpretive execution can be accelerated using dedicated coprocessors. They analyze the advantages and drawbacks of interpretations, present both software and hardware techniques to improve interpretation and introduce the concept of coprocessing in the instruction path as a cost-effective way of boosting the execution speed of interpreters running on microprocessors. The RISC versus CISC issue is analyzed from the viewpoint of interpretations and its hardware support. Eddy H. Debaere is currently with DISC n.v., Belgium. Jan M. Van Campenhout is Professor, Faculty of Applied Sciences, the State University of Ghent. Interpretation and Instruction Path Coprocessing is included in the Computer Systems Series, edited by Herb Schwetman.