Pyramid comes through for HHB

[Kenneth A. Reek]

Subject: Re: Pyramid comes through for HHB  (No more restraints !!)

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	In answer to some recent comments I've received:  Yes, the imple-
mentation of a machine, while not dictated by the interface, is certainly
driven by the needs of the interface.

	The discussion seems to have become somewhat moot now that Pyramid
is supporting non-aligned longword accesses.  This was accomplished,
as reported by Bob Erickson of HHB-Softron, by a change to the microcode.
The performance penalty paid is at most 5%, probably none at all.  Their
rational for making the change seems to be the marketplace -- Bob tells us
that they figured their machine would be able to run more existing software
this way.  This backs up my original argument that needless architectural
differences between machines should be eliminated because they hinder
portability.

	Hmmmm....  Microprogramming appears to be a much more flexible
method of implementation than a lot of us had previously thought....
(Myself included -- I was surprised it could be done that easily.)

	Ken Reek, Rochester Institute of Technology
	{allegra,seismo}!rochester!ritcv!kar