microcode
microcode — 名詞
1. a set of very basic, hard-wired instructions kept inside a computer chip that te
微程式碼
寫在晶片裡的最底層指令集
a set of very basic, hard-wired instructions kept inside a computer chip that tells the chip how to carry out each step of a higher-level program.
Kenji spent two weeks rewriting the microcode for the lab's new graphics processor.
Kenji 花了兩週重寫實驗室新圖形處理器的微程式碼。
common verb: rewrite/update the microcode
A faulty patch to the microcode caused half of the office computers to freeze on Monday morning.
一個出錯的微程式碼修補檔，在週一早上讓辦公室一半的電腦都當機。
collocation: patch / update the microcode
The chip designer at Intel said that improving the microcode often boosts speed without changing any wires.
Intel 的晶片設計師表示，改善微程式碼常常可以不動電路就提升速度。
Most modern processors ship with microcode that the maker can later update to fix security holes.
大多數現代處理器出廠時都附帶微程式碼，廠商之後可以更新來修補安全漏洞。
Dahlia explained that the microcode sits between the silicon and the operating system, translating each command into tiny circuit-level steps.
Dahlia 解釋說，微程式碼就位於矽晶和作業系統之間，負責將每道指令轉換為電路層的細微步驟。
- firmware
broader — any low-level software baked into a device; microcode is one specific kind that lives inside a CPU
- microinstructions
the individual steps that together make up the microcode; near-synonym in academic writing
用法筆記
Uncountable; takes singular verb agreement and no article in generic statements (e.g. 'microcode runs below the OS', not 'a microcode'). Frequent verbs: write, patch, update, ship, run.