Transport triggered architecture

Structure
• Function unit
• Each function unit implements one or more operations, which
implement functionality ranging from a simple addition of integers
to a complex and arbitrary user-defined application-specific
computation. Operands for operations are transferred through
function unit ports.
• Each function unit may have an independent pipeline. In case a
function unit is fully pipelined, a new operation that takes multiple
clock cycles to finish can be started in every clock cycle. On the
other hand, a pipeline can be such that it does not always accept
new operation start requests while an old one is still executing.
• Data memory access and communication to outside of the
processor is handled by using special function units. Function units
that implement memory accessing operations and connect to a
memory module are often called load/store units

Structure
• Control unit
• Control unit is a special case of function units which
controls execution of programs. Control unit has
access to the instruction memory in order to fetch the
instructions to be executed. In order to allow the
executed programs to transfer the execution (jump) to
an arbitrary position in the executed program, control
unit provides control flow operations. A control unit
usually has an instruction pipeline, which consists of
stages for fetching, decoding and executing program
instructions

Structure
• Register files
• Register files contain
general purpose registers, which are used to
store variables in programs. Like function
units, also register files have input and output
ports. The number of read and write ports,
that is, the capability of being able to read and
write multiple registers in a same clock cycle,
can vary in each register file

Structure
• Transport buses and sockets
• Interconnect architecture consists of transport buses which are
connected to function unit ports by means of sockets. Due to
expense of connectivity, it is usual to reduce the number of
connections between units (function units and register files). A TTA
is said to be fully connected in case there is a path from each unit
output port to every unit's input ports.
• Conditional execution is implemented with the aid of guards. Each
data transport can be conditionalized by a guard, which is
connected to a register (often a 1-bit conditional register) and to a
bus. In case the value of the guarded register evaluates to false
(zero), the data transport programmed for the bus the guard is
connected to is squashed, that is, not written to its destination

Transport triggered architecture

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Transport triggered architecture