1. Chapter 5 The Processor: Datapath and Control

2. Outline
I. Basic MIPS implementation
II. Logic Design Conventions
III. Building a Datapath
IV. Simple Implementation
V. Multicycle Implementation
VI. Exceptions

3. The Processor: Datapath & Control
• Simplified MIPS to contain only:
– memory-reference instructions: lw, sw
– arithmetic-logical instructions: add, sub, and, or, slt
– control flow instructions: beq, j
• Key design principles
– Make the common case fast
– Simplicity favors regularity
• Generic Implementation (high similarity between instructions)
– use the program counter (PC) to supply instruction address
– get the instruction from memory
– read registers
– use the instruction to decide exactly what to do
• All instructions use the ALU after reading the registers
Why? memory-reference? arithmetic? control flow?

4. Abstract View

5. PC Datapath
• NextPC = PC + 4

6. PC Datapath
• NextPC = PC + branch offset

7. Abstract View of Basic Implementation
• Two types of functional units:
– elements that operate on data values (combinational)
– elements that contain state (sequential)

8. Basic Implementation

9. State Elements • Unclocked vs. Clocked
• Clocks used in synchronous logic
– when should an element that contains state be updated?
• Latch
– State changes on the valid level (level-triggered)
• D Flip Flops
– state changes only on a clock edge (edge-triggered methodology)

10. Our or Mainstream Implementation
• An edge triggered methodology
– Clocking methodology
• Determine when data is valid and stable relative to the clock
• Mainstream: Synchronous design, edge-triggered
• Typical execution:
– read contents of some state elements,
– send values through some combinational logic
– write results to one or more state elements
clock cycle
State element
combinational logic

11. Register File • Built using D flip-flops Read register number 1

12. Abstraction • Make sure you understand the abstractions!
• Sometimes it is easy to think you do, when you don’t

13. Register File
• Note: we still use the real clock to determine when to write

14. Outline
I. Basic MIPS implementation
II. Logic Design Conventions
III. Building a Datapath
IV. Simple Implementation
V. Multicycle Implementation
VI. Exceptions

15. Datapath Components • Common to all instructions:
– Instruction memory
– PC and its update
• Datapath of R-R type instructions
– ALU
– Register set
• Datapath of memory-reference instructions
– ALU (for address calculation)
– Sign extension unit
– data memory
• Datapath for a branch inst. (e.g. beq $1, $2, offset)
– Sign extension + 2bit shifter
– Reg
– Adder
– ALU (zero output)

16. Instruction Memory and PC Update

17. PC Datapath and Instruction Fetch
• NextPC = PC + 4

18. Datapath for R-format (1)
Register numbers

19. Datapath for R-format (2)

20. Datapath of Memory-Reference Instructions (1)

21. Datapath of Memory-Reference Instructions (2)

22. Combine R-type and Memory-Reference

23. Datapath for Branch

24. Creating a Single Datapath

25. Outline
I. Basic MIPS implementation
II. Logic Design Conventions
III. Building a Datapath
IV. Simple Implementation
V. Multicycle Implementation
VI. Exceptions

26. Control • Selecting the operations to perform (ALU, read/write, etc.)
• Controlling the flow of data (multiplexor inputs)
• Information comes from the 32 bits of the instruction
• Example:
• ALU's operation based on instruction type and function code

27. Control (1) Instructions using ALU
Load/store: address calculation - add
Branch eq: subtract
R-Type add/subtract
and/or
set-on-less-than

28. Control (2) • Multi-level control (decoding)
– Instruction opcode: main control unit
00 = lw, sw
01 = beq,
10 = arithmetic function code for arithmetic : sub control
– Reduce the size of main control but may increase the delay

29. Control (3)
• Describe it using a truth table (can turn into gates):

30. Control ALU Control Input
Why is the code for subtract 0110 and not 0011?

31. MUX Control (1) • The op field, also called the opcode
– always contained in bits We will refer to this field as Op[5-0].
• The two registers to be read
– always specified by the rs and rt fields, at positions and
This is true for the R-type instructions, branch equal, and for store.

32. MUX Control (2) • The base register for load and store instructions
– always in bit positions (rs).
• The 16-bit offset for branch equal, load, and store
– always in positions 15-0.

33. MUX Control (3) • The destination register is in one of two places
– For a load it is in bit positions (rt),
– For an R-type instruction it is in bit positions (rd).
– Need to add a multiplex or to select which field of the instruction is used to indicate the register number to be written.

34. MUX Control (4)

35. MUX Control (5)

36. Effect of Control Signals

37. Control Unit Design

38. Final Control

39. Datapath for R-type

40. Datapath for a “load” Operation

41. Datapath for “beq”

42. Design with “jump” Instruction (1)
• Implement “jump” by concatenating
– Upper 4-bits of “PC+4”: NextPC[31:28]
– 26-bit immediate field from instruction
– Bits 00

43. Design with “jump” Instruction (2)

44. Our Simple Control Structure
• All of the logic is combinational
• We wait for everything to settle down, and the right thing to be done
– ALU might not produce “right answer” right away
– we use write signals along with clock to determine when to write
• Cycle time determined by length of the longest path
We are ignoring some details like setup and hold times

45. Single Cycle Implementation
• Calculate cycle time assuming negligible delays except:
– memory (200ps), ALU and adders (100ps), register file access (50ps)

46. Critical Path for Different Instructions

47. Performance of Single Cycle Machines
• Two implementation types
– 1 cycle per instruction with fixed length cycle
– 1 cycle per instruction with variable length cycle
– Which one is faster? Assume 25% load, 10% stores, 45% ALU,15% branch, 5% jump

48. Single Cycle Design • Timing problems • Area problems
– Fixed clock cycle time
• Significant penalty
• Clock cycle equal to the worst case
– what if we had a more complicated instruction like floating point?
– Violates “ make the common case fast”
• Acceptable only for the small instruction set
– Variable clock cycle time
• Hard to implement
• Asynchronous design style ?
– AMULET: asynchronous ARM –
• Area problems
– wasteful of area: duplicate resources

49. Where we are headed • One Solution: • Another solution
– Shorter clock cycle time and use “multiple clock cycle”
• Different instructions take different numbers of cycles
• Multicycle datapath
• Another solution
– Pipelining (Ch. 6)
• Overlapping the execution of multiple instructions

50. Outline
I. Basic MIPS implementation
II. Logic Design Conventions
III. Building a Datapath
IV. Simple Implementation
V. Multicycle Implementation
VI. Exceptions

51. Multicycle Implementation
• Adv.
– Allow instructions to take different number of cycles
– Share function units within the execution of a single instructions
Differences compared to 1-cycle design
• Only single memory unit, single ALU
– Add mux for sharing
• More registers added (pipeline registers)
– Hold value for subsequent clock cycles
– Instruction register (IR) and memory data register
• IR shall hold data until the end of execution
• Other just hold data between clock cycles
– A and B registers from register file
– ALUOut register

52. Single Cycle Revisited

53. Multicycle Implementation (High level view)

54. Multicycle Datapath

55. Control Signals • Control for programmer-visible state units
– Write control for PC, memory, register, IR
– Read control for memory
• ALU control
– Same as the one used in single cycle datapath
• MUX control

56. Multicycle Datapath with Control

57. Including Jump and Branch
• 3 sources of the PC value
– Output of ALU value
• PC+4 during instruction fetch
• Directly stored into PC
– Register ALUout
• Branch target after computed
– Jump address
• {NextPC[31:28], Instruction[25:0], 2’b00}
• Control signals for PC
– Unconditional: PCWrite
• Normal increment and Jump
– Conditional: PCWriteCond, with “zero” test
• Branch

58. Complete Multicycle Datapath

59. Multicycle Approach (1) Implementation
• Datapath: We will be reusing functional units
– ALU used to compute address and to increment PC
– Memory used for instruction and data
• Control: Our control signals will not be determined directly by instruction
– e.g., what should the ALU do for a “subtract” instruction?
• What and when to assert the control signals
– finite state machine
– microprogramming

60. Multicycle Approach (2) Operation
• Break up the instructions into steps, each step takes a cycle
– balance the amount of work to be done
– restrict each cycle to use only one major functional unit
• At the end of a cycle
– store values for use in later cycles (easiest thing to do)
– introduce additional “internal” registers

61. Instructions from ISA perspective
• Consider each instruction from perspective of ISA.
• Example:
– The add instruction changes a register.
– Register specified by bits 15:11 of instruction.
– Instruction specified by the PC.
– New value is the sum (“op”) of two registers.
– Registers specified by bits 25:21 and 20:16 of the instruction
Reg[Memory[PC][15:11]] <= Reg[Memory[PC][25:21]] op
Reg[Memory[PC][20:16]]
– In order to accomplish this we must break up the instruction.
(kind of like introducing variables when programming)

62. Breaking down an instruction
• ISA definition of arithmetic:
Reg[Memory[PC][15:11]] <= Reg[Memory[PC][25:21]] op
Reg[Memory[PC][20:16]]
• Could break down to:
– IR <= Memory[PC]
– A <= Reg[IR[25:21]]
– B <= Reg[IR[20:16]]
– ALUOut <= A op B
– Reg[IR[20:16]] <= ALUOut
• We forgot an important part of the definition of arithmetic!
– PC <= PC + 4

63. Idea behind multicycle approach
• We define each instruction from the ISA perspective (do this!)
• Break it down into steps following our rule that data flows through at most one major functional unit (e.g., balance work across steps)
• Introduce new registers as needed (e.g, A, B, ALUOut, MDR, etc.)
• Finally try and pack as much work into each step (avoid unnecessary cycles) while also trying to share steps where possible (minimizes control, helps to simplify solution)
• Result: Our book’s multicycle Implementation!

64. Five Execution Steps • Instruction Fetch
• Instruction Decode and Register Fetch
• Execution, Memory Address Computation, or Branch Completion
• Memory Access or R-type instruction completion
• Write-back step
INSTRUCTIONS TAKE FROM CYCLES!

65. Step 1: Instruction Fetch
• Use PC to get instruction and put it in the Instruction Register.
• Increment the PC by 4 and put the result back in the PC.
• Can be described succinctly using RTL "Register-Transfer Language"
IR <= Memory[PC];
PC <= PC + 4;
Can we figure out the values of the control signals?
What is the advantage of updating the PC now?
• Control signals
– IorD = 0, ALUSrcA = 0, ALUSrcB = 1, ALUOP = 00 (add), PCSource = 0,
– Assert PCWrite

66. Step 2: Instruction Decode and Register Fetch
• Read registers rs and rt in case we need them
– Parallel decoding due to regular instruction format
• Compute the branch address in case the instruction is a branch
• RTL:
A <= Reg[IR[25:21]];
B <= Reg[IR[20:16]];
ALUOut <= PC + (sign-extend(IR[15:0]) << 2);
• We aren't setting any control lines based on the instruction type
(we are busy "decoding" it in our control logic)
• Control: ALUSrcA = 0, ALUSrcB = 11, ALUOp = 00 (add)

67. Step 3 (instruction dependent)
• ALU is performing one of three functions, based on instruction type
• Memory Reference:
ALUOut <= A + sign-extend(IR[15:0]);
– Control: ALUSrcA = 1, ALUSrcB = 10, ALUOp = 00 (add)
• R-type:
ALUOut <= A op B;
– Control: ALUSrcA = 1, ALUSrcB = 00, ALUOp = 10 (function field)
• Branch:
if (A==B) PC <= ALUOut;
– Control: ALUSrcA = 1, ALUSrcB = 00, ALUOp = 01 (sub)
– Assert PCCondWrite, PCSource = 01
• Jump
– PC = {PC[31:28], Instruction[25:0], 2’b00}
– Assert PCWrite , PCSource = 10

68. Step 4 (R-type or memory-access)
• Loads and stores access memory
MDR <= Memory[ALUOut]; or
Memory[ALUOut] <= B;
• R-type instructions finish
Reg[IR[15:11]] <= ALUOut;
The write actually takes place at the end of the cycle on the edge

69. Write-back step • Reg[IR[20:16]] <= MDR;
Which instruction needs this?

70. Summary:

71. Simple Questions • How many cycles will it take to execute this code?
lw $t2, 0($t3)
lw $t3, 4($t3)
beq $t2, $t3, Label #assume not
add $t5, $t2, $t3
sw $t5, 8($t3)
Label: ...
• What is going on during the 8th cycle of execution?
• In what cycle does the actual addition of $t2 and $t3 takes place?

72. Simple Questions (Cont.)

73. CPI in a Multicycle CPU • Instruction mix • CPI
– Assume 25% load, 10% stores, 52% ALU, 11% branch, 2% jump
– Load: 5, stores: 4, ALU: 4, branch: 4, jump: 3
• CPI
– 0.25* * *4+0.11*3+0.02*3 = 4.12
– Worst case: 5 if all instructions use the same number of cycles

74. Implementing the Control CPI
• Value of control signals is dependent upon:
– what instruction is being executed
– which step is being performed
• Use the information we’ve accumulated to specify a finite state machine
– specify the finite state machine graphically, or
– use microprogramming
• Implementation can be derived from specification

75. FSM Control for the Multicycle Implementation
• Each state in FSM will take 1 cycle

76. Instruction Decoder and Register Fetch

77. Memory-Reference FSM

78. Other FSM

79. Complete FSM • Note: • How many state bits will we need?
– don’t care if not mentioned
– asserted if name only
– otherwise exact value
• How many state bits will we need?

80. Implementation

81. PLA Implementation

82. ROM Implementation • ROM = "Read Only Memory"
– values of memory locations are fixed ahead of time
• A ROM can be used to implement a truth table
– if the address is m-bits, we can address 2m entries in the ROM.
– our outputs are the bits of data that the address points to.

83. ROM Implementation • How many inputs are there?
6 bits for opcode, 4 bits for state = 10 address lines
(i.e., 210 = 1024 different addresses)
• How many outputs are there?
16 datapath-control outputs, 4 state bits = 20 outputs
• ROM is 210 x 20 = 20K bits (and a rather unusual size)
• Rather wasteful, since for lots of the entries, the outputs are the same
– i.e., opcode is often ignored

84. ROM vs PLA • Break up the table into two parts
– 4 state bits tell you the 16 outputs, 24 x 16 bits of ROM
– 10 bits tell you the 4 next state bits, 210 x 4 bits of ROM
– Total: 4.3K bits of ROM
• PLA is much smaller
– can share product terms
– only need entries that produce an active output
– can take into account don't cares
• Size is (#inputs ’ #product-terms) + (#outputs ’ #product-terms)
For this example = (10x17)+(20x17) = 510 PLA cells
• PLA cells usually about the size of a ROM cell (slightly bigger)

85. Another Implementation Style
• Complex instructions: the "next state" is often current state + 1

86. Details

87. Outline
I. Basic MIPS implementation
II. Logic Design Conventions
III. Building a Datapath
IV. Simple Implementation
V. Multicycle Implementation
VI. Exceptions

88. Exception • Control is the most challenging part of processor design
– Exceptions and interrupts are one of the hardest part of control
• Exception
– Unexpected event from within the processor
– E.g. arithmetic flow, undefined instructions, invoke the OS from user program
• Interrupt
– An except that comes from outside of the processor
– E.g. I/O devices, hardware malfunctions
• These two terms are mixed in different processors
• Why are they so hard
– Detect exceptional conditions and take the action is often on the critical timing path of a machine

89. How Exceptions are Handled
• Current design
– Undefined instruction and arithmetic overflow
• Basic action to handle exceptions
– Similar to interrupt service in X86
– 1. Save the address of the offending instructions in EPC (exception program counter)
– 2.1 Transfer control to the OS, take action on the causes
• Service to the user program, or
• Predefined instruction to an overflow, or
• Stop program execution and report error
– 2.2 OS terminate the program or continue its execution using the EPC

90. How OS Knows the Exception Reasons
• By status register
– Used in MIPS
– Register fields indicates the reasons of the exception
• By vector interrupts
– Each exception vector address corresponds to its reasons
Undefined instruction C
Arithmetic overflow C
– Single entry point + status register for non-vectored interrupt

91. Multicycle Datapath for Exception

92. How to Implement Exception
• Datapath
– EPC registers
• 32-bit registers to hold the address of the affected instructions
• EPC = (PC+4) – 4 (use ALU)
– Cause registers
• Register to record the cause of the exception, use the low order two bits for undefined instruction and arithmetic overflow
– Control signals:
• Register write control: EPCWrite, CauseWrite,
• Interrupt/exception cause selection: IntCause
– Exception address
• Constant value:

93. How Control Checks for Exceptions
• Undefined instructions
– Opcode != value of lw, sw, R-type, J and beq
• Arithmetic overflow
– Overflow signals from ALU is used

94. Chapter 5 Summary • If we understand the instructions…
We can build a simple processor!
• If instructions take different amounts of time, multi-cycle is better
• Datapath implemented using:
– Combinational logic for arithmetic
– State holding elements to remember bits
• Control implemented using:
– Combinational logic for single-cycle implementation
– Finite state machine for multi-cycle implementation

95. FSM with Exceptions