PIPELINE PROCESSING APPARATUS FOR REDUCING DELAYS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF PROCESSING OPERATIONS

A decoder decodes a branch instruction. An operating section executes logical, arithmetic, and shift operations. A register file store operation result of the operating section. A program counter counting the address of the present programs. A direct-setting bus is provided to allowing the decoder to directly set an immediate value to the program counter without passing through an output bus of the operating section. And, a switch selectively connects the direct-setting bus or the output bus to the program counter.