THE USE OF MULTIPLE ASSOCIATIVE MEMORIES IN PROGRAMMING THE GROWING MACHINE.

Abstract

The Growing Machine is a model of a processor with a recursively expandable instruction set, employing an associative memory (a function from name to definition) so that instructions and data, which are both stored as list structures, can be referenced symbolically. The software implementation of the Growing Machine called GAIN is described. This version gives the user the ability to easily manipulate the associative memory, create multiple associative memories and interchange them, and create a pushdown of associative memories. Optionally, a name may be bound at its occurrence to a particular definition, making it independent of the associative memory. The technique for, and the programming advantage of, dynamically changing the associative memory function in these ways during execution is examined. It is shown that the Growing Associative Interpreter is universal in the sense that it can simulate any other interpreter in its single cycle. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1968
Accession Number
AD0674199

Entities

People

  • Robert Paul Bair

Organizations

  • University of Pennsylvania

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computer Programming
  • Content Addressable Memory
  • Instruction Set Architecture
  • Instructions

Readers

  • Computer Programming and Software Development.
  • Computer Science.
  • Mathematical Modeling and Probability Theory.