koopman@a.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Philip Koopman) (06/06/89)
This book announcement is posted to comp.lang.forth as a service, since many Forth enthusiasts will find the contents of interest. Anything I say about the book should be taken with a grain of salt, since I am the author. No attempt at blatant commercialism is intended. Title: Stack Computers, the new wave Author: Philip J. Koopman, Jr. US Distributor: Halsted Press: a division of John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158, USA Halsted Press ISBN 0-470-21467-8 Publisher: Ellis Horwood Ltd., Market Cross House, Cooper St., Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1EB, England Ellis Horwood ISBN 0-7458-0418-7 234 pages. 170 References. Lots of tables & illustrations. Availability: Immediate. (Last I heard, Halsted Press was getting their shipment within a week.) I have one in my hands as I write this. I'm not sure of the quantity 1 selling price, but should be in line with other hardbound computer specialty books. Summary (from inside front cover): This is the first book to explore the new breed of stack computers which was led by the introduction of the Novix NC4016 chip. With the entry of the Harris Semiconductor RTX family into the real time control market, the importance of these machines has increased dramatically. The author commences with an overview of how stacks are used in computing, and a taxonomy of hardware stack support which includes a survey of approximately 70 stack machines past and present. Detailed descriptions, including block diagrams and instruction set summaries, are given for seven new stack processors from Harris Semiconductor, Novix, Johns Hopkins University/APL, MISC, WISC Technologies, and Wright State University. Major topics covered also include architectural analysis of stack machines, software issues, application areas, and potential for future development. Chapter titles: 1. Introduction and Review 2. A Taxonomy of Hardware Stack Support 3. Multiple-stack, 0-operand Machines 4. Architecture of 16-bit systems (includes details of WISC CPU/16, MISC M17, Novix NC4016, Harris RTX 2000) 5. Architecture of 32-bit systems (includes details of FRISC 3 (SC32), RTX 32P, SF1) 6. Understanding Stack Machines (includes many simulation results) 7. Software Issues 8. Applications 9. The Future of Stack Computers A. A Survey of Computers with Hardware Stack Support B. A Glossary of Forth Primitives C. Unabridged Instruction Frequencies D. Addresses for More Information --------------------------------------------------------------------- Phil Koopman, Senior Scientist, Harris Semiconductor. Arpanet: koopman@cs.cmu.edu The above should not be taken seriously by anyone, especially Harris. --