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Homework #4 Solution
READ THE WHOLE DOCUMENT TWICE BEFORE STARTING!
DO NOT COPY/SHARE CODE! We will check your assignments against this semester and previous semesters!
Download the Stony Brook version of MARS posted on Piazza. DO NOT USE the MARS avail-able on the official webpage. The Stony Brook version has a reduced instruction set, added tools, and additional system calls you will need to complete the homework assignments.
You personally must implement the assignment in MIPS Assembly language by yourself. You may not use a code generator or other tools that write any MIPS code for you. You must manually write all MIPS Assembly code you submit as part of the assignment. You may also not write a code generator in MIPS Assembly that generates MIPS Assembly.
All test cases MUST execute in 100,000 instructions or less. Efficiency is an important aspect of programming.
Any excess output from your program (debugging notes, etc) may impact your grading. Do not leave erroneous printouts in your code!
Do not submit a file with the functions/labels main or _start defined. You are also not permitted to start your label names with two underscores ( __ ). You will obtain a ZERO for the assignment if you do this.
Assignment Overview
The focus of this homework assignment is on memory organization and working with multidi-mensional arrays in memory. This assignment also reinforces MIPS function calling and register conventions.
In this homework you will be implementing the functions to play the game, 2048. If you have not played the game, give it a try.
Homework #4 Page 1
To implement the game, we will be using a 2D array to track the state of the game. The original 2048 game is played in a 4x4 grid. However, we will generalize the functions to support a board of any dimension. To succeed in this assignment, you should become familiar with loading val-ues from and storing values to 2D arrays of arbitrary dimensions, as well as performing address arithmetic on 2D arrays containing objects of arbitrary size.
You MUST implement all of the functions in the assignment as defined. It is OK to implement additional helper functions of your own in hw4.asm .
You MUST follow the MIPS calling and register conventions. If you do not, you WILL lose points.
Do not submit a file with the functions/labels main or _start defined. You will obtain a ZERO for the assignment if you do this.
If you are having difficulties implementing these functions, write out the pseudocode or im-plement the functions in a higher-level language first. Once you understand the algorithm and what steps to perform, then translate the logic to MIPS.
When writing your program, try to comment as much as possible. Try to stay consistent with your formatting. It is much easier for your TA and the professor to help you if we can figure out what your code does quickly.
Understanding the Game Board
Each cell on the 2048 game board holds power-of-2 integers greater than 21. A cell with value X can be merged with another (adjacent) cell with same value X (X is a power of 2) to form a sin-gle cell with value 2X. The board in memory will be a 2D array of 16-bit (2-bytes, or half-word) two’s complement integers. Recall that 2D arrays can be stored in two ways: row-major order or column-major order. Our game board will be stored in row-major order. 2D arrays are imple-mented as an array of 1D arrays in memory. Therefore, the rightmost cell of a row is followed by the left-most cell of the next row. The 2D array will also order the rows such that the top-left cell of the board is the first element. Thus, memory addresses will increase as we progress from the leftmost cell to the rightmost cell and as we progress from the top row to the bottom row of the game board.
Notation and Terminology
The board will have n rows and m columns with n and m 2.
Each cell of the board is 2 bytes, or one half-word, in memory. The cell holds a two’s complement integer. If the cell value is -1, the cell is empty. Any other value in the cell which is not a power of
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2 greater than 21 is invalid.
Throughout this document we will refer to cells of the board in (row, col) format. Position (0,0) of the board is the top-left corner. Position (n-1, m-1) is the bottom-right corner of a board.
For example, the 48 cells in a board with 6 rows and 8 columns would be indexed as in the figure below.
Top of Board
(0,0)
(0,1)
(0,2)
(0,3)
(0,4)
(0,5)
(0,6)
(0,7)
(1,0)
(1,1)
(1,2)
(1,3)
(1,4)
(1,5)
(1,6)
(1,7)
(2,0)
(2,1)
(2,2)
(2,3)
(2,4)
(2,5)
(2,6)
(2,7)
(3,0)
(3,1)
(3,2)
(3,3)
(3,4)
(3,5)
(3,6)
(3,7)
(4,0)
(4,1)
(4,2)
(4,3)
(4,4)
(4,5)
(4,6)
(4,7)
(5,0)
(5,1)
(5,2)
(5,3)
(5,4)
(5,5)
(5,6)
(5,7)
Bottom of Board
Getting Started
From the Resources section of Piazza download the files hw4.asm which you need for the as-signment. At the top of your hw4.asm program in comments put your name and SBU ID number.
Homework #4
name: MY_NAME
sbuid: MY_SBU_ID
How to Test Your Functions
To perform basic tests on your functions, we suggest you write your own main functions in sep-arate files which call each function independently. Remember to include your hw4.asm file in each of your main files using the line:
.include "hw4.asm"
Your assignment will not be graded using any of your mains!
Your main files will not be graded. No code that you include inside of the main files should be submitted. You will only submit your hw4.asm file via Sparky. Make sure that all code required for implementing your functions ( .text ) are included in the hw4.asm file!
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To make sure that your code is self-contained, try assembling your hw4.asm file by itself in MARS. If you get any errors (such as a missing label), this means that you need to refactor (reorga-nize) your code, possibly by moving labels you inadvertently defined in your mains to hw4.asm .
All functions implemented in the assignment must be placed in hw4.asm and follow the stan-dard MIPS register conventions for functions taught in lecture. If you write your own helper functions, these also must be included in hw4.asm .
There is no need to create any variables or memory storage for this homework in your hw4.asm file. Therefore you MUST NOT declare a .data section in your hw4.asm file. Your functions should be implemented using ONLY of the information provided in the arguments. (Your main files will need to declare .data sections in order to call your functions with inputs.)
Make sure to initialize your registers within your own functions! Never assume registers or memory will hold any particular values!
Each function will be tested independently and therefore should not rely on any information other than the state of the arguments provided to your function. Do not write any functions that expect certain labels to be available in the main file.
Part I: Cell and Board
This version of the 2048 game will conclude when a cell has a value greater than or equal to 2048. Since each cell is stored as a half-word in memory, there is a limit on the largest possible value that can be represented, namely 215 1. We will be using the sign bit (msb) to represent an empty cell, i.e. an empty cell is -1.
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2048 Visualizer in Mars
There should be an option located in the Tools menu called 2048 Display Board . This tool simulates the concept of video memory where data stored directly to an address in memory is re-flected in a visual manner. The simulator will treat the bytes starting at 0xffff0000 to a maxi-mum of 0xffff007f as the values of a rectangular text console. The row and column sizes for which the board is reading/displaying is denoted by the drop-down options at the top of the tool. Each half-word of the memory is mapped to a cell of the board based on the rows and columns specified.
What this means is that the simulator will attempt to translate the values stored at these memory addresses as values to display. This technique is a form of Memory Mapped I/O (MMIO). You can
read more about this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory-mapped_I/O.
o The maximum address that the board will try to translate and display is defined by 0xffff0000 + (row*column*2) - 2 . Since the board can only display at most a 8x8 board, the starting address for the last cell is 0xffff007e .
o DO NOT hardcode the address of the visualizer in your functions. All functions should as-sume the address of the board is provided as the argument to the function. To test with the 2048 Visualizer, pass the address 0xffff0000 as the board address to your functions.
o NOTE: There is NO maximum board size for this assignment. Your code should be capable of handling any row and column 2. The visual tool can only display a maximum of 8x8.
How to use the 2048 Visualizer
To begin using the 2048 Display Board , launch the tool from the Tools Menu. Once the 2048 Display Board Tool appears, assemble your testing program. Select the size of the board you wish to test from the drop down menus of the tool. Before pressing the run but-ton, you must connect the visualizer tool to MARS by pressing the Connect to MIPS button on the tool. When your program stores any data to the addresses in the board range (address 0xffff0000 to 0xffff007e ) the stored value will display in the cell of the board.
Note, the tool can be used to test boards with any dimension from 2-8, in row-major order. Upon selecting a new size, the board will be reset visually, but the values stored in memory remain unchanged. To explicitly zero the memory press the reset button at the bottom of the tool.
Changing the row and columns will cause the board to resize. If the board is cut off, simply pick a corner of the tool and drag the window to make it larger or smaller.
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Working with the game board in memory
We will need to read and write the values of an individual cell of the 2D array that represents the board. In order to access a cell on the board, we must use the general formula for working with 2D arrays in memory. Generalizing is not only good practice, but necessary in a situation like this assignment where we will be working with boards of arbitrary dimensions.
Suppose you would like to access obj in the 2D array obj_arr . The dimensions of obj_arr is n rows by m cols, and the location of obj is at (i, j) in the 2D array, where i is in the range [0, n -1], and j is in the range [0, m -1]. The address of obj is then given by:
obj_arr[i][j] = base_address + (row_size * i) + (size_of(obj) * j) where
row_size = n_cols * size_of(obj)
Note that obj_arr[i][j] will be the computed address of where the desired object starts in memory, and not the object itself. Also, consider why the size of a row is n_cols * size_of(obj) .
Why does this make sense? How would this calculation vary if it were column-major order instead? What is the size of an obj for us?
For all functions, you may assume the board references the correct space in memory when num_rows and num_cols are valid.
int clear_board(cell[][] board, int num_rows, int num_cols)
Never assume that memory is in the state you want it to be in! The part of memory our board occupies may have previously been used by another program and thus have garbage data in it. To ensure a clean, appropriate state, we will have to explicitly set it.
This function will clear the board, setting all the cells of the board to empty cells (-1).
Arguments:
board : The starting address of a 2D array holding the state of the game board.
num_rows : The number of rows in the board.
num_cols : The number of columns in the board.
returns: 0 for success, -1 for error.
Return -1 for error:
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num_rows or num_cols is less than 2.
To place a new value into the board, implement the following function:
b. int place(int[][] board, int n_rows, int n_cols, int row, int col,
int val)
Since the function has more than 4 arguments, the remaining arguments must be placed on the stack. The caller function will place the arguments val and col on the stack prior to calling place . At the start of the place function, the stack pointer and arguments will be set as follows:
This function takes in a 2D array n_rows by n_cols in size, calculates the address of a particular cell given by ( row , col ), then stores the given value into the appropriate fields of the two-byte cell object in memory.
Arguments:
board : The starting address of a 2D array holding the state of the game board.
n_rows : The number of rows in the board.
n_cols : The number of columns in the board.
row : The row number of the cell being set.
col : The column number of the cell being set.
value : The number being placed into the cell.
returns: 0 for success, -1 for error
Return -1 for error in any of the following cases:
n_rows or n_cols is less than 2
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row is outside the range of [0, n_rows -1] col is outside the range [0, n_cols -1] value is not -1 AND not a power of 2 2.
o All functions MUST validate num_rows and num_cols to be 2.
Ÿ Consider writing a get_cell function as a helper function, similar to place. It is not a reuqirement of the assignment, however it may be useful in your implementation.
int start_game(cell[][] board, int num_rows, int num_cols,
int r1, int c1, int r2, int c2)
This function will start a game by calling clear_board first and then placing two starting values (the starting value is 2), one at (r1,c1) and another at (r2,c2) .
Since the function has more than 4 arguments, the remaining arguments must be placed on the stack. The caller function will place the arguments c1 , r2 and c2 on the stack prior to calling start_game . At the start of the start_game function, the stack pointer and arguments will be set as follows:
Remember, it is the responsibility of the function that PLACES arguments on the stack be-fore calling an inner function to also REMOVE those arguments when that inner function returns. The inner function, start_game will read the arguments, but it MUST NOT shrink the stack to remove them.
Arguments:
board : The starting address of a 2D array holding the state of the game board.
num_rows : The number of rows in the board.
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num_cols : The number of columns in the board.
r1 : Row number for first starting value.
c1 : Column number for first starting value.
r2 : Row number for second starting value.
c2 : Column number for second starting value.
returns: 0 for success, -1 for error.
Return -1 for error if:
num_rows or num_cols is less than 2.
r1 or r2 is outside the range [0, num_rows -1]. c1 or c2 is outside the range [0, num_cols -1].
start_game MUST call clear_board and place .
Part II: Gameplay
d. int merge_row(cell[][] board, int num_rows, int num_cols, int row,
int direction)
e. int merge_col(cell[][] board, int num_rows, int num_cols, int col,
int direction)
Each function will iterate over pairs of cells in the speci fied
row
or
col
, attempting to
merge the cells together. In order for a cell to merge with another,
both
must
have the same
(non-empty) value and they must also be adjacent.
specifies in which direc-
direction
tion to merge as shown in the table below.
direction
merge_row
merge_col
0
left-to-right
bottom-to-top
1
right-to-left
top-to-bottom
If a successful
merge has occurred, the cell which holds the merged value contains twice the
original. The other cell becomes an empty cell (-1).
Arguments:
board : The starting address of a 2D array holding the state of the game board.
num_rows : The number of rows in the board.
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num_cols : The number of columns in the board.
row or col : The row or column whose cells should be merged.
returns: Number of cells with non-empty values in the row or col after merge, -1 on error.
Return -1 for error in any of the following cases:
row or col is invalid (i.e., outside board range or negative).
num_rows or num_cols is less than 2.
direction is invalid, eg. not 0 or 1.
The figure below illustrates two examples of merging. The bold box shows the pair of cells being compared. Green denotes values to merge. Red denotes values which cannot be merged. Yellow denotes the modified value.
For the left example shown, the row is merged left-to-right. We begin at the left-most cell and compare it with its neighbor. If they have the same value, they are merged and the sum is placed in the left-hand cell of the pair. The right-hand cell of the pair is replaced with -1. We repeat the process starting with each cell in the row (except the last cell).
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f. int shift_row(cell[][] board, int num_rows, int num_cols, int row
int direction)
g. int shift_col(cell[][] board, int num_rows, int num_cols, int col,
int direction)
These functions shift the cells of a specified
row
or
col
as far as possible in the appropri-
ate direction. The shifting will start and end
as speci
fied in the table below.
Function
direction
Start
End
shift_row
0 (left)
Col #1
Col #num_cols-1
shift_row
1 (right)
Col #num_cols-2
Col #0
shift_col
0 (up)
Row #1
Row #num_rows-1
shift_col
1 (down)
Row #num_rows-2
Row #0
A cell is shifted
only if it is not empty. If a cell cannot be shifted any further, the function
attempts to shift the next (non-empty) cell in the row/col. This is repeated until all the cells
in the row/col have been attempted to be shifted.
Arguments:
board : The starting address of a 2D array holding the state of the game board.
num_rows : The number of rows in the board.
num_cols : The number of columns in the board.
row/col : The row/col that should be shifted.
returns: Number of cells shifted, -1 on error.
Return -1 for error in any of the following cases:
row or col is invalid (i.e. outside board range or negative).
num_rows or num_cols is less than 2.
direction is invalid, eg. not 0 or 1.
The figure illustrates two different shifts. The left-hand figure shows a Left Shift, whereas the right-hand figure shows a Down Shift.
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h. int check_state(cell[][] board, int num_rows, int num_cols)
This function checks the current state of the game. If any cell on the board has a value 2048, the game has been won. If all cells are full and no adjacent cells can be merged (no diagonals), the game has been lost.
Arguments:
board : The starting address of a 2D array holding the state of the game board.
num_rows : The number of rows in the board.
num_cols : The number of columns in the board.
returns: 1 if the game has been won, -1 if the game has been lost, 0 otherwise.
o You may assume num_rows and num_cols are valid values passed to check_state .
i. (int, int) user_move(cell[][] board, int num_rows, int num_cols,
char dir)
This function simulates a user’s move. dir can be one of the following values: ‘L’, ‘R’, ‘U’ or ‘D’. This function will call the previous game-play functions in the following order:
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for each row or col:
call shift_row or shift_col
call merge_row or merge_col
call shift_row or shift_col
call check_state after loop
The loop will iterate over all the rows or columns based on the direction:
Direction
dir
Iterate Over
Left
L
Rows
Right
R
Rows
Up
U
Columns
Down
D
Columns
This algorithm will first merge all the adjacent cells together and then shift them as close
together as possible in the specified direction. This is considered to be one move. At the
end of the move, the state of the board is checked to see if the user won the game.
Arguments:
board : The starting address of a 2D array holding the state of the game board.
num_rows : The number of rows in the board.
num_cols : The number of columns in the board.
returns: (0,x), where x is the return value of check_state or (-1,-1) if any of the functions had an error or dir is an invalid character.
You can test your functions by writing a main program that runs the game as it should be played by calling the functions you implemented above. This is additional work that is NOT required and you won’t necessarily be guided through this. Get creative!
o Remember: DO NOT submit a file with the functions/labels main or _start defined. You are also not permitted to start your label names with two underscores ( __ ). You will obtain a ZERO for the assignment if you do this. Additionally, DO NOT submit any main file that plays the game using the functions you implemented. Only submit your hw4.asm file which contains the implementation of the functions defined above.
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Hand-in instructions
Do not add any miscellaneous printouts, as this will probably make the grading script give you a zero. Please print out the text EXACTLY as it is displayed in the provided examples.
When writing your program try to comment as much as possible. Try to stay consistent with your formatting. It is much easier for your TA and the professor to help you if we can figure out what your code does quickly.
See Sparky Submission Instructions on Piazza for hand-in instructions. There is no tolerance for homework submission via email. They must be submitted through Sparky. Please do not wait until the last minute to submit your homework. If you are having trouble submitting, stop by office hours prior to the deadline for assistance.
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