FPGA VAX update

[a.carlini at ntlworld.com]

Chuck Guzis wrote:
> I still wonder about the utilitiy
> of 
> the "count the 1's" instruction.  I could go on...

Apparently one of the US three-letter-agencies asked
for some modifications to (IIRC) the proposed PDP-10
instruction so that it would do whatever they wanted
a tad more quickly. counting-1s was (again, IIRC) one
of those requested additions.

According to a talk I saw on the web a few years ago now,
by one of the guys in charge of P3 (or P4), people still
ask "can I have such-and-such" an instruction!

Antonio

-- 

Antonio carlini
arcarlini at iee.org