Name: ______________________________

Department of Computer CS 3401

and
Mathematical Sciences
Assembly
Language
4

Lab 4: Introduction to MARIE

Objectives:
The main objective of this lab is to get you familiarized with MARIE a simple computer
simulator.

The MARIE architecture has the following characteristics:

• Binary, two's complement data representation.
• Stored program, fixed word length data and instructions.
• 4K words of word-addressable main memory.
• 16-bit data words.
• 16-bit instructions, 4 for the opcode and 12 for the address as shown below.

• A 16-bit arithmetic logic unit (ALU).

• Seven registers for control and data movement.

Figure 1: MARIE Architecture Figure 2: MARIE Instruction set

MARIE’s seven registers are:

• Accumulator, AC, a 16-bit register that holds a conditional operator (e.g., "less than") or
one operand of a two-operand instruction.
• Memory address register, MAR, a 12-bit register that holds the memory address of an
instruction or the operand of an instruction.
• Memory buffer register, MBR, a 16-bit register that holds the data after its retrieval from,
or before its placement in memory.
• Program counter, PC, a 12-bit register that holds the address of the next program
instruction to be executed.
• Instruction register, IR, which holds an instruction immediately preceding its execution.
• Input register, InREG, an 8-bit register that holds data read from an input device.
• Output register, OutREG, an 8-bit register, that holds data that is ready for the output
device.
 Name: ______________________________

Task 1: Micro-operations -- Register Transfer Language (RTL)

The exact sequence of micro-operations that are carried out by an instruction can be specified
using register transfer language (RTL). In the MARIE RTL, it uses the notation M[X] to indicate
the actual data value stored in memory location X, and ← to indicate the transfer of bytes to a
register or memory location.

For example the Load X instruction

MAR ← X
MBR ← M[MAR]
AC ← MBR

Activity 1.1: What is the RTL for the Add X instruction?

MAR ← X
MBR ← M[MAR]
AC ← AC + MBR

Activity 1.2: What is the RTL for the Subt X instruction?

MAR ← X
MBR ← M[MAR]
AC ← AC - MBR

Activity 1.3: What is the RTL for the JnS X instruction?

MBR ← PC
MAR ← X
M[MAR] ← MBR
MBR ← X
AC ← 1
AC ← AC + MBR
PC ← AC

Activity 1.4: What is the RTL for the AddI X instruction?

MAR ← X
MBR ← M[MAR]
MAR ← MBR
MBR ← M[MAR]
AC ← AC + MBR
 Name: ______________________________

Task 2: Instruction Processing

An instruction is executed as follows:
• The fetch-decode-execute cycle is the series of steps that a computer carries out when it runs
a program.
• We first have to fetch an instruction from memory, and place it into the IR.
• Once in the IR, it is decoded to determine what needs to be done next.
• If a memory value (operand) is involved in the operation, it is retrieved and placed into the
MBR.
• With everything in place, the instruction is executed.

Activity 2.1: Suppose the location X in a Load X instruction is 104 which contains the value of
35d and the instruction stored at 100 in the memory, complete the following table:

Step RTN PC IR MAR MBR AC

(initial values) 100
Fetch MAR ← PC 100 100
IR ← M[MAR] 100 1104 100
PC ← PC + 1 101 1104 100
Decode MAR ← IR[11-0] 101 1104 104
(decode IR[15-12]) 101 1104 104
Get operand MBR ← M[MAR] 101 1104 104 0023
Execute AC ← MBR 101 1104 104 0023 0023

Activity 2.2: Suppose the location X in an ADD X instruction is 105 which contains the value of
−23d and the instruction stored at 101 in the memory, complete the following table:

Step RTN PC IR MAR MBR AC

(initial values) 101 1104 104 0023 0023
Fetch MAR ← PC 101 101 101 0023 0023
IR ← M[MAR] 101 3105 101 0023 0023
PC ← PC + 1 102 3105 101 0023 0023
Decode MAR ← IR[11-0] 102 3105 105 0023 0023
(decode IR[15-12]) 102 3105 105 0023 0023
Get operand MBR ← M[MAR] 102 3105 105 FFE9 0023
Execute AC ← AC + MBR 102 3105 105 FFE9 000C
 Name: ______________________________

Activity 2.3: Suppose the location X in a Store X instruction is 106 and the instruction stored
at 102 in the memory, complete the following table:

Step RTN PC IR MAR MBR AC

(initial values) 102 3105 105 FEE9 000C
Fetch MAR ← PC 102 3105 102 FFE9 000C
IR ← M[MAR] 102 2106 102 FFE9 000C
PC ← PC + 1 103 2106 102 FFE9 000C
Decode MAR ← IR[11-0] 103 2106 106 FFE9 000C
(decode IR[15-12]) 103 2106 106 FFE9 000C
Get operand 103 2106 106 FFE9 000C
Execute MBR ← AC 103 2106 106 000C 000C
M[MAR] ← MBR 103 2106 106 000C 000C

Task 3: MARIE Assembly Program

Activity 3.1: Enter the following assembly code in MARIE Assembly Code Editor and save.

Load X
Subt Y
Skipcond 000

Jump Else
Then, Load Y
Subt X
Store Y
Jump Endif
Else, Load X
Subt Y
Store X
Endif, Halt
X, DEC 20
Y, DEC 30

Activity 3.2: Assemble the program, then debug or run the program in MARIE Simulator.

Activity 3.3: What is the content at location of X and Y at end of the program?

Location Content
X 0014
Y 000A
 Name: ______________________________

Activity 3.4: Replace the instruction X, DEC 20 by X, DEC 40. What is the content at
location of X and Y at end of the program?

Location Content
X 000A
Y 001E

Activity 3.5: Describe what the program in Activity 3.1 does.

if (X - Y) < 0
Y = Y – X
else
X = X - Y

Activity 3.6: Convert each instruction in the following program to its corresponding machine
code in hex.

Location Instruction Machine Code

000 Load X 100C
001 Subt Y 400D
002 Skipcond 000 8000
0003 Jump Else 9008
004 Then, Load Y 100D
005 Subt X 400C
006 Store Y 200D
007 Jump Endif 900B
008 Else, Load X 100C
009 Subt Y 400D
00A Store X 200C
00B Endif, Halt 7000
00C X, DEC 20 0014
00D Y, DEC 30 001E