Introduction
Introduction
This document contains instructions for installing and using the
Mic-1 MMV microarchitecture simulator software. Mic-1 MMV is meant to be
used as instructional software in conjuction with Andrew S. Tanenbaum,
Structured Computer Organization, Edition,
(Prentice-Hall 2005), particularly "Chapter 4: The Microarchitecture
Level." The software is implemented entirely in Java (JDK v1.4), and
should run unmodified using any Java Virtual Machine (JVM) v1.4 or later.
Features
- Mic-1 MMV is a highly interactive and visually rich microarchitecture simulator. It runs at four different speeds (i.e. levels of granularity) and supports breakpoints at the IJVM level; see
Running the Simulator.
- Mic-1 MMV is an implementation of the Mic-1 microarchitecture
defined in Section 4.1 of Tanenbaum, Structured Computer
Organization, Edition.
- Mic-1 MMV supports the interpretation of the IJVM instruction set
architecture defined in Section 4.2 of Tanenbaum, Structured Computer
Organization, Edition.
- Mic-1 MMV supports program development by including "compile and
load" assemblers for the Microcode Assembly Language (MAL) and the
IJVM Assembly Language (JAS).
- Mic-1 MMV supports Context-Sensitive Help; see
Menus : Help : Mic-1 MMV Help On.
- Mic-1 MMV make use of existing technology released under the GNU
General Public License.
Structure of This Document
- The next section, Getting Started, describes the
content of the distribution and provides installation instructions.
- The section Program Operation provides
- An Overview. This section starts wtih startup
details. A quick tour, with a clickable diagram is next. The section,
Running the Simulator, gives an example showing how the simulator runs
on an IJVM Program, and discusses breakpoints. Finally, there is a
description of the Preference settings.
- A thorough description of all Controls and
Views, as shown in the quick tour. This includes details on all
simulator console controls and menu items.
- A section on Using Mic-1 MMV to experiment
with different microprograms for the Mic1 architecture, as well as JAS
programs that make use of novel instructions interpreted by these new
microprograms.
- The next section contains Programming Manuals for the MAL and JAS languages.
- The last section contains Credits and copyright
notices.