CS61C Summer 2015 Project 3-1: ALU and Regfile

TA: Rebecca Herman

Due Sunday, July 26th, 2015 @ 11:59 PM

IMPORTANT INFO - PLEASE READ

This project is very long, but don't fret! Many things are spelled out in incredible detail, so if you just take things one-by-one, it won't be as bad as it looks.


Updates | Overview | Deliverables | ISA | Logisim | Testing | Submission

Updates and Clarifications


Updates | Overview | Deliverables | ISA | Logisim | Testing | Submission

Overview

In this project you will be using Logisim to implement a simple 32-bit two-cycle processor. Throughout the implementation of this project, we'll be making design choices that make it compatible with machine code outputs from MARS and your Project 2! However, there are some key differences between the processor we studied in class and the processor you will be designing for this project, so you will have to be careful to make sure that MIPS as it is usually written will operate properly on your processor.

IMPORTANT: Due to the limitations of Logisim, our memory addess will be 24 bits, unlike the normal 32 bit memory address in MIPS. This necessarily reduces the total number of addresses available by a factor of 2^8. In order to maintain as much memory as possible, memory addresses will represent 32-bit words instead of 8-bit bytes. This means that the memory modules are word-addressed instead of byte-addressed. However, note that your instructions will be written assuming the machine operates with byte-addressing, just like normal MIPS code. Make sure you keep this in mind when executing jumps and memory accesses.

In Part I of the project, you will implement the Regfile and ALU.

Updates | Overview | Deliverables | ISA | Logisim | Testing | Submission

Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)

The instructions you will implement are listed below. In all of the instructions you recognize from MIPS, the instruction format, opcode, funct, and register numbers should be taken directly from your greensheet. Just as we discussed in class, our processor will pull out a 32-bit value from instruction memory and determine the meaning of that instruction by looking at the opcode (the top 6 bits, which are bits 31-26). If the instruction is an R-type (i.e. opcode == 0), then you must also look at the funct field.

Notice how we do not use all the instructions in MIPS. Your project only has to work on these specified instructions, most of which you should have seen. There are two new instructions as well, which are explained below the table! We have taken out sb to simplify your memory file.

Instruction Format
Add add $rd, $rs, $rt
Add Unsigned addu $rd, $rs, $rt
Sub sub $rd, $rs, $rt
Sub Unsigned subu $rd, $rs, $rt
And and $rd, $rs, $rt
Or or $rd, $rs, $rt
Set Less Than slt $rd, $rs, $rt
Set Less Than Unsigned sltu $rd, $rs, $rt
Jump Register jr $rs
Shift Left Logical sll $rd, $rt, shamt
Shift Right Logical srl $rd, $rt, shamt
Shift Right Arithmetic sra $rd, $rt, shamt
Add Immediate Unsigned addiu $rt, $rs, immediate
And Immediate andi $rt, $rs, immediate
Or Immediate ori $rt, $rs, immediate
Load Upper Immediate lui $rt, immediate
Load Byte lb $rt, offset($rs)
Load Byte Unsigned lbu $rt, offset($rs)
Load Word lw $rt, offset($rs)
Store Word sw $rt, offset($rs)
Branch on Equal beq $rs, $rt, label
Branch on Not Equal bne $rs, $rt, label
Jump j label
Jump and Link jal label
Move from Lo mflo $rd
Move from Hi mfhi $rd
Multiply by Addition mulad $rs, $rt
Divide by Subtraction Unsigned divsubu $rs, $rt

Mulad and Divsubu Specifications

Mulad: Multiply by Addition. You should have implemented this in lab 7! More details:

Divsubu: Divide by Subtraction Unsigned. It is quite similar to Mulad:

Jumping

Branching

Immediates


Updates | Overview | Deliverables | ISA | Logisim | Testing | Submission

Enough Background: Time for the Project! Deliverables

0) Obtaining the Files [show]

1) Register File [show]

2) Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) [show]


Updates | Overview | Deliverables | ISA | Logisim | Testing | Submission

Logisim Notes

While you may use Logisim 2.7.1 for developing your alu.circ, regfile.circ, mem.circ, and cpu.circ, do note that you have to open run.circ with the MIPS-logisim file we provided.

If you are having trouble with Logisim, RESTART IT and RELOAD your circuit! Don't waste your time chasing a bug that is not your fault. However, if restarting doesn't solve the problem, it is more likely that the bug is a flaw in your project. Please post to Piazza about any crazy bugs that you find and we will investigate.

Things to Look Out For

Logisim's Combinational Analysis Feature

Logisim offers some functionality for automating circuit implementation given a truth table, or vice versa. Though not disallowed (enforcing such a requirement is impractical), use of this feature is discouraged. Remember that you will not be allowed to have a laptop running Logisim on the final.


Updates | Overview | Deliverables | ISA | Logisim | Testing | Submission

Testing

Part 1

For part 1, we have provided you with a bash script called short-test.sh in the project directory as well as a few test files in test-files. Running short-test.sh will copy your alu and regfile into the test files directory and run the tests with the two ALU tests and one Regfile test. Keep in mind that these tests are not comprehensive, so take a look at how ALU-addu.circ and reg-insert.circ are created to see how you can make your own.

Note: the autograder only works with python 2.7, so it may be easier to run it remotely off of the hive* servers if you haven't set up your python environments.

Remember: Debugging Sucks. Testing Rocks.

Assembler

We've provided a basic assembler to make writing your programs easier so you can use assembly instead of machine code. You should try writing a few by hand before using this, mainly because it's good practice and makes you feel cooler. This assembler.py supports all of the instructions for your processor.

The assembler is included in the start kit (one you pull from the repo with earlier instruction) or can be downloaded from the link above. The standard assembler is a work in progress, so please report bugs to Piazza!

The assembler takes files of the following form (this is halt.s, which is included in the start kit):

         #Comments are great!
             lui $t0, 0x3333          #3c083333
             ori $t0, $t0, 0x4444     #35084444
             lui $t1, 0x3333          #3c093333
             ori $t1, $t1, 0x4444     #35294444
       self: beq $t0, $t1, self       #1109ffff

Commas are optional but the '$' is not. '#' starts a comment. The assembler can be invoked with the following command:

   $ python assembler.py input.s [-o output.hex]

The output file is input.hex if not explicitly set - that is, the same name as the input file but with a .hex extension. Use the -o option to change the output file name arbitrarily.

As an alternative to the assembler.py, you can also use MARS command line utilities to assemble your file. This will also allow you to create .hex files for your memory, although it won't assemble the new instructions we added to your processor. You can look at this link for specifics, but a sample script has been written in mars-assem.sh.

In addition, you are welcome to use your project 2 assembler and linker to create these .hex file! Try it out and marvel at having created 3/4th of the CALL process. Although, be wary of bugs in your project 2.


Updates | Overview | Deliverables | ISA | Logisim | Testing | Submission

Submission: Proj3-1

There are two steps required to submit proj3-1. Failure to perform both steps will result in loss of credit:

  1. First, you must submit using the standard unix submit program on the instructional servers. This assumes that you followed the earlier instructions and did all of your work inside of your git repository. To submit, follow these instructions after logging into your -XX class account:

    cd ~/proj3-XX-YY                             # Or where your shared git repo is
    submit proj3-1

    Once you type submit proj3-1, follow the prompts generated by the submission system. It will tell you when your submission has been successful and you can confirm this by looking at the output of glookup -t.


  2. Additionally, you must submit proj3-1 to your shared GitHub repository:

    cd ~/proj3-XX-YY                             # Or where your shared git repo is
    git add -u                           
    git commit -m "project 3-1 submission"  
    git tag "proj3-1-sub"                        # The tag MUST be "proj3-1-sub". Failure to do so will result in loss of credit.
    git push origin proj3-1-sub                  # This tells git to push the commit tagged proj3-1-sub

Resubmitting

If you need to re-submit, you can follow the same set of steps that you would if you were submitting for the first time, but you will need to use the -f flag to tag and push to GitHub:

# Do everything as above until you get to tagging
git tag -f "proj3-1-sub"
git push -f origin proj3-1-sub

Note that in general, force pushes should be used with caution. They will overwrite your remote repository with information from your local copy. As long as you have not damaged your local copy in any way, this will be fine.

Deliverables

regfile.circ
alu.circ

We will be using our own versions of the *-harness.circ files, so you do not need to submit those. In addition, you should not depend on any changes you make to those files.

You must also submit any .circ files that you use in your solution (they are not copied into your .circ file when you import them, only referenced). Make sure you submit every .circ file that is part of your project! You might want to test your cpu.circ file on the lab machines before you submit it, to make sure you got everything.

Grading

This project will be graded in large part by an autograder. Readers will also glance at your circuits. If some of your tests fail the readers will look to see if there is a simple wiring problem. If they can find one, they will give you the new score from the autograder minus a deduction based on the severity of the wiring problem. For this reason, neatness is a small part of your grade - please try to make your circuits neat and readable.


Updates | Overview | Deliverables | ISA | Logisim | Testing | Submission