microcode
nounUK /ˈmaɪ.krəʊ.kəʊd/
US /ˈmaɪ.kroʊ.koʊd/
Tiny instructions inside a computer chip that tell it how to do its basic jobs.
The engineer updated the microcode so the processor could handle the new instructions.
RELATED WORDS
OTHER MEANINGS
2. A low-level program stored in a processor that translates machine instructions into hardware actions.
Microcode sits between the machine code and the chip's circuits.
3. The coded instructions written for a microcontroller in embedded systems.
He wrote microcode to make the tiny controller blink an LED.
4. A set of microinstructions that implement a single complex machine instruction.
Each multiply instruction expands into a short sequence of microcode.