diff --git a/Computer_Architecture/Hardware_simulation.md b/Computer_Architecture/Hardware_simulation.md index 257662d..add938e 100644 --- a/Computer_Architecture/Hardware_simulation.md +++ b/Computer_Architecture/Hardware_simulation.md @@ -7,14 +7,28 @@ tags: [HDL, nand-to-tetris] # Hardware simulation -In order to test our [HDL](/Computer_Architecture/Hardware_Description_Language.md) files we load them into the hardware simulator program shown below: +In order to test our [HDL](/Computer_Architecture/Hardware_Description_Language.md) files we load them into the hardware simulator program. We will demonstrate this with the following XOR implementation: + +![](/_img/xor-addition-four.png) There are several simulation options: - interactive - script-based (where we load a test script into the simulator along with the HDL file -- comparative (running the HDL program against our intended output specified in the `.out` file) +- comparative (running the HDL program against our intended output specified in the `.cmp` file) -The image below shows a basic interactive usage of the simulator. We have uploaded the `Xor.hdl` file into the simulator and changed the input pins to `a=1, b=0` and clicked the calculator icon. This then shows the output and internal pin values for these inputs. +The use-cases for each mode are based on the complexity of the chip you are evaluating + +## Interactive + +The image below shows a basic interactive usage of the simulator. We have uploaded the `Xor.hdl` file into the simulator and changed the input pins to `a=1, b=0` and clicked the calculator icon (representing "evaluation"). This then shows the output and internal pin values for these inputs. + +## Script-based + +This time we have clicked the script icon to load `Xor.tst`. This loads the test script into the main GUI panel on the left. We can step through each line of the test file and we will see the pin values update in accordance with the test. + +When this is run it automatically generates an output file in the source directory at `Xor.out`. This can be viewed within the simulator via the 'View' drop down. + +![](/_img/hd-sim-test.png) diff --git a/_img/hd-sim-test.png b/_img/hd-sim-test.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6775dd Binary files /dev/null and b/_img/hd-sim-test.png differ