SYNCHRONIZED MICROSEQUENCER FOR A MICROPROCESSOR

A high speed, integrated circuit microprocessor includes a microinstruction sequencer for sequentially generating a plurality of N control words per period, each control word having a plurality of M bits. The microsequencer includes a storage register in the integrated circuit, having a plurality of M times N storage locations, for storing a microinstruction containing the N control words. The microsequencer also includes an N bit shift register in the integrated circuit, having N sequential outputs and a clock input with a cycle time equal to 1/N of the period, for propagating a binary bit therethrough to sequentially provide an enabling bit to each of the respective N outputs thereof. A plurality of M logic stages is also included in the integrated circuit, each stage including a plurality of two-input N AND gates. An i.sup.th one of these N AND gates in each stage has a first input connected to an i.sup.th one of the N outputs of the shift register and a second input connected to a respective one of the M control bits in a respective one of the N control words of the microinstruction stored in the storage register. In operation, by propagating a binary bit along the N bit shift register at the faster clock rate corresponding to 1/N of the period, the plurality of N of the control words can be sequentially output during the period. The circuit finds particular advantage in accelerating the rate at which control words can be sequentially output to a high speed processor from a control storage in the integrated circuit, having a relatively slower access time corresponding to the longer period.