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From: mnl@cernvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Re: Identifying an iAPX series processo
Message-ID: <290@cernvax.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 29-Mar-86 19:58:20 EST
Article-I.D.: cernvax.290
Posted: Sat Mar 29 19:58:20 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 1-Apr-86 07:20:58 EST
References: <7901@watrose.UUCP> <53500027@trsvax>
Reply-To: mnl@cernvax.UUCP Mark Nelson
Organization: CERN, Geneva/Switzerland
Lines: 16


     One way in which you could tell the difference between an 8088
and an 8086 (and probably between an 80188 and an 80186, but I've never
seen any documentation for either chip) is to take advantage of the
instruction prefetch queue.  The 8088 has a five byte prefetch que,
the 8086 an 8 byte prefetch queue.  So if you wrote a self modifying
program that did something like replace a set carry flag instruction
six bytes ahead with a clear carry flag instruction, you could then
do a branch on carry to appropriate routines for each processor.


Mark Nelson
-- 
mnl@cernvax.bitnet or ...!seismo!mcvax!cernvax!mnl
"This function is occasionally useful as the arguement to a function
which requires a function as an arguement."  Guy Steele, Jr.