Lab 6: ALUs and the LPM Library

Objectives:

The objective of this experiment is to design and develop code for an ALU that can perform 2’s complement addition and subtraction. Also, we introduce utilizing the LPM library to use components that have been predefined by Altera’s libraries.

Preparation

• Review the design of a ripple-carry adder and how to use the LPM library

Equipment Needed

• Altera DE2 Board

References

• John D. Carpinelli, Computer Systems Organization & Architecture, Addison Wesley, 2001
• Morris Mano, Computer Engineering Hardware Design, Addison Wesley

Background

We begin by reviewing the workings of a 4-bit ripple-carry adder. Figure 6.1a below shows the circuit for the full adder. Figure 6.1b shows what the symbol looks like and figure 6.1c shows the truth table. Figure 6.1d displays the 4-bit ripple-carry adder.

		b a c i co m 0 0 0 0  1 0 0 1 0  1 0 1 0 0  1 0 1 1 1  0 1 0 0 0  1 1 0 1 1  0 1 1 0 1  0 1 1 1 1  0
a) Full adder circuit	b) Full Adder Symbol	c) Full adder truth table
d) Four-bit ripple-carry adder circuit
Figure 6.1: A ripple-carry adder

Part 1

You are to create an 8-bit version of the adder and include it in the circuit shown in Figure 6.2. Your circuit should be designed to support signed numbers in 2’s-complement form, and the overflow output should be set to 1 whenever the sum produced by the adder does not provide the correct signed value.

Include the required input and output ports in your project to implement the adder circuit on the DE2 board. Connect the inputs A and B to switches SW₁₅₋₈ and SW₇₋₀, respectively. Use KEY₀ as an active-low asynchronous reset input, and use KEY₁ as a manual clock input. Display the sum outputs of the adder on the red LEDR₇₋₀ lights and display the overflow output on the green LEDG₈ light. The hexadecimal values of A and B should be shown on the displays HEX_7-6 and HEX_5-4, and the hexadecimal value of S should appear on HEX_1-0. Use the LPM defined components to create the necessary registers and the D flip-flop.

Part 2

Modify your circuit from Part 1 so that it can perform both addition and subtraction of eight-bit numbers. Use switch SW₁₇ to specify whether addition or subtraction should be performed. Connect the other switches, lights, and displays as described for Part I. If subtraction is performed your circuit should convert the answer to its absolute value form and use LEDG₈ to indicate that the solution is negative.

Part 3

Create a circuit using the predefined adder circuit called lpm.add.sub instead of your ripple-carry adder. This circuit will maintain 2’s complement form if an overflow is found on a subtraction.

Prelab Assignment

1. Create a block diagram of your 8-bit ripple-carry adder.
2. Create algorithm to convert a negative number in 2’s complement to its absolute value form for use in part 2.

Lab Assignment

Develop VHDL code to implement the designs specified in parts 1, 2, and 3 of this experiment. Be sure to create a separate project for each part and to simulate your circuit to verify functionality. For final demonstration, you should be able to show the correct functionality of the adder and subtracter specified for each part.