Ignite (formerly ShBoom and PSC 1000, stylized as IGNITE) is a two stack,

stack machine In computer science, computer engineering and programming language implementations, a stack machine is a computer processor or a virtual machine in which the primary interaction is moving short-lived temporary values to and from a push down st ...

reduced instruction set computer In computer engineering, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a complex instruction set comput ...

(RISC) microprocessor architecture. The architecture was originally developed by Russell H. Fish III and Chuck H. Moore, Nanotronics, which was later acquired by Patriot Scientific Corporation. The processor is one of the few commercially produced microprocessors that use a stack-based computing model. Target applications for this unique architecture were mainly embedded devices (due to the processor's low power use) and efficient implementation of virtual stack machines, such as the

Java virtual machine A Java virtual machine (JVM) is a virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode. The JVM is detailed by a specification that formally describes ...

or the stack machine underlying the

Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...

programming language. The product was unsuccessful in the market.

Notable features

Besides its unusual two stack-based architecture, the processor had several other valuable features: * Runs faster than the clock internally * Up to four instructions can be read on each instruction fetch, reducing memory-bandwidth requirements compared to typical 32 BIT RISC machines * This characteristic also allows looping on an instruction group (a micro-loop) without additional instruction fetches from memory * Single cycle (+ memory) sub-routine call * Implicit sub-routine return * Near Native speed Java interpretation with no JIT required, in approximately 20K bytes of code * Low power operation

References

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External links

*https://spectrum.ieee.org/25-microchips-that-shook-the-world *https://www.dnd.utwente.nl/~tim/colorforth/PTSC/IGNITE_Processor_Reference_Manual.pdf Stack machines 32-bit microprocessors