Design and implementation of circuit components of the SFQ microprocessor, CORE1

Abstract

We have designed, implemented and tested several circuit components of a prototype of the SFQ microprocessor, CORE1, CORE1 is a synchronously clocked 8 bit microprocessor based on a bit-serial architecture. We have designed its circuit components using a cell-based design approach and an automated top-down CAD environment. We have successfully obtained correct operations of all circuit components, including an instruction register, a program counter and a controller.