davet@oakhill.UUCP (Dave Trissel) (11/20/85)
-------Request for M68000 family instruction usage statistics-------
To optimize future M68000 architectures we are requesting instruction usage
statistics from M68000 users and vendors. Such data can range from a simple
instruction frequency count to a complete trace tape of bus cycles with data
images.
Dynamic frequency counts can be obtained by using the trace exception and
incrementing a table based on the first 16 bits of each instruction op-word.
I have posted a Macintosh program in net.sources.mac which does exactly that
for programs running on that system. The application also builds a compressed
version of the trace table for later uploading via Binhex back to Motorola.
Some companies may be able to provide us with more comprehensive data such
as a complete trace of bus cycles and data. We urge those to contact us
directly so that we can decide on how such data can be ported to systems we
have here in Austin for analysis.
We realize that it is not a trivial effort to collect such information as
usually special programs and/or hardware must be used. However, the benefit
is that your representative mix of instructions will be used in deciding
which instruction enhancements go into future processor chips in the family.
-- Dave Trissel Motorola Semiconductor Inc., Austin, Texas
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