MCA v1.1

MCA v1.1 is an assembly language for a mechanical computer invented by User:Almostahexagon. It is the new version of mecomp, with many changes to the instruction set and computer in general. This page shows all the new things in MCA/Mecomp v1.1, so see MCA (Old) to get the background information.

This is still a work in progress. It may be changed in the future.

Changes

Mecomp v1.1 is still using the same Harvard architecture.

• Instructions are now 4-bit
  • Previously 3

• Added an accumulator
  • It can hold an 8-bit number
  • Along with this, math operations have changed (see below)

• Changed math operations
  • Operations now do memory + accumulator, instead of M0 + M1.

• Changed how operation results are stored
  • Result is stored in the destination address if its value is not zero, accumulator otherwise.

• RAM style has changed
  • Before, the RAM used a bunch of mechanical bits. This has been changed, and now the RAM is a circular disc with a head, kind of like an HDD. The head has 8 pins that can flip bits.

• Changed amount of bytes in the RAM
  • 256 bytes was way too much to build, so it has been decreased to 32 bytes.

New MCA instruction set

Memory and input

Opcode	Name	Full name	Parameter A	Parameter B	Function
0000	UIP	User input	1 byte from user (00-FF)	M(address)	User loads a value to M(address).
0001	LOD	Load	#(value)	M(address)	Loads [value] to M(address).
0010	CPY	Copy	M(adrs0)	M(adrs1)	Copies the value of M(adrs0) to M(adrs1).