To examine the advancements made in the microchip industry through the combination of Code Morphing and VLIW.   Transmeta has recently unveiled their line of Crusoe processors that combine these two techniques.  This chip mixes a software layer (Code Morphing) with hardware (VLIW engine).  Our goal is to present Transmeta’s Crusoe processor as an innovative new approach to designing a microprocessor.   It is our intention to accomplish the following:

• Trace through the early developments in both VLIW and Code Morphing 
• Compare RISC vs. CISC architectures and how it plays a role in the Crusoe chip 
• Present an overview of the architecture of the chip and how the software and hardware layers interact 
• Compare its performance against other microprocessors 
• Analyze the drawbacks of this implementation, in a section much like the one in Hennessy and Paterson Book called Pitfalls and Fallacies
• Test the readers knowledge with a quiz, and provide answers for enrichment
• Provide links and references for further reading  

 Authored by :

Hung La, Marshall Mundy, Matt Gilhool, and Carl Cabanas