VOLE Machine Simulator

Overview

This VOLE (Virtual Operation Language Environment) Machine Simulator is an educational tool that simulates a 16-bit instruction set architecture. The simulator executes VOLE machine language instructions, providing a hands-on learning environment for understanding computer architecture and assembly programming concepts.

Features

1. Instruction Set Architecture

• 16-bit Instructions: Each instruction consists of:
  • 4-bit opcode (first 4 bits)
  • 12-bit operation field (last 12 bits)
• Hexadecimal Representation: Instructions are represented in 4-digit hexadecimal format

Supported Operations

Opcode (Hex)	Operation	Description
0	HALT	Stop execution
1	LOAD	Load from memory
2	STORE	Store to memory
3	ADD	Addition
4	SUB	Subtraction
5	MUL	Multiplication
6	DIV	Division
7	AND	Logical AND
8	OR	Logical OR
9	XOR	Logical XOR
A	NOT	Logical NOT
B	JMP	Unconditional Jump
C	JZ	Jump if Zero
D	JNZ	Jump if Not Zero
E	IN	Input
F	OUT	Output

2. Interactive Menu System

The simulator provides an interactive menu with the following options:

• Load Program: Load VOLE machine code from a file
• Step Execution: Execute program step by step
• Run Program: Execute entire program
• Display Status: Show current system state
• Reset: Reset simulator to initial state
• Exit: Terminate simulator

3. Program Loading

• Support for loading programs from text files
• File format: One instruction per line in hexadecimal format
• Automatic validation of instruction format
• Error handling for invalid instructions
• Example file format:

  0x10x20x30x4
  0x30x40x50x6
  0x20x70x80x9
  0x00x00x00x0
  

4. Execution Features

• Step-by-Step Execution:
  • Fetch instruction to IR (Instruction Register)
  • Decode opcode and operation fields
  • Validate instruction
  • Execute instruction
  • Update system state
• Instruction Validation:
  • Verify opcode validity
  • Check operation field format
  • Validate register numbers
  • Verify memory addresses

5. System State Display

Comprehensive status display showing:

• Registers: Contents of all registers (R0-RF)
• Special Registers:
  • PC (Program Counter)
  • IR (Instruction Register)
• Memory: Current state of memory
• Screen Output: Display buffer contents
• Flags: Zero flag, overflow flag, etc.

Usage

Example Program

# Simple addition program (add.txt)
0x10x20x30x4    # Load value from memory address 4 to register 3
0x30x40x50x6    # Add registers 4 and 5, store in register 6
0x20x70x80x9    # Store register 7 to memory address 89
0x00x00x00x0    # Halt