CPU Sim

{{Short description|Software development environment}}

{{Infobox software

| name = Wombat (Animal)

| title =

| logo =

| logo caption =

| screenshot =

| caption =

| collapsible =

| author = Dale Skrien[http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ506897&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ506897 CPU SIM: A Computer Simulator for Use in an Introductory Computer Organization-Architecture Class.], Authors:Skrien, Dale

| developer =

| released =

| discontinued =

| latest release version = 4.0.11

| latest release date = August, 2017

| latest preview version =

| latest preview date =

| programming language = Java

| operating system = MS-Windows, Linux, Mac (Cross-platform)

| platform =

| size =

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| genre = IDE

| license = GPLv3+

| alexa =

| website = {{url|http://www.cs.colby.edu/djskrien/CPUSim/}}

}}

CPU Sim is a software development environment for the simulation of simple computers. It was developed by Dale Skrien to help students understand computer architectures. With this application the user is able to simulate new or existing simple CPUs. Users can create new virtual CPUs with custom machine language instructions, which are implemented by a sequence of micro instructions. CPU Sim allows the user to edit and run assembly language programs for the CPU being simulated.

CPU Sim has been programmed using the Java Swing package. This means that it is platform independent (runs on every platform that has a Java virtual machine installed).

Wombat 1 Sample CPU

A sample computer system, the Wombat 1, is provided with CPU Sim. It has the following registers:

The assembly language of the Wombat 1 computer consists of 12 instructions. Each instruction is stored on 16 bits; the first 4 are the opcode and the other 12 are the address field.

border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
style="background:#efefef;" | Mnemonic

! style="background:#efefef;" | Operation code

! style="background:#efefef;" | Field length

! style="background:#efefef;" | Meaning

stop

|0

|16

|stops the program execution

load

|1

|4 12

|transfers data from memory to the accumulator

store

|2

|4 12

|transfers data from the accumulator to memory

read

|3

|4 (12)

|puts the data from the IO console to the accumulator

write

|4

|4 (12)

|sends the data from the accumulator to the IO console

add

|5

|4 12

|adds the data from memory to the accumulator and the result is then stored in the accumulator

subtract

|6

|4 12

|subtracts the data from memory from the accumulator and the result is then stored in the accumulator

multiply

|7

|4 12

|multiplies the data from the memory by the accumulator and the result is then stored in the accumulator

divide

|8

|4 12

|divides the data from the memory into the accumulator and the result is then stored in the accumulator

jmpz

|9

|4 12

|jump to address if the accumulator is 0

jmpn

|A

|4 12

|jump to address if the accumulator is negative

jump

|B

|4 12

|unconditioned jump to address

Features

CPU Sim has the following features:

  • allows the creation of a CPU (a virtual one), including the registers, RAM, microinstructions, and machine instructions;
  • allows the creation, editing, and execution of assembly language programs for the simulated CPU;
  • allows stepping forward and backward through the execution of assembly language programs.

Example program for the Wombat 1 CPU

This program reads in integers until a negative integer is read. It then outputs the sum of all the positive integers.

Start: read // read n -> acc

jmpn Done // jump to Done if acc < 0.

add sum // add sum to the acc

store sum // store the new sum

jump Start // go back & read in next number

Done: load sum // load the final sum

write // write the final sum

stop // stop

sum: .data 2 0 // 2-byte location where sum is stored

The following modification of the program is also used sometimes:

Start: read // read n -> acc

jmpz Done // jump to Done if nacc is 0.

add sum // add sum to the acc

store sum // store the new sum

jump Start // go back & read in next number

Done: load sum // load the final sum

write // write the final sum

stop // stop

sum: .data 2 0 // 2-byte location where sum is stored

This one can use negative input to subtract, or 0 to break the loop.

See also

References

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