4 / 18 Pipelining & Execution

Instruction Set Architecture

What is the relationship between an ISA and a microarchitecture?

A

The ISA is software; the microarchitecture is the compiler that translates it

B

They are the same thing; ISA is just the older term

C

The ISA defines the programmer-visible interface; the microarchitecture executes it

D

The microarchitecture defines which instructions exist; the ISA defines how fast they run