Homework 3: Part 1
An LC-3 machine code program that rotates a 16-bit word
Due
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 at 11:59 pm (same day as Exam 1)
Outcomes
After successfully completing this assignment, you will
be able to...
- Enter, debug, and execute programs written in LC-3 machine code
- Explain the different addressing modes of the LC-3 ISA
- Use the LC-3 operate instructions, data movement instructions, and
conditional branch instruction to solve a programming problem
Before Starting
Read Chapters 4 and 5. Also, do Lab 1 to learn
how to use the editor and simulator for the LC-3.
Description of Problem
Rotate a bit pattern to the left by a certain amount
Using LC3edit, create a file named rotate.bin.
Your task is to write an LC-3
machine code program that rotates a 16-bit word n bits to the left,
where n is a non-negative integer between 0 and 16, inclusive.
Your program should assume that R2 contains the address of the
bit pattern to be rotated (in other words, before executing your
program, you should manually enter the address of the word to
be rotated into R2). Your program should also assume that the
number of bit positions to rotate has been entered into R5. Upon completion, the rotated value
should be stored in R4. Your program should begin at memory
location x3000.
Example: If the original bit pattern is 1000 0000 0101 0101
(x8055), and the number of bits to rotate is 0000 0000 0000 1000,
then upon completion of your program R4 should contain
the value 0101 0101 1000 0000 (x5580).
Hint: Recall from our class discussion that adding
a number to itself effectively shifts the bit pattern to the left
by one bit position. A 1-bit left rotation is just like a 1-bit
left shift except that the leftmost bit (bit 15) ends up as the rightmost bit
(bit 0).
You will use the solution to this problem in Part 2 of Homework 3 next week.
Documentation and Formatting
Your program should include a thorough
and clear explanation of the process that you went through
to come up with a machine code solution to
the given problem. The explanation should be included as a
comment at the top of your .bin file.
Program documentation and formatting will be
worth 50% of the grade for this
program - your explanation should not be considered an afterthought to coding.
It serves to document your thought process prior to coding and illustrates
your understanding of the problem. It will serve as your outline
when you code your solution. It will also serve as a guide to the
TA who is trying to grade programs consisting entirely of 0's and 1's.
It should contain (at least) the following information:
- An explanation of your thought process, and how it led you to
the algorithm you used to solve the problem. When you first sat down
to solve this problem, what steps did you take to understand the
problem? To come up with a solution?
As you consider each step in the solution, explain how you can accomplish
that step using instructions from the LC-3. Use examples for illustration,
if necessary. Your goal is to refine your algorithm to the point where it
can
easily be translated into LC-3 machine code.
- A list of the registers used in the program, and what they are used for
- If the program expects registers or memory locations to be initialized
to certain values prior to the program's execution, that should be
noted. The reader of the program should be told where to find the
program's results upon completion of the program.
When coding the instructions themselves, leave a space between each
field in the instruction, as we did in lab. For example, the following
AND instruction is separated into its component parts (opcode field,
destination and source registers, immediate bit, immediate value):
0101 001 001 1 00000 ;clear R1, to be used as the running sum
Unlike programs written in higher-level languages, machine code
programs should have a comment for every line of code.
Also, main sections of
code should be preceded by explanatory comments.
Deliverables
You must use turnin
to submit your LC-3 file rotate.bin before 11:59pm on Tuesday,
November 14. Make sure you include your name and section number as comments at the top of your file.