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Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, July 24 2012 @ 09:33 PM EDT |
Actually, what was loaded into the computer was not a program, in the sense we
normally think of as a program. Instead, it was the actual instruction set of
the processor itself. Without this loading of the computer's instruction set,
it would not be able to run any of the other programs we would normally expect a
computer to run; hence, in a sense, it is an integral part of the computer.
Also, to perform different function(s) efficiently, these computers could have
an alternate instruction set loaded. The normal storage medium for this
instruction set, as I understand it, was an early floppy disk (8",as I
remember).
This seems to me to be tantamount to the same thing as the FPGA that started
this discussion.
Also, I believe that microprocessors have been built that operated in this same
way. Furthermore, I _know_ of specific microprocessors that operate/d through
microprogramming; while this microprogramming is hard-wired, it is very nearly
the same thing otherwise.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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