2 ms·
Yes, the 186 microcode is remarkably similar to that of the original 8086, except for some encoding differences. Multiply/divide is now assisted by the ALU, so
by rep_lodsb 3y ago
Yes, the 186 microcode is remarkably similar to that of the original 8086, except for some encoding differences.
Multiply/divide is now assisted by the ALU, so the microcode mainly has to set up the registers and do the check for zero divisor / overflow. There is also a final adjustment to the result, because the hardware uses a non-restoring algorithm that may underflow. And for signed division, the operands are converted to unsigned first and the result possibly negated at the end, using the F1 flag to store the sign like on the 8086.
The 286's instruction decoder and microcode ROM are entirely different: 1536 words of 35 bits, with the entry point determined by a separate PLA.
- peterfirefly 3y agoHuh. I thought they were identical except for the 286 having more hardware and more microcode for all the protected mode stuff -- and less for not having timer/interrupt controller/DMA/etc.