A computer for executing compiled Lisp, implementing the SECD virtual machine model. The processor and storage reclamation unit are derived using the DDD transformation system>
| SECD computer |
A computer for executing compiled Lisp, implementing the SECD virtual machine model. The processor and storage reclamation unit are derived using the DDD transformation system> |
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| purpose: | research | ||
| dates: | 1989 | ||
| students: | Robert W. Wehrmeister | ||
| engineering: | Robert W. Wehrmeister | ||
| faculty: | Steve Johnson | ||
| information: | IUCS TR290 | ||
The project pictured is a prototype computer implemented in PLD technology and executed on a 2nd-generation Logic Engine development system. The design specification comes from the SECD computer, a basic Lisp implementation from Lispkit Lisp (Henderson, Jones and Jones, Oxford PRG Technical Manual 32, 1995). The design includes a processor, garbage collector, and serial I/O interface. It was derived using the DDD transformation system and is the first computer to be realized using formal methods. Robert Wehrmeister, a staff engineer in the Computer Science Department was chiefly responsible for the project. This work, completed in 1989, was a precursor to the Schemachine project in which a computer for compiled scheme was derived. The SECD is a much simpler architecture with a very basic heap-memory system.