PALcode

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PALcode

In computing

Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and developing computer technology, computer hardware and computer software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology....
, on the DEC Alpha

DEC Alpha

Alpha, originally known as Alpha AXP, was a 64-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation , designed to replace the 32-bit VAX complex instruction set computer ISA and its implementations....
microprocessor

Microprocessor

A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit . The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using Binary-coded decimal arithmetic on 4-bit Word ....
, PALcode (Privileged Architecture Library code) is the name used by DEC for a set of functions in the SRM

System Reference Manual

The SRM firmware is the boot firmware written by Digital Equipment Corporation for computer systems based on the Alpha AXP microprocessor. The acronym SRM is derived from the phrase Alpha System Reference Manual, the publication detailing the Alpha AXP architecture and which specified various features of the SRM firmware....
or AlphaBIOS firmware

Firmware

Firmware is a term sometimes used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs that internally control various electronic devices. Typical examples range from end user products such as remote controls or calculators, via computer parts and devices like harddisks, keyboard s, TFT screens or memory cards, all the way to scientific instr...
, providing a hardware abstraction layer

Hardware abstraction layer

A hardware abstraction layer is an abstraction layer, implemented in software, between the physical Computer hardware of a computer and the Computer software that runs on that computer....
for system software, covering features such as cache management, translation lookaside buffer

Translation Lookaside Buffer

A Translation lookaside buffer is a Central processing unit CPU cache that is used by Memory management unit to improve the speed of virtual address translation....
(TLB) miss handling, interrupt handling and exception handling.

PALcode is Alpha machine code, running in a special mode that also allows access to internal registers specific to the particular Alpha processor implementation.

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Encyclopedia

In computing

Computing

DEC Alpha

Microprocessor

System Reference Manual

Firmware

Hardware abstraction layer

Translation Lookaside Buffer

Microcode

Microcode is a layer of lowest-level instructions involved in the implementation of machine code instructions in many computers and other processors; it resides in a special high-speed memory and translates machine instructions into sequences of detailed circuit-level operations....
and of a hardware emulator

Emulator

An emulator duplicates the functions of one system using a different system, so that the second system behaves like the first system. This focus on exact reproduction of external behavior is in contrast to some other forms of computer simulation, which can concern an abstract model of the system being simulated....
.

PALcode is operating system

Operating system

An operating system is an interface between hardware and applications; it is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited resources of the computer....
-specific; different versions of PALcode are required by OpenVMS

OpenVMS

OpenVMS , previously known as VAX-11/VMS, VAX/VMS or VMS, is the name of a high-end computer server operating system that runs on the VAX and DEC Alpha families of computers, developed by Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, Massachusetts, Massachusetts , and most recently on Hewlett-Packard systems built around the In...
, Tru64 UNIX

Tru64 UNIX

Tru64 UNIX is a 64-bit UNIX operating system for the DEC Alpha instruction set architecture , currently owned by Hewlett-Packard . Previously, Tru64 UNIX was a product of Compaq, and before that, Digital Equipment Corporation , where it was known as Digital UNIX ....
, and Windows NT

Windows NT

Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was originally designed to be a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix....
. Tru64 UNIX PALcode is also used by NetBSD

NetBSD

NetBSD is a freely redistributable, open source version of the Unix-derivative Berkeley Software Distribution computer operating system. It was the second open source BSD descendant to be formally released, after 386BSD, and continues to be actively developed....
, FreeBSD

FreeBSD

FreeBSD is a Unix-like free software operating system descended from AT&T Unix via the Berkeley Software Distribution branch through the 386BSD and Berkeley Software Distribution#4.4BSD and descendants operating systems....
, OpenBSD

OpenBSD

OpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley....
and Linux

Linux

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL license...
.