diff --git a/content/isa-docs/_index.md b/content/isa-docs/_index.md index 52d2df6..6474257 100644 --- a/content/isa-docs/_index.md +++ b/content/isa-docs/_index.md @@ -3,7 +3,139 @@ title = "ISA Documentation" comments = false breadcrumbs = false -toc = false cascade.type = "docs" +++ + +The best way to understand a CPU is to take one apart. The Little Computer +family was designed with exactly that in mind: every detail is intentional, +every constraint has a reason. The three canonical architectures (LC-2, LC-3, +and LC-3b) were built to be studied, not just used, and their internal structure +reflects that philosophy at every level. + +At the core, all three share the same foundation. The address bus is 16 bits +wide, giving a linear address space of 65,536 locations, no segmentation, no +paging, no virtual memory. Each architecture uses eight general-purpose +registers (R0-R7), a program counter (PC), and a 3-bit condition code register +(CC) that tracks the sign of the last result written to a register: negative, +zero, or positive. Every instruction is exactly 16 bits wide, with the top 4 +bits reserved for the opcode, a constraint that shapes the design of every +instruction in the set. + +Each successive version refines this foundation rather than replacing it. LC-2 +and LC-3 pair the 16-bit address bus with a 16-bit data bus, meaning each memory +location holds a full 16-bit word - 128 KiB of addressable memory in total. +LC-3b narrows the data bus to 8 bits: memory locations hold a single byte, +halving the addressable memory to 64 KiB and introducing byte-level memory +operations absent in the other two. LC-3 and LC-3b also add privilege levels - a +distinction between user mode and supervisor mode - which the original LC-2 does +not have. + +What none of them have is equally telling: no flags register, no status +register, no variable-length instructions, no complex addressing hierarchies. +The simplicity is not a limitation, it is the point. + +Beyond the canonical three, two other architectures are documented here. LC-1 +predates LC-2 and represents the earliest iteration of the family: simpler, more +constrained, and rarely discussed today. LC-3.2 sits at the other end: an +unofficial extension that expands the address space to 32 bits and reduces the +word size to 8 bits, bringing the family closer to the real-world architectures +it was never meant to replicate. + + + +## How the Family Evolved + +{{% steps %}} + +### LC-1 + +The starting point of the family. An accumulator-based architecture with a +single register, a 13-bit address space, and just 8 instructions. Extremely +minimal by design. Closer to a teaching toy than a real CPU. + +### LC-2 + +LC-2 marks the transition from a single-accumulator model to a proper register +file. The initial revision introduced 4 registers and N,Z condition codes. This +is a first step away from the extreme minimalism of LC-1. + +The final revision settled on 8 registers (R0-R7) and three condition codes (N, +Z, P), the blueprint that all subsequent canonical architectures would inherit. +The result is an architecture that feels closer to early 8-bit CPUs like the +Intel 8080: still simple, but no longer a toy. + +### LC-3 + +The most widely known architecture in the family. The initial revision +introduced a stack that grows toward zero, PC-relative offsets using sign +extension instead of zero extension, and register-relative addressing with +signed offsets. + +The revised version added privileged memory, available in two models: fixed and +selectable. LC-3 has been adopted by numerous universities as the basis for +introductory computer architecture courses. + +### LC-3b + +A variant of LC-3 with an 8-bit data bus instead of 16-bit, halving the +addressable memory to 64 KiB but introducing byte-level memory operations. + +Working at the byte level makes LC-3b the closest of the canonical architectures +to how real-world CPUs actually handle memory. + +### LC-3.2 + +An unofficial extension, not created by Patt and Patel, that expands the address +bus to 32 bits and narrows the data bus to 8 bits - the same combination used by +early x86 processors. It is the only architecture in the family that bridges the +gap between the LC teaching model and real-world CPU design, which is what makes +it worth studying. + +{{% /steps %}} + + + +## At a Glance + +| ISA | Data Bus Width | Address Bus Width | Memory | Registers | Instruction Width | Privilege Levels | Status | +|:------:|:--------------:|:-----------------:|:-------:|:----------------------------------:|:-------------------------:|:----------------:|:-----------:| +| LC-1 | 16-bit | **13-bit** | 16 kiB | **One 16-bit accumulator** | 16-bit (**3-bit** opcode) | No | **Legacy** | +| LC-2 | 16-bit | 16-bit | 128 kiB | Eight 16-bit registers (R0-R7) | 16-bit (4-bit opcode) | No | Canonical | +| LC-3 | 16-bit | 16-bit | 128 kiB | Eight 16-bit registers (R0-R7) | 16-bit (4-bit opcode) | Yes (2) | Canonical | +| LC-3b | **8-bit** | 16-bit | 64 kiB | Eight 16-bit registers (R0-R7) | 16-bit (4-bit opcode) | Yes (2) | Canonical | +| LC-3.2 | **8-bit** | **32-bit** | 4 GiB | **Eight 32-bit registers** (R0-R7) | 16-bit (4-bit opcode) | Yes (2) | **Variant** | + + + +## A Note on Sources + +All data in this section is sourced from primary references: the original books, +course materials, and official publications by Patt and Patel. Every claim is +cited. If you spot an error or know of a better source, contributions are +[welcome via GitHub](https://github.com/little-emulator/docs/issues). + + + +## Explore the Architectures + +Each architecture in the family has its own dedicated reference page, +documenting the instruction set, registers, memory model, and encoding in full +detail. + +### Core Architectures + +
+{{< hextra/feature-grid cols="2" >}} + {{< hextra/feature-card title="LC-2" icon="chip" link="lc-2" >}} + {{< hextra/feature-card title="LC-3" icon="chip" link="lc-3" >}} + {{< hextra/feature-card title="LC-3b" icon="chip" link="lc-3b" >}} +{{< /hextra/feature-grid >}} + +### Beyond the Canon + +
+{{< hextra/feature-grid cols="2" >}} + {{< hextra/feature-card title="LC-1" icon="bookmark" link="lc-1" subtitle="**Legacy**: The accumulator-based predecessor" >}} + {{< hextra/feature-card title="LC-3.2" icon="cube" link="lc-3.2" subtitle="**Variant**: An unofficial 32-bit extension" >}} +{{< /hextra/feature-grid >}}