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An instruction set, or instruction set architecture (ISA), describes the aspects of a computer architecture visible to a programmer, including the native datatypes, instructions, registers, addressing modes, memory architecture, interrupt and exception handling, and external I/O (if any).

An ISA is a specification of the set of all binary codes ( opcodes) which are the native form of commands implemented by a particular CPU design. The set of opcodes for a particular ISA is also known as the machine language for the ISA.

"Instruction set architecture" is sometimes used to distinguish this set of characteristics from the micro-architecture , which is the set of processor design techniques used to implement the instruction set (incliding microcode, pipelining, cache systems, and so forth). Computers with different micro-architectures can share a common instruction set. For example, the Intel Pentium and the AMD Athlon implement nearly identical versions of the x86 instruction set, but have radically different internal designs.

When designing micro-architectures, engineers use Register Transfer Language ( RTL) to define the operation of each instruction of an ISA.

An ISA can also be emulated in software by a interpreter. Due to the additional translation needed for the emulation, this is usually slower than directly running programs on the hardware implementing that ISA. It is nowadays common practice for vendors of new ISAs or micro-architectures to make software emulators avaiable to software developers before the hardware implementation is ready.

1 List of ISAs

This list is far from comprehensive as old architectures died out and new ones invented on a continual basis. There is also a plethora of commercially available microprocessors and microcontrollers implementing ISAs in all shapes and sizes. Customized ISAs are also quite common in some applications, e.g. ARC InternationalARC International plc is a company that designs computer processors. Originally Argonaut RISC Core it was a hardware design division of Argonaut Software, which designed a configurable microprocessor core for use in embedded applications. One of the first, application-specific integrated circuitFor information about the Australian regulator, see Australian Securities and Investments Commission An application-specific integrated circuit or ASIC comprises an integrated circuit (IC) with functionality customised for a particular use (equipment or p,

FPGA, and reconfigurable computingReconfigurable computing is computer processing with highly flexible computing fabrics. The principal difference when compared to using ordinary microprocessors is the ability to make substantial changes to the data path itself in addition to the control. Also see history of computing hardwareComputing hardware has been an essential component of the process of calculation and data storage since it became necessary for data to be processed and shared. The first recorded computing hardware was literally hard. The Phoenicians stored clay shapes r.

1.1 ISAs commonly implemented in hardware

Alpha AXPAXP" redirects here. AXP also is the stock symbol for American Express. The DEC Alpha also known as the Alpha AXP is a 64-bit RISC microprocessor originally developed and fabricated by Digital Equipment Corp. DEC), which used it in its own line of worksta ( DECDigital Equipment Corporation is a pioneering company in the American computer industry. They are generally referred to within the computing industry as DEC . This acronym was once officially used by DEC itself Digital Equipment Corporation#References|[1] Alpha)
ARM Acorn RISC MachineCambridge The Acorn RISC Machine (or ARM is a RISC processor architecture that is widely used in a number of applications. It is a very "pure" RISC implementation, and is considered one of the most elegant modern processors. History The ARM design was sta (Advanced RISC Machine)
IA-64 ( Itanium)
MIPS
Motorola 68k
PA-RISC ( HP Precision Architecture)
IBM POWER
PowerPC
SPARC
SuperH
System/360
Tricore (Infineon)
Transputer (STMicroelectronics)
VAX (Digital Equipment Corporation)
x86 ( IA-32, Pentium, Athlon) ( AMD64, EM64T)

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