Alpha Architecture Reference Manual

The Alpha Architecture Reference Manual describes the Alpha AXP 64-bit RISC architecture, which was designed by Digital Equipment Corporation to provide a high-performance foundation for future computer systems.

Key features of the architecture include: - 64-bit Architecture: A full 64-bit design for registers and memory addressing. - RISC Model: A streamlined, load/store architecture with simple, fixed-length instructions. - Operating System Independence: Utilizes PALcode (Privileged Architecture Library code) to support different operating systems like OpenVMS AXP and DEC OSF/1 AXP without hardware bias. - Designed for Longevity: Built for high performance, high clock speeds, multiple-instruction issue, and multiprocessing environments.

The manual is organized into three main parts: 1. Common Architecture: Details the instruction-set, data types, register set, and programming model required for all implementations. 2. OpenVMS Alpha Software: Describes how the OpenVMS operating system relates to the Alpha architecture, including PALcode routines, memory management, and process structure. 3. DEC OSF/1 Alpha Software: Explains the relationship between the DEC OSF/1 operating system and the Alpha architecture.

It also includes appendixes covering software considerations, IEEE floating-point conformance, and instruction encodings.