JPS63273154A - Semiconductor chip - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a semiconductor chip having high data processing capability by providing an auxiliary arithmetic circuit assisting the arithmetic processing of a microprocessor while being connected to a data bus on the chip. CONSTITUTION:The auxiliary arithmetic circuit (multiplier 10) capable of computing an arithmetic operation requiring much time by a microprocessor 1 in a short time is provided on the same chip in addition to the microprocessor while being connected to a data bus 7 on the chip and the auxiliary arithmetic circuit 10 is controlled by the microprocessor 1. Thus, the data processing capability of the semiconductor chip is improved remarkably without applying almost no design change in the microprocessor 1 and since the auxiliary arithmetic circuit is designed independently of the microprocessor, the degree of freedom of design is high and the design time is reduced and the titled chip is formed inexpensively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a semiconductor chip including a microprocessor within the same chip, and particularly to its calculation method.

[Conventional technology]

Semiconductor integrated circuits that include a microprocessor on the same chip include so-called one-chip microcomputers, those that incorporate a microprocessor within a gate array, and those that incorporate a microprocessor as a library within a standard cell. These devices operate with a built-in microprocessor that controls other circuits within the same chip according to a program.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional one-chip microcomputer. In the figure, 1 is a microprocessor, 2
is ROM, 3 is RAM, and 4.5 is the first. The second boat, 6, is a timer.

Further, 7 is a data bus, 8 is an address bus, and 9 is a control line.

Next, the operation will be explained. A microprocessor 1 with a built-in chip writes data to and reads data from peripheral circuits such as a first port 4, a second port 5, and a timer 6 according to a program written in a ROM 2. For example, the data read from the first port 4 is evaluated and processed by the microprocessor 1 together with the data in the RAM 3, and then written to the second port 5.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Conventional semiconductor chips are configured as described above, and data evaluation and processing are performed only by the built-in microprocessor, so if you want to increase the data processing capacity, you need to increase the operating speed or change the microprocessor's specifications. It was necessary to change to a highly functional Moa. If you choose the latter,
There was a problem in that a large amount of development time and a large number of people were required.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to obtain a semiconductor chip with high data processing ability without fundamentally changing the microprocessor built into the semiconductor chip. .

[Means for solving problems]

The semiconductor chip according to the present invention is installed on the same chip separately from a microprocessor that has a built-in auxiliary arithmetic circuit that can perform operations that take time for the microprocessor, such as multiplication, division, and floating point operations, in a short time. The auxiliary arithmetic circuit is connected to the data bus on the chip, and the auxiliary arithmetic circuit is controlled by the microprocessor.

[Effect]

In this invention, since the configuration includes at least one auxiliary arithmetic circuit that is connected to a data bus on a chip, is controlled by a microprocessor, and assists the arithmetic processing of the microprocessor, most of the design changes of the microprocessor can be made. The data processing ability of semiconductor chips is greatly improved without any additional steps.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1st
The figure is a block diagram showing a one-chip microcomputer that is an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a microprocessor to which a data bus 7, an address bus 8, and a control line 9 are connected. These buses
The line has a first boat 4, a second boat 5, and a timer 6.
, which stores programs and constants (ROM2) and which temporarily stores data (RAM3) are connected.

Also connected to the data bus is a multiplier 10, to which a control line 11 from the microprocessor is connected.

Next, the operation will be explained.

Now, consider outputting the result of multiplication of the input data of the first boat 4 and the data of the RAM 3 to the second boat 5.

The microprocessor 1, which cannot perform multiplication, addresses the first port 4, issues a read signal, and instructs the multiplier 10 via the control line 11 to receive or receive data. Next, RAM
3 and issues a read signal to multiplier 1 in the same way.
0 to receive or receive data. Next, the multiplier 10 performs multiplication using its own arithmetic circuit. The microprocessor 1 then instructs the multiplier IO to output the calculation result through the control line 11, and issues a write signal to the second port 5. In this way, the input data of the first port 4 and the data of the RAM 3 are multiplied, and the second
is output to boat 5.

As described above, in this embodiment, a one-chip microcomputer has a configuration in which a multiplication circuit controlled by a microprocessor is connected to a data bus on the chip, which has the effect of significantly improving processing performance. . In addition, in this embodiment, the multiplication circuit is loosely coupled to the microprocessor through the data bus on the chip, so the degree of freedom in circuit design is high, and there is almost no need to change the design of the microprocessor, resulting in a low cost. This has the effect of making it possible to obtain semiconductor chips with high performance.

In the above embodiment, the operation of the multiplier 10 is controlled by the direct control line 11 from the microprocessor 1, but it is also possible to realize this by using only the address bus 8 and the control line 9. In this case, there is no need to make any changes to the microprocessor, which has the effect of making it possible to construct the system at a lower cost.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a multiplier was described as an auxiliary arithmetic circuit, but it goes without saying that this is not limited to a multiplier circuit, and it is extremely possible to connect multiple auxiliary arithmetic circuits. It is easy, and it is possible to further improve the processing capacity of the semiconductor chip.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, in a semiconductor chip having a microprocessor that controls other circuits on the same chip, at least one auxiliary arithmetic circuit that assists the arithmetic processing of the microprocessor is connected to a data bus on the chip. Since it is connected to the microprocessor, the data processing ability of the semiconductor chip can be easily improved without changing the basic settings of the microprocessor, and the auxiliary arithmetic circuit can also be designed independently from the microprocessor. Therefore, the degree of freedom in design is high, the design time can be shortened, and the structure can be constructed at low cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a semiconductor chip according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of a conventional one-chip microcomputer. 1 is microprocessor, 2 is ROM memory, 3 is RA
M memory, 4 is the first input/output port, 5 is the second input/output port, 6 is the timer circuit, 7 is the data bus, 8 is the address bus, 9 is the control line, 10 is the multiplier, 11
is the multiplier control line. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a semiconductor chip having a microprocessor that controls other circuits on the same chip, at least one auxiliary device connected to a data bus on the chip, controlled by the microprocessor, and assisting the arithmetic processing of the microprocessor. A semiconductor chip characterized by being equipped with an arithmetic circuit.