orthogonal instruction set

Orthogonal instruction set is a term used in computer engineering. A computer's instruction set is said to be orthogonal if any instruction can use data of any type via any addressing mode. Generally, having an orthogonal instruction set is a desirable attribute for any computer architecture.
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<architecture> An instruction set where all (or most) instructions have the same format and all registers and addressing modes can be used interchangeably - the choices of op code, register, and addressing mode are mutually independent (loosely speaking, the choices are "orthogonal"). This contrasts with some early Intel microprocessors where only certain registers could be used by certain instructions.
Examples include the PDP-11, 680x0, ARM, VAX.
(2002-06-26)