Programming Virtual Hardware Devices

Programming Virtual Hardware Devices
I/O ports and Hardware Interrupts
EMU8086 supports user-created virtual devices that can be

accessed from assembly language program
using in and out instructions.
Input / Output ports
Additional devices can be created using 8086 assembly, Java,

C/C++, Visual Basic or any other programming language. For
more information and sample source code look inside this
folder: c:\emu8086\DEVICES\DEVELOPER\
Input / output addresses for custom devices are from 0000 to

0FFFFh (0 to 65535)
It is important to avoid two devices using the same ports.
Port 100 corresponds to byte 100 in this file: c:\emu8086.io ,

port 0 to byte 0, port 101 to byte 101, etc...
Emulation of Hardware Interrupts
External hardware interrupts can be triggered by external

peripheral devices and microcontrollers or by the 8087
mathematical coprocessor.
Hardware interrupts are disabled when interrupt flag (IF) is set to

0. When interrupt flag is set to 1, the emulator continually checks
first 256 bytes of this filec:\emu8086.hw if any of the bytes is
none-zero the microprocessor transfers control to an interrupt
handler that matches the triggering byte offset
inemu8086.hw file (0 to 255) according to the interrupt vector
table (memory 0000-0400h) and resets the byte in emu8086.hw to 00.
These instructions can be used to disable and enable hardware

interrupts:
cli - clear interrupt flag (disable hardware interrupts).

sti - set interrupt flag (enable hardware interrupts).
by default hardware interrupts are enabled and are disabled

automatically when software or hardware interrupt is in the
middle of the execution.
Examples of Custom I/O Devices
Ready devices are available from virtual devices menu of the

emulator.
 Traffic Lights - port 4 (word)
The traffic lights are controlled by sending data to i/o port 4.

There are 12 lamps: 4 green, 4 yellow, and 4 red.
You can set the state of each lamp by setting its bit:
1 - the lamp is turned on.

0 - the lamp is turned off.
Only 12 low bits of a word are used (0 to 11), last bits (12 to
15) are unused.
For example:
MOV AX, 0000001011110100b

OUT 4, AX
We use yellow hexadecimal digits in caption (to achieve

compact view), here's a conversion:
 Hex - Decimal

 A - 10
 B - 11
 C - 12 (unused)
 D - 13 (unused)
 E - 14 (unused)
F - 15 (unused)
First operand for OUT instruction is a port number (4),
second operand is a word (AX) that is written to the port.
First operand must be an immediate byte value (0..255)
or DX register. Second operand must be AX or AL only.
See also traffic_lights.asm in c:\emu8086\examples.
If required you can read the data from port

using IN instruction, for example:
IN AX, 4
First operand of IN instruction (AX) receives the value from

port, second operand (4) is a port number. first operand
must be AX or AL only. Second operand must be an
immediate byte value (0..255) or DX register.
 Stepper Motor - port 7 (byte)
The stepper motor is controlled by sending data to i/o port 7.
stepper motor is electric motor that can be precisely

controlled by signals from a computer.
The motor turns through a precise angle each time it

receives a signal.
By varying the rate at which signal pulses are produced, the

motor can be run at different speeds or turned through an
exact angle and then stopped.
This is a basic 3-phase stepper motor, it has 3 magnets

controlled by bits 0, 1 and 2. other bits (3..7) are unused.
When magnet is working it becomes red. The arrow in the

left upper corner shows the direction of the last motor move.
Green line is here just to see that it is really rotating.
For example, the code below will do three clock-wise half-
steps:
MOV AL, 001b ; initialize.

OUT 7, AL
MOV AL, 011b ; half step 1.

OUT 7, AL

OUT 7, AL

OUT 7, AL
If you ever played with magnets you will understand how it

works. See also stepper_motor.asm in c:\emu8086\
examples.
If required you can read the data from port

using IN instruction, for example:
IN AL, 7
Stepper motor sets topmost bit of byte value in port 7 when

it's ready.
 Robot - port 9 (3 bytes)
The robot is controlled by sending data to i/o port 9.
The first byte (port 9) is a command register. Set values to

this port to make robot do something. Supported values:
decimal binary
action
value value
0 00000000 do nothing.
1 00000001 move forward.
2 00000010 turn left.
3 00000011 turn right.
examine. Examines an object in front using sensor. When

4 00000100 robot completes the task, result is set to data
register and bit #0 ofstatus register is set to 1.
5 00000101 switch on a lamp.
6 00000110 switch off a lamp.


The second byte (port 10) is a data register. This register is

set after robot completes the examine command:
decimal value binary value meaning
255 11111111 wall
0 00000000 nothing
7 00000111 switched-on lamp
8 00001000 switched-off lamp
The third byte (port 11) is a status register. Read values

from this port to determine the state of the robot. Each bit
has a specific property:
bit
description
number
zero when there is no new data in data register, one when there is new
bit #0
data in data register.
zero when robot is ready for next command, one when robot is busy doing
bit #1
some task.
zero when there is no error on last command execution, one when there is
bit #2 an error on command execution (when robot cannot complete the task:
move, turn, examine, switch on/off lamp).
example:

 MOV AL, 1 ; move forward.
 OUT 9, AL ;

 MOV AL, 3 ; turn right.
 OUT 9, AL ;

 OUT 9, AL ;

 MOV AL, 2 ; turn left.
 OUT 9, AL ;

 OUT 9, AL ;

keep in mind that robot is a mechanical creature and it takes
some time for it to complete a task. You should always
check bit#1 of status register before sending data to port
9, otherwise the robot will reject your command and "busy!"
will be shown. See also robot.asm in c:\emu8086\
examples.

Creating Custom Robo-World Map
It is possible to change the default map for the robot using

the tool box.
If you click the robot button and place robot over existing
robot it will turn 90 degrees counter-clock-wise. To manually
move the robot just place it anywhere else on the map.
If you click lamp button and click switched-on lamp the lamp
will be switched-off, if lamp is already switched-off it will be
deleted. Click over empty space will create a new switched-
on lamp.
Placing wall over existing wall deletes the wall.
Current version is limited to a single robot only. If you forget

to place a robot on the map it will be placed in some random
coordinates.
When robot device is closed the map is automatically saved

inside this file: c:\emu8086\devices\robot_map.dat
The right-click over the map brings up a popup menu that

allows to switch-on or switch-off all the lamps at once.

Programming Virtual Hardware Devices

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Programming Virtual Hardware Devices

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Programming Virtual Hardware Devices

I/O ports and Hardware Interrupts

EMU8086 supports user-created virtual devices that can be

Input / Output ports

Additional devices can be created using 8086 assembly, Java,

Input / output addresses for custom devices are from 0000 to

It is important to avoid two devices using the same ports.

Port 100 corresponds to byte 100 in this file: c:\emu8086.io ,

Emulation of Hardware Interrupts

External hardware interrupts can be triggered by external

Hardware interrupts are disabled when interrupt flag (IF) is set to

These instructions can be used to disable and enable hardware

cli - clear interrupt flag (disable hardware interrupts).

by default hardware interrupts are enabled and are disabled

Examples of Custom I/O Devices

Ready devices are available from virtual devices menu of the

 Traffic Lights - port 4 (word)

The traffic lights are controlled by sending data to i/o port 4.

1 - the lamp is turned on.

MOV AX, 0000001011110100b

We use yellow hexadecimal digits in caption (to achieve

See also traffic_lights.asm in c:\emu8086\examples.

If required you can read the data from port

First operand of IN instruction (AX) receives the value from

 Stepper Motor - port 7 (byte)

The stepper motor is controlled by sending data to i/o port 7.

stepper motor is electric motor that can be precisely

The motor turns through a precise angle each time it

By varying the rate at which signal pulses are produced, the

This is a basic 3-phase stepper motor, it has 3 magnets

When magnet is working it becomes red. The arrow in the

MOV AL, 001b ; initialize.

MOV AL, 011b ; half step 1.

MOV AL, 010b ; half step 2.

MOV AL, 110b ; half step 3.

If you ever played with magnets you will understand how it

If required you can read the data from port

Stepper motor sets topmost bit of byte value in port 7 when

The robot is controlled by sending data to i/o port 9.

The first byte (port 9) is a command register. Set values to

1 00000001 move forward.

2 00000010 turn left.

3 00000011 turn right.

examine. Examines an object in front using sensor. When

5 00000101 switch on a lamp.

6 00000110 switch off a lamp.

The second byte (port 10) is a data register. This register is

decimal value binary value meaning

255 11111111 wall

7 00000111 switched-on lamp

8 00001000 switched-off lamp

The third byte (port 11) is a status register. Read values

It is possible to change the default map for the robot using

Placing wall over existing wall deletes the wall.

Current version is limited to a single robot only. If you forget

When robot device is closed the map is automatically saved

The right-click over the map brings up a popup menu that

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