About these materials
ECE 473 is about how a machine actually executes a program — instruction sets, encodings, datapaths, memory hierarchy and the design trade-offs behind them. The pieces on this page are the parts of that story that are easier to use than to read about: an instruction is easier to understand once you have taken one apart field by field and put it back together.
Each demo is a single self-contained HTML file. Open it in any modern browser, press F for fullscreen, ? for the key list, and work through it at your own pace. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is tracked.
Course demos
Hosted here and free to use, in this course or any other.
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Instruction anatomy, encoding formats, and decoding practice
RISC-V: decode it
RISC-VType an instruction or a raw hex word and watch it come apart: opcode, funct fields, registers and the immediate, each highlighted in place with the value it carries. Then find out why the fields sit where they do, and practice reading machine words back into assembly with answers you can check.
- 1 · Anatomy One instruction, bit by bit — hover any field to see what it means.
- 2 · Formats Why the bits are where they are — step through the encoding design decisions.
- 3 · Decode Work out what a word means, type the answer, and have it checked.
Using them
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In class
Press F for fullscreen. The type is sized for a projector, and the number keys jump straight to a module.
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On your own
Press ? for the full key list. Arrow keys step through examples; Enter checks an answer and Space reveals one.
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Offline
Save the page and it still works — every demo is one file, with no scripts, fonts or data fetched from anywhere else.
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Reuse
Instructors and students elsewhere are welcome to use and share these. A pointer back to this page is appreciated.