Micro-circuits for high energy physics

Microprogramming is an inherently elegant method for implementing many digital systems. It is a mixture of hardware and software techniques with the logic subsystems controlled by 'instructions' stored in a memory. In the past, designing microprogrammed systems was difficult, tedious, and expensive because the available components were capable of only limited number of functions. Today, however, large blocks of microprogrammed systems have been incorporated into a single IC, thus microprogramming has become a simple, practical method. (2 refs).