Software tools for microprocessor based systems

After a short review of the hardware and/or software tools for the development of single-chip, fixed instruction set microprocessor-based systems the author focuses on the software tools for designing systems based on microprogrammed bit-sliced microprocessors. Emphasis is placed on meta-microassemblers and simulation facilities at the register-transfer-level and architecture level. The author reviews available meta-microassemblers giving their most important features, advantages and disadvantages. He also makes extensions to higher-level microprogramming languages and associated systems specifically developed for bit-slices. In the area of simulation facilities the author first discusses the simulation objectives and the criteria for choosing the right simulation language. He concentrates on simulation facilities already used in bit-slices projects and discusses the gained experience, and concludes by describing the way the Signetics meta-microassembler and the ISPS simulation tool have been employed in the design of a fast microprogrammed machine, called MICE, made out to ECL bit-slices. (35 refs).