Microprocessor Documentation Tutorial

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Contents

[edit] THE GOOD STUFF

Here's the LM3000 info page for the Maker Faire.

[edit] WHAT IS A MICROPROCESSOR?

The microprocessor is what makes the computer a computer.

It stores values, can change the values through logical processes, and do something based on those values. These ideas are transformed empirically in the instruction set--Move commands, arithmetic commands, and branch commands--as well as the hardware itself--registers, the Arithmetic Logic Unit, and the branch unit.

The microprocessor is the heart of a computer, and everything else we use a computer for functions off of these basic functions.

[edit] GOALS FOR END-OF-TERM

  • Schematics - Forrest
  • Block Diagram revision - Ang
  • Wiki Site - Eben and Ang
  • Hardware Additions and Troubleshooting - Aurora
    • Minus Flag (and Branch Unit revision)
    • Data RAM
    • Expand instruction set architecture/decoder??
  • Software Development - Reid
  • Science Workshop Presentation, May 10 - Ang, Eben, and Reid

[edit] OTHER THINGS

Notes about getting to the Maker Faire.

The old LM3000 wiki.

[edit] DOCUMENTATION BUGS

  • The ALU schematic
    • The 74374 in the lower left should be a 74244.
  • The full block diagram
    • The registers in the lower left don't need a "registers" box above them.
    • Instruction RAM to instruction decoder line should be 8-bits.
    • I don't think there are three lines going from the branch unit to the program counter. I think there are only two.
    • The switch labeled "oscillator" should be called "oscillator enabled" or "oscillate."
    • Likewise, perhaps the "single step" switch should be called "single step enabled."
    • The pushbutton next to it should be labeled "step."
    • The address lines coming from the program counter should be one line that both RAMs tap into, like the data bus.
    • The status register needs to tap into the data bus.
    • Suggestion: Switch the locations of the operand and instruction RAMs. DONE!
    • Suggestion: Arrange the registers vertically.
    • Some lines are missing labels: status register Z, operand write, branch unit lines from instruction decoder.

[edit] MEMORABLE EVENTS FROM CALIFORNIA

  • Eben shorted the CPU 4 times while Reid was entering a program (only time we've ever see Reid get somewhat angry)
  • The guy that almost quoted Joe! Computers are just logic machines that run at ridiculously fast speeds.
  • Also, a computer is a machine that changes itself.
  • There's a guy building a microprocessor out of relays! I forgot the type, but there's only one instruction, MOV, and it runs without the ALU (which he's currently working on).
  • www.homebrewcpu.com We're not the only ones!
  • Voltage drop: we can't have a serial distribution of power otherwise the instruction decoder can't function properly.
  • Forrest, Eben, and Aurora got *new* laptops.
  • Reid lost his cell phone because he was doing cartwheels in the parking lot.
  • We went halfway across the Golden Gate Bridge! Whee! Eben wants to put apartments in the towers. Joe said he'd pay $1 to everyone of us who made it to the middle . . . !
  • Eben saw "the Rock!"
  • "We're going to [snort] when they say 'Please hold on.'"
  • "Eben in a bikini!"
  • "--but he's not as attractive as . . . Forrest in a bikini!" "Nooooooo!!!"
  • Crazy Mario dream dude. Whoa.
  • In n Out: Child Abuse Lap Mats O.O
  • "Ebenora--for those hard to reach itches!"
  • Nanobots!
  • Reid studies philosophy and he's reading a really big book!
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