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Porting Sweet 16 by Carsten Strotmann (carsten@strotmann.de)
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Sweet 16 is a metaprocessor or "pseudo microprocessor" implemented in 6502 assembly language. Originally written by Steve Wozniak and used in the Apple II, Sweet 16 can also be ported to other 6502-based systems to provide useful 16-bit functionality. This article includes the source code for Sweet 16, along with a brief history, programming instructions, and notes to help port it.

This material was provided by Carsten Strotmann, who has built a working Atari Port of Sweet 16, for BIBO and for Mac/65 assemblers. See also the appendix for material added later, after a discussion on the 6502 forum.

Porting Sweet 16

Sweet 16 is not a teen-magazine, nor is it a brand name for candy. It is a really tricky und useful extension to a 6502 computer. It was originally written by Apple's Steve "Woz" Wozniak and can be found in the ROM of some APPLE ][ Computers. Sweet 16 is a kind of virtual machine that gives the 6502 programmer a 16 bit extension to the CPU. Sweet 16 creates sixteen 16-bit registers/pointers (in zero page) and new opcodes to use this registers. Although Sweet 16 is not as fast as standard 6502 code, it can reduce the code size of your programms and ease programming.

This text focuses only on the task of porting Sweet 16 to another 6502 based computer. Information on the useage and the interals of Sweet 16 can be found in the documentation by Steve Wozniak and the article by Dick Sedgewick.

Porting Sweet 16 is easy, if you know what to take into account. There are three main issues:

  1. the location of the zero page registers
  2. the base address of the code in memory
  3. the save and restore routines

Let's start with the zero page registers

Sweet 16 needs 32 zero page addresses for the 16 registers (R0-R15). In the original Apple Version this registers are from $0 to $1F,in the ATARI Version the locations $E0-$FF are used. You can place this registers anywhere in the zeropage, but it have to be a contiguous range.

The base address of the code

Sweet 16 uses a tricky indirect 8-Bit jump to access the routines for each opcode. This saves some space in the code. But for this hack to work, some precaution have to be taken for the code. All code from the label "SET" to the label "RTN" have to be assembled in one 6502 Page ($100/256 Bytes). If you mind this, everything should work fine.

The "save" and "restore" routines

The Apple ][ Version of Sweet 16 uses the ROM-internal "save" and "restore" routines to save and restore all processor registers and flags. If your system has such routines in ROM, fine, just use them. If not, you have to add these routines to your programm. Here is a template:

 ;------------------------------
 SAVE
    STA ACC
    STX XREG
    STY YREG
    PHP
    PLA
    STA STATUS
    CLD
    RTS
 ;------------------------------
 RESTORE
    LDA STATUS
    PHA
    LDA ACC
    LDX XREG
    LDY YREG
    PLP
    RTS
 ;-------------------------------
 ACC    .BYTE 0
 XREG   .BYTE 0
 YREG   .BYTE 0
 STATUS .BYTE 0
Thats all. Porting Sweet 16 is easy and straightforward. I hope to see some Sweet 16 enhanced 6502 source in the future. If someone is searching for a nice project, extending an open-source 6502 Assembler (like CA65 from CC65) with the Sweet 16 opcodes would be one :)

The Story of Sweet 16 (as told by Woz)

While writing Apple BASIC, I ran into the problem of manipulating the 16 bit pointer data and its arithmetic in an 8 bit machine.

My solution to this problem of handling 16 bit data, notably pointers, with an 8 bit microprocessor was to implement a non-existent 16 bit processor in software, interpreter fashion, which I refer to as SWEET16. SWEET16 contains sixteen internal 16 bit registers, actually the first 32 bytes in main memory, labelled R0 through R15. R0 is defined as the accumulator, R15 as the program counter, and R14 as a status register. R13 stores the result of all COMPARE operations for branch testing. The user acceses SWEET16 with a subroutine call to hexadecimal address F689. Bytes stored after the subroutine call are thereafter interpreted and executed by SWEET16. One of SWEET16's commands returns the user back to 6502 mode, even restoring the original register contents.

Implemented in only 300 bytes of code, SWEET16 has a very simple instruction set tailored to operations such as memory moves and stack manipulation. Most opcodes are only one byte long, but since she runs approximately ten times slower than equivalent 6502 code, SWEET16 should be employed only when code is at a premium or execution is not. As an example of her usefulness, I have estimated that about 1K byte could be weeded out of my 5K byte Apple-II BASIC interpreter with no observable performance degradation by selectively applying SWEET16. [Full article in BYTE magazine here.]


Source code (Sweet 16)

The following is from a 1994 post to Usenet group comp.sys.apple2.programmer by Sheldon Simms.

Article 1684 of comp.sys.apple2.programmer:
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2.programmer
Path: amdahl.uts.amdahl.com!amdahl!amd!decwrl!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!library.ucla.edu!csulb.edu!csus.edu!netcom.com!sheldon
From: sheldon@netcom.com (Sheldon Simms)
Subject: Source code (Sweet 16)
Message-ID: <sheldonCLz3qM.85r@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 1994 06:37:33 GMT
Lines: 264

Well maybe this should go to comp.sources.apple2 but it's not too long
and in my mind it's part of the thread on learning assembly language
programming. It's an opportunity to learn from Woz himself.

-Sheldon

********************************
*                              *
*   APPLE-II  PSEUDO MACHINE   *
*         INTERPRETER          *
*                              *
*      COPYRIGHT (C) 1977      *
*     APPLE COMPUTER,  INC     *
*                              *
*     ALL  RIGHTS RESERVED     *
*                              *
*         S. WOZNIAK           *
*                              *
********************************
*                              *
* TITLE:  SWEET 16 INTERPRETER *
*                              *
********************************

R0L     EQU  $0
R0H     EQU  $1
R14H    EQU  $1D
R15L    EQU  $1E
R15H    EQU  $1F
SAVE    EQU  $FF4A
RESTORE EQU  $FF3F

        ORG  $F689

        AST  32

        JSR  SAVE           ;PRESERVE 6502 REG CONTENTS
        PLA
        STA  R15L           ;INIT SWEET16 PC
        PLA                 ;FROM RETURN
        STA  R15H           ;ADDRESS
SW16B   JSR  SW16C          ;INTERPRET AND EXECUTE
        JMP  SW16B          ;ONE SWEET16 INSTR.
SW16C   INC  R15L
        BNE  SW16D          ;INCR SWEET16 PC FOR FETCH
        INC  R15H
SW16D   LDA  >SET           ;COMMON HIGH BYTE FOR ALL ROUTINES
        PHA                 ;PUSH ON STACK FOR RTS
        LDY  $0
        LDA  (R15L),Y       ;FETCH INSTR
        AND  $F             ;MASK REG SPECIFICATION
        ASL                 ;DOUBLE FOR TWO BYTE REGISTERS
        TAX                 ;TO X REG FOR INDEXING
        LSR
        EOR  (R15L),Y       ;NOW HAVE OPCODE
        BEQ  TOBR           ;IF ZERO THEN NON-REG OP
        STX  R14H           ;INDICATE "PRIOR RESULT REG"
        LSR
        LSR                 ;OPCODE*2 TO LSB'S
        LSR
        TAY                 ;TO Y REG FOR INDEXING
        LDA  OPTBL-2,Y      ;LOW ORDER ADR BYTE
        PHA                 ;ONTO STACK
        RTS                 ;GOTO REG-OP ROUTINE
TOBR    INC  R15L
        BNE  TOBR2          ;INCR PC
        INC  R15H
TOBR2   LDA  BRTBL,X        ;LOW ORDER ADR BYTE
        PHA                 ;ONTO STACK FOR NON-REG OP
        LDA  R14H           ;"PRIOR RESULT REG" INDEX
        LSR                 ;PREPARE CARRY FOR BC, BNC.
        RTS                 ;GOTO NON-REG OP ROUTINE
RTNZ    PLA                 ;POP RETURN ADDRESS
        PLA
        JSR  RESTORE        ;RESTORE 6502 REG CONTENTS
        JMP  (R15L)         ;RETURN TO 6502 CODE VIA PC
SETZ    LDA  (R15L),Y       ;HIGH ORDER BYTE OF CONSTANT
        STA  R0H,X
        DEY
        LDA  (R15L),Y       ;LOW ORDER BYTE OF CONSTANT
        STA  R0L,X
        TYA                 ;Y REG CONTAINS 1
        SEC
        ADC  R15L           ;ADD 2 TO PC
        STA  R15L
        BCC  SET2
        INC  R15H
SET2    RTS
OPTBL   DFB  SET-1          ;1X
BRTBL   DFB  RTN-1          ;0
        DFB  LD-1           ;2X
        DFB  BR-1           ;1
        DFB  ST-1           ;3X
        DFB  BNC-1          ;2
        DFB  LDAT-1         ;4X
        DFB  BC-1           ;3
        DFB  STAT-1         ;5X
        DFB  BP-1           ;4
        DFB  LDDAT-1        ;6X
        DFB  BM-1           ;5
        DFB  STDAT-1        ;7X
        DFB  BZ-1           ;6
        DFB  POP-1          ;8X
        DFB  BNZ-1          ;7
        DFB  STPAT-1        ;9X
        DFB  BM1-1          ;8
        DFB  ADD-1          ;AX
        DFB  BNM1-1         ;9
        DFB  SUB-1          ;BX
        DFB  BK-1           ;A
        DFB  POPD-1         ;CX
        DFB  RS-1           ;B
        DFB  CPR-1          ;DX
        DFB  BS-1           ;C
        DFB  INR-1          ;EX
        DFB  NUL-1          ;D
        DFB  DCR-1          ;FX
        DFB  NUL-1          ;E
        DFB  NUL-1          ;UNUSED
        DFB  NUL-1          ;F

* FOLLOWING CODE MUST BE
* CONTAINED ON A SINGLE PAGE!

SET     BPL  SETZ           ;ALWAYS TAKEN
LD      LDA  R0L,X
BK      EQU  *-1
        STA  R0L
        LDA  R0H,X          ;MOVE RX TO R0
        STA  R0H
        RTS
ST      LDA  R0L
        STA  R0L,X          ;MOVE R0 TO RX
        LDA  R0H
        STA  R0H,X
        RTS
STAT    LDA  R0L
STAT2   STA  (R0L,X)        ;STORE BYTE INDIRECT
        LDY  $0
STAT3   STY  R14H           ;INDICATE R0 IS RESULT NEG
INR     INC  R0L,X
        BNE  INR2           ;INCR RX
        INC  R0H,X
INR2    RTS
LDAT    LDA  (R0L,X)        ;LOAD INDIRECT (RX)
        STA  R0L            ;TO R0
        LDY  $0
        STY  R0H            ;ZERO HIGH ORDER R0 BYTE
        BEQ  STAT3          ;ALWAYS TAKEN
POP     LDY  $0             ;HIGH ORDER BYTE = 0
        BEQ  POP2           ;ALWAYS TAKEN
POPD    JSR  DCR            ;DECR RX
        LDA  (R0L,X)        ;POP HIGH ORDER BYTE @RX
        TAY                 ;SAVE IN Y REG
POP2    JSR  DCR            ;DECR RX
        LDA  (R0L,X)        ;LOW ORDER BYTE
        STA  R0L            ;TO R0
        STY  R0H
POP3    LDY  $0             ;INDICATE R0 AS LAST RESULT REG
        STY  R14H
        RTS
LDDAT   JSR  LDAT           ;LOW ORDER BYTE TO R0, INCR RX
        LDA  (R0L,X)        ;HIGH ORDER BYTE TO R0
        STA  R0H
        JMP  INR            ;INCR RX
STDAT   JSR  STAT           ;STORE INDIRECT LOW ORDER
        LDA  R0H            ;BYTE AND INCR RX. THEN
        STA  (R0L,X)        ;STORE HIGH ORDER BYTE.
        JMP  INR            ;INCR RX AND RETURN
STPAT   JSR  DCR            ;DECR RX
        LDA  R0L
        STA  (R0L,X)        ;STORE R0 LOW BYTE @RX
        JMP  POP3           ;INDICATE R0 AS LAST RESULT REG
DCR     LDA  R0L,X
        BNE  DCR2           ;DECR RX
        DEC  R0H,X
DCR2    DEC  R0L,X
        RTS
SUB     LDY  $0             ;RESULT TO R0
        CPR  SEC            ;NOTE Y REG = 13*2 FOR CPR
        LDA  R0L
        SBC  R0L,X
        STA  R0L,Y          ;R0-RX TO RY
        LDA  R0H
        SBC  R0H,X
SUB2    STA  R0H,Y
        TYA                 ;LAST RESULT REG*2
        ADC  $0             ;CARRY TO LSB
        STA  R14H
        RTS
ADD     LDA  R0L
        ADC  R0L,X
        STA  R0L            ;R0+RX TO R0
        LDA  R0H
        ADC  R0H,X
        LDY  $0             ;R0 FOR RESULT
        BEQ  SUB2           ;FINISH ADD
BS      LDA  R15L           ;NOTE X REG IS 12*2!
        JSR  STAT2          ;PUSH LOW PC BYTE VIA R12
        LDA  R15H
        JSR  STAT2          ;PUSH HIGH ORDER PC BYTE
BR      CLC
BNC     BCS  BNC2           ;NO CARRY TEST
BR1     LDA  (R15L),Y       ;DISPLACEMENT BYTE
        BPL  BR2
        DEY
BR2     ADC  R15L           ;ADD TO PC
        STA  R15L
        TYA
        ADC  R15H
        STA  R15H
BNC2    RTS
BC      BCS  BR
        RTS
BP      ASL                 ;DOUBLE RESULT-REG INDEX
        TAX                 ;TO X REG FOR INDEXING
        LDA  R0H,X          ;TEST FOR PLUS
        BPL  BR1            ;BRANCH IF SO
        RTS
BM      ASL                 ;DOUBLE RESULT-REG INDEX
        TAX
        LDA  R0H,X          ;TEST FOR MINUS
        BMI  BR1
        RTS
BZ      ASL                 ;DOUBLE RESULT-REG INDEX
        TAX
        LDA  R0L,X          ;TEST FOR ZERO
        ORA  R0H,X          ;(BOTH BYTES)
        BEQ  BR1            ;BRANCH IF SO
        RTS
BNZ     ASL                 ;DOUBLE RESULT-REG INDEX
        TAX
        LDA  R0L,X          ;TEST FOR NON-ZERO
        ORA  R0H,X          ;(BOTH BYTES)
        BNE  BR1            ;BRANCH IF SO
        RTS
BM1     ASL                 ;DOUBLE RESULT-REG INDEX
        TAX
        LDA  R0L,X          ;CHECK BOTH BYTES
        AND  R0H,X          ;FOR $FF (MINUS 1)
        EOR  $FF
        BEQ  BR1            ;BRANCH IF SO
        RTS
BNM1    ASL                 ;DOUBLE RESULT-REG INDEX
        TAX
        LDA  R0L,X
        AND  R0H,X          ;CHECK BOTH BYTES FOR NO $FF
        EOR  $FF
        BNE  BR1            ;BRANCH IF NOT MINUS 1
NUL     RTS
RS      LDX  $18            ;12*2 FOR R12 AS STACK POINTER
        JSR  DCR            ;DECR STACK POINTER
        LDA  (R0L,X)        ;POP HIGH RETURN ADDRESS TO PC
        STA  R15H
        JSR  DCR            ;SAME FOR LOW ORDER BYTE
        LDA  (R0L,X)
        STA  R15L
        RTS
RTN     JMP  RTNZ
--

 W. Sheldon Simms        | Newt's Friend / Jack Kemp for President
 sheldon@netcom.com      | Freedom implies responsibility
-------------------------+--------------------------------------------


Article 1685 of comp.sys.apple2.programmer:
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2.programmer
Path: amdahl.uts.amdahl.com!amdahl!amd!decwrl!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!library.ucla.edu!csulb.edu!csus.edu!netcom.com!sheldon
From: sheldon@netcom.com (Sheldon Simms)
Subject: Sweet 16 description
Message-ID: <sheldonCLz3tB.8C4@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 1994 06:39:11 GMT
Lines: 992

Well since I posted the source, here's what it does for anyone who
might not know...

-Sheldon


Sweet 16 - Introduction

by Dick Sedgewick (from Merlin Users Manual)

Sweet 16 is probably the least used and least understood seed in the Apple ][.

In exactly the same sense that Integer and Applesoft Basics are languages, SWEET 16 is a language. Compared to the Basics, however, it would be classed as low level with a strong likeness to conventional 6502 Assembly language.

To use SWEET 16, you must learn the language - and to quote "WOZ", "The opcode list is short and uncomplicated". "WOZ" (Steve Wozniak), of course is Mr. Apple, and the creator of SWEET 16.

SWEET 16 is ROM based in every Apple ][ from $F689 to $F7FC. It has it's own set of opcodes and instruction sets, and uses the SAVE and RESTORE routines from the Apple Monitor to preserve the 6502 registers when in use, allowing SWEET 16 to be used as a subroutine.

It uses the first 32 locations on zero page to set up its 16 double byte registers, and is therefore not compatible with Applesoft Basic without some additional efforts.

The original article, "SWEET 16: The 6502 Dream Machine", first appeared in Byte Magazine, November 1977 and later in the original "WOZ PAK". The article is included here and again as test material to help understand the use and implementation of SWEET 16.

Examples of the use of SWEET 16 are found in the Programmer's Aid #1, in the Renumber, Append, and Relocate programs. The Programmer's Aid Operating Manual contains complete source assembly listings, indexed on page 65.

The demonstration program is written to be introductory and simple, consisting of three parts:

  1. Integer Basic Program
  2. Machine Language Subroutine
  3. SWEET 16 Subroutine

The task of the program will be to move data. Parameters of the move will be entered in the Integer Basic Program.

The "CALL 768" ($300) at line 120, enters a 6502 machine language subroutine having the single purpose of entering SWEET 16 and subsequently returning to BASIC (addresses $300, $301, $302, and $312 respectively). The SWEET 16 subroutine of course performs the move, and is entered at Hex locations $303 to $311 (see listing Number 3).

After the move, the screen will display three lines of data, each 8 bytes long, and await entry of a new set of parameters. The three lines of data displayed on the screen are as follows:

The display of 8 bytes of data was chosen to simplify the illustration of what goes on.

Integer Basic has its own way of recording the string A$. Because the name chosen for the string "A$" is stored in 2 bytes, a total of five housekeeping bytes precede the data entered as A$, leaving only three additional bytes available for display. Integer Basic also adds a housekeeping byte at the end of a string, known as the "string terminator".

Consequently, for convenience purposes of the display, and to see the string terminator as the 8th byte, the string data entered via the keyboard should be limited to two characters, and will appear as the 6th and 7th bytes. Additionally, parameters to be entered include the number of bytes to be moved. A useful range for this demonstration would be 1-8 inclusive, but of course 1-255 will work.

Finally, the starting address of the destination of the move must be entered. Again, for simplicity, only the high-order byte is entered, and the program allows a choice between Decimal 9 and high-order byte of program pointer 1, to avoid unnecessary problems (in this demonstration enter a decimal number between 9 and 144 for a 48K APPLE).

The 8 bytes of data displayed starting at $00 will enable one to observe the condition of the SWEET 16 registers after a move has been accomplished, and thereby understand how the SWEET 16 program works.

From the article "SWEET 16: A 6502 Dream Machine", remember that SWEET 16 can establish 16 double byte registers starting at $00. This means that SWEET 16 can use the first 32 addresses on zero page.

The "events" occurring in this demonstration program can be studied in the first four SWEET 16 registers. Therefore, the 8 byte display starting at $0000 is large enough for this purpose.

These four registers are established as R0, R1, R2, R3:

R0        $0000     &   0001       -SWEET 16 accumulator
R1        $0002     &   0003       -Source address
R2        $0004     &   0005       -Destination address
R3        $0006     &   0007       -Number of bytes to move
 .
 .
 .
R14       $001C     &   001D       -Prior result register
R15       $001E     &   001F       -SWEET 16 Program counter

Additionally, an examination of registers R14 and R15 will extend and understanding of SWEET 16, as fully explained in the "WOZ" text. Notice that the high order byte of R14, (located at $1D) contains $06, and is the doubled register specification (3X2=$06). R15, the SWEET 16 program counter contains the address of the next operation as it did for each step during execution of the program, which was $0312 when execution ended and the 6502 code resumed.

To try a sample run, enter the Integer Basic program as shown in Listing #1. Of course, REM statements can be omitted, and line 10 is only helpful if the machine code is to be stored on disk. Listing #2 must also be entered starting at $300.

NOTE: A 6502 disassembly does not look like listing #3, but the SOURCEROR disassembler would create a correct disassembly.

     Enter "RUN" and hit RETURN
     Enter "12" and hit RETURN (A$ - A$ string data)
     Enter "18" and hit RETURN (high-order byte of destination)

The display should appear as follows:

     $0800-C1 40 00 10 08 B1 B2 1E  (SOURCE)
     $0A00-C1 40 00 10 08 B1 B2 1E  (Dest.)
     $0000-1E 00 08 08 08 0A 00 00  (SWEET 16)

NOTE: The 8 bytes stored at $0A00 are identical to the 8 bytes starting at $0800, indicating that an accurate move of 8 bytes length has been made. They are moved one byte at a time starting with token C1 and ending with token 1E. If moving less than 8 bytes, the data following the moved data would be whatever existed at those locations before the move.

The bytes have the following significance:

A Token$

     C1     40   00    10    08     B1     B2        1E
     ---------  ----   --------     ---------        --
         |       |        |          |     |       String
        VN      DSP      NVA       DATA   DATA   Terminator

The SWEET 16 registers are as shown:

     low   high     low   high     low   high     low   high
$0000 1E    00       08    08       08    0A       00    00
     ----------     ----------     ----------     ----------
         |              |              |              |
      register       register       register       register
         R0             R1             R2             R3
       (acc)         (source)        (dest)        (#bytes)

The low order byte of R0, the SWEET 16 accumulator, has $1E in it, the last byte moved (the 8th).

The low order byte of the source register R1 started as $00 and was incremented eight times, once for each byte of moved data.

The high order byte of the destination register R2 contains $0A, which was entered at 10 (the variable) and poked into the SWEET 16 code. The low-order byte of R2 was incremented exactly like R1.

Finally, register R3, the register that stores the number of bytes to be moved, has been poked to 8 (the variable B) and decremented eight times as each byte got moved, ending up $0000.

By entering character strings and varying the number of bytes to be moved, the SWEET 16 registers can be observed and the contents predicted.

Working with this demonstration program, and study of the text material will enable you to write SWEET 16 programs that perform additional 16 bit manipulations. The unassigned opcodes mentioned in the "WOZ Dream Machine" article should present a most interesting opportunity to "play".

SWEET 16 as a language - or tool - opens a new direction to Apple ][ owners without spending a dime, and it's been there all the time.

"Apple-ites" who desire to learn machine language programming, can use SWEET 16 as a starting point. With this text material to use, and less opcodes to learn, a user can quickly be effective.

Listing #1


>List
     10     PRINT "[D]BLOAD SWEET":  REM CTRL D
     20     CALL - 936: DIM A $ (10)
     30     INPUT "ENTER STRING A $ " , A $
     40     INPUT "ENTER # BYTES " , B
     50     IF NOT B THEN 40 : REM AT LEAST 1
     60     POKE 778 , B : REM POKE LENGTH
     70     INPUT "ENTER DESTINATION " , A
     80     IF A > PEEK (203) - 1 THEN 70
     90     IF A < PEEK (205) + 1 THEN 70
     100    POKE 776 , A : REM POKE DESTINATION
     110    M = 8 : GOSUB 160 : REM DISPLAY
     120    CALL 768 : REM GOTO $0300
     130    M = A : GOSUB 160 : REM DISPLAY
     140    M = O : GOSUB 160 : REM DISPLAY
     150    PRINT : PRINT : GOTO 30
     160    POKE 60 , 0 : POKE 61 , M
     170    CALL -605 : RETURN : REM XAM8 IN MONITOR


Listing #2

     300:20 89 F6 11 00 08 12 00 00 13 00 00 41 52
         F3 07 FB 00 60


Listing #3

SWEET 16

     $300  20  89  F6   JSR    $F689
     $303  11  00  08   SET    R1  source address
     $306  12  00  00   SET    R2  destination address
                         A
     $309  13  00  00   SET    R3  length
                         B
     $30C  41           LD     @R1
     $30D  52           ST     @R2
     $30E  F3           DCR    R3
     $30F  07           BNZ    $30C
     $311  00           RTN
     $312  60           RTS

Data will be poked from the Integer Basic program:

          "A"       from Line 100
          "B"       from Line 60


SWEET 16: A Pseudo 16 Bit Microprocessor

by Steve Wozniak

Description:

While writing APPLE BASIC for a 6502 microprocessor, I repeatedly encountered a variant of MURPHY'S LAW. Briefly stated, any routine operating on 16-bit data will require at least twice the code that it should. Programs making extensive use of 16-bit pointers (such as compilers, editors, and assemblers) are included in this category. In my case, even the addition of a few double-byte instructions to the 6502 would have only slightly alleviated the problem. What I really needed was a 6502/RCA 1800 hybrid - an abundance of 16-bit registers and excellent pointer capability.

My solution was to implement a non-existant (meta) 16-bit processor in software, interpreter style, which I call SWEET 16.

SWEET 16 is based on sixteen 16-bit registers (R0-15), which are actually 32 memory locations. R0 doubles as the SWEET 16 accumulator (ACC), R15 as the program counter (PC), and R14 as the status register. R13 holds compare instruction results and R12 is the subroutine return stack pointer if SWEET 16 subroutines are used. All other SWEET 16 registers are at the user's unrestricted disposal.

SWEET 16 instructions fall into register and non-register categories. The register ops specify one of the sixteen registers to be used as either a data element or a pointer to data in memory, depending on the specific instruction. For example INR R5 uses R5 as data and ST @R7 uses R7 as a pointer to data in memory. Except for the SET instruction, register ops take one byte of code each. The non-register ops are primarily 6502 style branches with the second byte specifying a +/-127 byte displacement relative to the address of the following instruction. Providing that the prior register op result meets a specified branch condition, the displacement is added to the SWEET 16 PC, effecting a branch.

SWEET 16 is intended as a 6502 enhancement package, not a stand alone processor. A 6502 program switches to SWEET 16 mode with a subroutine call and subsequent code is interpreted as SWEET 16 instructions. The nonregister op RTN returns the user program to 6502 mode after restoring the internal register contents (A, X, Y, P, and S). The following example illustrates how to use SWEET 16.

300  B9 00 02           LDA   IN,Y     ;get a char
303  C9 CD              CMP   #"M"     ;"M" for move
305  D0 09              BNE   NOMOVE   ;No. Skip move
307  20 89 F6           JSR   SW16     ;Yes, call SWEET 16
30A  41         MLOOP   LD    @R1      ;R1 holds source
30B  52                 ST    @R2      ;R2 holds dest. addr.
30C  F3                 DCR   R3       ;Decr. length
30D  07 FB              BNZ   MLOOP    ;Loop until done
30F  00                 RTN            ;Return to 6502 mode.
310  C9 C5      NOMOVE  CMP   #"E"     ;"E" char?
312  D0 13              BEQ   EXIT     ;Yes, exit
314  C8                 INY            ;No, cont.

NOTE: Registers A, X, Y, P, and S are not disturbed by SWEET 16.

Instruction Descriptions:

The SWEET 16 opcode listing is short and uncomplicated. Excepting relative branch displacements, hand assembly is trivial. All register opcodes are formed by combining two Hex digits, one for the opcode and one to specify a register. For example, opcodes 15 and 45 both specify register R5 while codes 23, 27, and 29 are all ST ops. Most register ops are assigned in complementary pairs to facilitate remembering them. Therefore, LD ans ST are opcodes 2N and 3N respectively, while LD @ and ST @ are codes 4N and 5N.

Opcodes 0 to C (Hex) are assigned to the thirteen non-register ops. Except for RTN (opcode 0), BK (0A), and RS (0B), the non register ops are 6502 style branches. The second byte of a branch instruction contains a +/-127 byte displacement value (in two's complement form) relative to the address of the instruction immediately following the branch.

If a specified branch condition is met by the prior register op result, the displacement is added to the PC effecting a branch. Except for the BR (Branch always) and BS (Branch to a Subroutine), the branch opcodes are assigned in complementary pairs, rendering them easily remembered for hand coding. For example, Branch if Plus and Branch if Minus are opcodes 4 and 5 while Branch if Zero and Branch if NonZero? are opcodes 6 and 7.

SWEET 16 Opcode Summary:

Register OPS-

     1n        SET       Rn     Constant  (Set)
     2n        LD        Rn     (Load)
     3n        ST        Rn     (Store)
     4n        LD        @Rn    (Load Indirect)
     5n        ST        @Rn    (Store Indirect)
     6n        LDD       @Rn    (Load Double Indirect)
     7n        STD       @Rn    (Store Double Indirect)
     8n        POP       @Rn    (Pop Indirect)
     9n        STP       @Rn    (Store POP Indirect)
     An        ADD       Rn     (Add)
     Bn        SUB       Rn     (Sub)
     Cn        POPD      @Rn    (Pop Double Indirect)
     Dn        CPR       Rn     (Compare)
     En        INR       Rn     (Increment)
     Fn        DCR       Rn     (Decrement)
Non-register OPS-
     00        RTN              (Return to 6502 mode)
     01        BR        ea     (Branch always)
     02        BNC       ea     (Branch if No Carry)
     03        BC        ea     (Branch if Carry)
     04        BP        ea     (Branch if Plus)
     05        BM        ea     (Branch if Minus)
     06        BZ        ea     (Branch if Zero)
     07        BNZ       ea     (Branch if NonZero)
     08        BM1       ea     (Branch if Minus 1)
     09        BNM1      ea     (Branch if Not Minus 1)
     0A        BK               (Break)
     0B        RS               (Return from Subroutine)
     0C        BS        ea     (Branch to Subroutine)
     0D                         (Unassigned)
     0E                         (Unassigned)
     0F                         (Unassigned)

Register Instructions:

SET:

SET Rn,Constant [ 1n Low High ]

The 2-byte constant is loaded into Rn (n=0 to F, Hex) and branch conditions set accordingly. The carry is cleared.

EXAMPLE:


     15 34 A0   SET  R5   $A034     ;R5 now contains $A034

LOAD:

LD Rn [ 2n ]

The ACC (R0) is loaded from Rn and branch conditions set according to the data transferred. The carry is cleared and contents of Rn are not disturbed.

EXAMPLE:

     15 34 A0   SET  R5   $A034
     25         LD   R5             ;ACC now contains $A034

STORE:

ST Rn [ 3n ]

The ACC is stored into Rn and branch conditions set according to the data transferred. The carry is cleared and the ACC contents are not disturbed.

EXAMPLE:

     25         LD   R5              ;Copy the contents
     36         ST   R6              ;of R5 to R6

LOAD INDIRECT:

LD @Rn [ 4n ]

The low-order ACC byte is loaded from the memory location whose address resides in Rn and the high-order ACC byte is cleared. Branch conditions reflect the final ACC contents which will always be positive and never minus 1. The carry is cleared. After the transfer, Rn is incremented by 1.

EXAMPLE

     15 34 A0   SET  R5   $A034
     45         LD   @R5            ;ACC is loaded from memory
                                    ;location $A034
                                    ;R5 is incr to $A035

STORE INDIRECT:

ST @Rn [ 5n ]

The low-order ACC byte is stored into the memory location whose address resides in Rn. Branch conditions reflect the 2-byte ACC contents. The carry is cleared. After the transfer Rn is incremented by 1.

EXAMPLE:

     15 34 A0   SET  R5   $A034     ;Load pointers R5, R6 with
     16 22 90   SET  R6   $9022     ;$A034 and $9022
     45         LD   @R5            ;Move byte from $A034 to $9022
     56         ST   @R6            ;Both ptrs are incremented

LOAD DOUBLE-BYTE INDIRECT:

LDD @Rn [ 6n ]

The low order ACC byte is loaded from memory location whose address resides in Rn, and Rn is then incremented by 1. The high order ACC byte is loaded from the memory location whose address resides in the incremented Rn, and Rn is again incremented by 1. Branch conditions reflect the final ACC contents. The carry is cleared.

EXAMPLE:

     15 34 A0   SET  R5   $A034     ;The low-order ACC byte is loaded
     65         LDD  @R6            ;from $A034, high-order from
                                    ;$A035, R5 is incr to $A036

STORE DOUBLE-BYTE INDIRECT:

STD @Rn [ 7n ]

The low-order ACC byte is stored into memory location whose address resides in Rn, and Rn is the incremented by 1. The high-order ACC byte is stored into the memory location whose address resides in the incremented Rn, and Rn is again incremented by 1. Branch conditions reflect the ACC contents which are not disturbed. The carry is cleared.

EXAMPLE:

     15 34 A0   SET  R5   $A034     ;Load pointers R5, R6
     16 22 90   SET  R6   $9022     ;with $A034 and $9022
     65         LDD  @R5            ;Move double byte from
     76         STD  @R6            ;$A034-35 to $9022-23.
                                    ;Both pointers incremented by 2.

POP INDIRECT:

POP @Rn [ 8n ]

The low-order ACC byte is loaded from the memory location whose address resides in Rn after Rn is decremented by 1, and the high order ACC byte is cleared. Branch conditions reflect the final 2-byte ACC contents which will always be positive and never minus one. The carry is cleared. Because Rn is decremented prior to loading the ACC, single byte stacks may be implemented with the ST @Rn and POP @Rn ops (Rn is the stack pointer).

EXAMPLE:

     15 34 A0   SET  R5   $A034     ;Init stack pointer
     10 04 00   SET  R0   4         ;Load 4 into ACC
     55         ST   @R5            ;Push 4 onto stack
     10 05 00   SET  R0   5         ;Load 5 into ACC
     55         ST   @R5            ;Push 5 onto stack
     10 06 00   SET  R0   6         ;Load 6 into ACC
     55         ST   @R5            ;Push 6 onto stack
     85         POP  @R5            ;Pop 6 off stack into ACC
     85         POP  @R5            ;Pop 5 off stack
     85         POP  @R5            ;Pop 4 off stack

STORE POP INDIRECT:

STP @Rn [ 9n ]

The low-order ACC byte is stored into the memory location whose address resides in Rn after Rn is decremented by 1. Branch conditions will reflect the 2-byte ACC contents which are not modified. STP @Rn and POP @Rn are used together to move data blocks beginning at the greatest address and working down. Additionally, single-byte stacks may be implemented with the STP @Rn ops.

EXAMPLE:

     14 34 A0   SET  R4   $A034     ;Init pointers
     15 22 90   SET  R5   $9022
     84         POP  @R4            ;Move byte from
     95         STP  @R5            ;$A033 to $9021
     84         POP  @R4            ;Move byte from
     95         STP  @R5            ;$A032 to $9020

ADD:

ADD Rn [ An ]

The contents of Rn are added to the contents of ACC (R0), and the low-order 16 bits of the sum restored in ACC. the 17th sum bit becomes the carry and the other branch conditions reflect the final ACC contents.

EXAMPLE:

     10 34 76   SET  R0   $7634     ;Init R0 (ACC) and R1
     11 27 42   SET  R1   $4227
     A1         ADD  R1             ;Add R1 (sum=B85B, C clear)
     A0         ADD  R0             ;Double ACC (R0) to $70B6
                                    ;with carry set.

SUBTRACT:

SUB Rn [ Bn ]

The contents of Rn are subtracted from the ACC contents by performing a two's complement addition:

ACC = ACC + Rn + 1

The low order 16 bits of the subtraction are restored in the ACC, the 17th sum bit becomes the carry and other branch conditions reflect the final ACC contents. If the 16-bit unsigned ACC contents are greater than or equal to the 16-bit unsigned Rn contents, then the carry is set, otherwise it is cleared. Rn is not disturbed.

EXAMPLE:


     10 34 76   SET  R0   $7634     ;Init R0 (ACC)
     11 27 42   SET  R1   $4227     ;and R1
     B1         SUB  R1             ;subtract R1
                                    ;(diff=$340D with c set)
     B0         SUB  R0             ;clears ACC. (R0)

POP DOUBLE-BYTE INDIRECT:

POPD @Rn [ Cn ]

Rn is decremented by 1 and the high-order ACC byte is loaded from the memory location whose address now resides in Rn. Rn is again decremented by 1 and the low-order ACC byte is loaded from the corresponding memory location. Branch conditions reflect the final ACC contents. The carry is cleared. Because Rn is decremented prior to loading each of the ACC halves, double-byte stacks may be implemented with the STD @Rn and POPD @Rn ops (Rn is the stack pointer).

EXAMPLE:

     15 34 A0   SET  R5   $A034     ;Init stack pointer
     10 12 AA   SET  R0   $AA12     ;Load $AA12 into ACC
     75         STD  @R5            ;Push $AA12 onto stack
     10 34 BB   SET  R0   $BB34     ;Load $BB34 into ACC
     75         STD  @R5            ;Push $BB34 onto stack
     C5         POPD @R5            ;Pop $BB34 off stack
     C5         POPD @R5            ;Pop $AA12 off stack

COMPARE:

CPR Rn [ Dn ]

The ACC (R0) contents are compared to Rn by performing the 16 bit binary subtraction ACC-Rn and storing the low order 16 difference bits in R13 for subsequent branch tests. If the 16 bit unsigned ACC contents are greater than or equal to the 16 bit unsigned Rn contents, then the carry is set, otherwise it is cleared. No other registers, including ACC and Rn, are disturbed.

EXAMPLE:

     15 34 A0           SET  R5   $A034     ;Pointer to memory
     16 BF A0           SET  R6   $A0BF     ;Limit address
     B0         LOOP1   SUB  R0             ;Zero data
     75                 STD  @R5            ;clear 2 locations
                                            ;increment R5 by 2
     25                 LD   R5             ;Compare pointer R5
     D6                 CPR  R6             ;to limit R6
     02 FA              BNC  LOOP1          ;loop if C clear

INCREMENT:

INR Rn [ En ]

The contents of Rn are incremented by 1. The carry is cleared and other branch conditions reflect the incremented value.

EXAMPLE:

     15 34 A0   SET  R5   $A034     ;(Pointer)
     B0         SUB  R0             ;Zero to R0
     55         ST   @R5            ;Clr Location $A034
     E5         INR  R5             ;Incr R5 to $A036
     55         ST   @R5            ;Clrs location $A036
                                    ;(not $A035)

DECREMENT:

DCR Rn [ Fn ]

The contents of Rn are decremented by 1. The carry is cleared and other branch conditions reflect the decremented value.

EXAMPLE: (Clear 9 bytes beginning at location A034)

     15 34 A0           SET  R5   $A034     ;Init pointer
     14 09 00           SET  R4   9         ;Init counter
     B0                 SUB  R0             ;Zero ACC
     55         LOOP2   ST   @R5            ;Clear a mem byte
     F4                 DCR  R4             ;Decrement count
     07 FC              BNZ  LOOP2          ;Loop until Zero

Non-Register Instructions:


RETURN TO 6502 MODE:

RTN 00

Control is returned to the 6502 and program execution continues at the location immediately following the RTN instruction. the 6502 registers and status conditions are restored to their original contents (prior to entering SWEET 16 mode).

BRANCH ALWAYS:

BR ea [ 01 d ]

An effective address (ea) is calculated by adding the signed displacement byte (d) to the PC. The PC contains the address of the instruction immediately following the BR, or the address of the BR op plus 2. The displacement is a signed two's complement value from -128 to +127. Branch conditions are not changed.

NOTE: The effective address calculation is identical to that for 6502 relative branches. The Hex add & Subtract features of the APPLE ][ monitor may be used to calculate displacements.

     d = $80  ea = PC + 2 - 128
     d = $81  ea = PC + 2 - 127

     d = $FF  ea = PC + 2 - 1
     d = $00  ea = PC + 2 + 0
     d = $01  ea = PC + 2 + 1

     d = $7E  ea = PC + 2 + 126
     d = $7F  ea = PC + 2 + 127
EXAMPLE:
     $300:  01 50  BR $352

BRANCH IF NO CARRY:

BNC ea [ 02 d ]

A branch to the effective address is taken only is the carry is clear, otherwise execution resumes as normal with the next instruction. Branch conditions are not changed.

BRANCH IF CARRY SET:

BC ea [ 03 d ]

A branch is effected only if the carry is set. Branch conditions are not changed.

BRANCH IF PLUS:

BP ea [ 04 d ]

A branch is effected only if the prior 'result' (or most recently transferred dat) was positive. Branch conditions are not changed.

EXAMPLE: (Clear mem from A034 to A03F)

     15 34 A0           SET  R5   $A034     ;Init pointer
     14 3F A0           SET  R4   $A03F     ;Init limit
     B0         LOOP3   SUB  R0
     55                 ST   @R5            ;Clear mem byte
                                            ;Increment R5
     24                 LD   R4             ;Compare limit
     D5                 CPR  R5             ;to pointer
     04 FA              BP   LOOP3          ;Loop until done

BRANCH IF MINUS:

BM ea [ 05 d ]

A branch is effected only if prior 'result' was minus (negative, MSB = 1). Branch conditions are not changed.

BRANCH IF ZERO:

BZ ea [ 06 d ]

A Branch is effected only if the prior 'result' was zero. Branch conditions are not changed.

BRANCH IF NONZERO

BNZ ea [ 07 d ]

A branch is effected only if the priot 'result' was non-zero Branch conditions are not changed.

BRANCH IF MINUS ONE

BM1 ea [ 08 d ]

A branch is effected only if the prior 'result' was minus one ($FFFF Hex). Branch conditions are not changed.

BRANCH IF NOT MINUS ONE

BNM1 ea [ 09 d ]

A branch effected only if the prior 'result' was not minus 1. Branch conditions are not changed.

BREAK:

BK [ 0A ]

A 6502 BRK (break) instruction is executed. SWEET 16 may be re-entered non destructively at SW16d after correcting the stack pointer to its value prior to executing the BRK.

RETURN FROM SWEET 16 SUBROUTINE:

RS [ 0B ]

RS terminates execution of a SWEET 16 subroutine and returns to the SWEET 16 calling program which resumes execution (in SWEET 16 mode). R12, which is the SWEET 16 subroutine return stack pointer, is decremented twice. Branch conditions are not changed.

BRANCH TO SWEET 16 SUBROUTINE:

BS ea [ 0c d ]

A branch to the effective address (PC + 2 + d) is taken and execution is resumed in SWEET 16 mode. The current PC is pushed onto a SWEET 16 subroutine return address stack whose pointer is R12, and R12 is incremented by 2. The carry is cleared and branch conditions set to indicate the current ACC contents.

EXAMPLE: (Calling a 'memory move' subroutine to move A034-A03B to 3000-3007)

     15 34 A0          SET  R5   $A034     ;Init pointer 1
     14 3B A0          SET  R4   $A03B     ;Init limit 1
     16 00 30          SET  R6   $3000     ;Init pointer 2
     0C 15             BS   MOVE           ;Call move subroutine
     45         MOVE   LD   @R5            ;Move one
     56                ST   @R6            ;byte
     24                LD   R4
     D5                CPR  R5             ;Test if done
     04 FA             BP   MOVE
     0B                RS                  ;Return

Theory of Operation:

SWEET 16 execution mode begins with a subroutine call to SW16. All 6502 registers are saved at this time, to be restored when a SWEET 16 RTN instruction returns control to the 6502. If you can tolerate indefinate 6502 register contents upon exit, approximately 30 usec may be saved by entering at SW16 + 3. Because this might cause an inadvertant switch from Hex to Decimal mode, it is advisable to enter at SW16 the first time through.

After saving the 6502 registers, SWEET 16 initializes its PC (R15) with the subroutine return address off the 6502 stack. SWEET 16's PC points to the location preceding the next instruction to be executed. Following the subroutine call are 1-,2-, and 3-byte SWEET 16 instructions, stored in ascending memory like 6502 instructions. the main loop at SW16B repeatedly calls the 'execute instruction' routine to execute it.

Subroutine SW16C increments the PC (R15) and fetches the next opcode, which is either a register op of the form OP REG with OP between 1 and 15 or a non-register op of the form 0 OP with OP between 0 and 13. Assuming a register op, the register specification is doubled to account for the 3 byte SWEET 16 registers and placed in the X-reg for indexing. Then the instruction type is determined. Register ops place the doubled register specification in the high order byte of R14 indicating the 'prior result register' to subsequent branch instructions. Non-register ops treat the register specifcation (right-hand half-byte) as their opcode, increment the SWEET 16 PC to point at the displacement byte of branch instructions, load the A-reg with the 'prior result register' index for branch condition testing, and clear the Y-reg.

When is an RTS really a JSR?

Each instruction type has a corresponding subroutine. The subroutine entry points are stored in a table which is directly indexed into by the opcode. By assigning all the entries to a common page, only a single byte to address need be stored per routine. The 6502 indirect jump might have been used as follows to transfer control to the appropriate subroutine.

     LDA     #ADRH       ;High-order byte.
     STA     IND+1
     LDA     OPTBL,X     ;Low-order byte.
     STA     IND
     JMP     (IND)

To save code, the subroutine entry address (minus 1) is pushed onto the stack, high-order byte first. A 6502 RTS (return from subroutine) is used to pop the address off the stack and into the 6502 PC (after incrementing by 1). The net result is that the desired subroutine is reached by executing a subroutine return instruction!

Opcode Subroutines:

The register op routines make use of the 6502 'zero page indexed by X' and 'indexed by X direct' addressing modes to access the specified registers and indirect data. The 'result' of most register ops is left in the specified register and can be sensed by subsequent branch instructions, since the register specification is saved in the high-order byte of R14. This specification is changed to indicate R0 (ACC) for ADD and SUB instructions and R13 for the CPR (compare) instruction.

Normally the high-order R14 byte holds the 'prior result register' index times 2 to account for the 2-byte SWEET 16 registers and the LSB is zero. If ADD, SUB, or CPR instructions generate carries, then this index is incremented, setting the LSB.

The SET instruction increments the PC twice, picking up data bytes in the specified register. In accordance with 6502 convention, the low-order data byte precedes the high-order byte.

Most SWEET 16 non-register ops are relative branches. The corresponding subroutines determine whether or not the 'prior result' meets the specified branch condition and if so, update the SWEET 16 PC by adding the displacement value (-128 to +127 bytes).

The RTN op restores the 6502 register contents, pops the subroutine return stack and jumps indirect through the SWEET 16 PC. This transfers control to the 6502 at the instruction immediately following the RTN instruction.

The BK op actually executes a 6502 break instruction (BRK), transferring control to the interrupt handler.

Any number of subroutine levels may be implemented within SWEET 16 code via the BS (Branch to Subroutine) and RS (Return from Subroutine) instructions. The user must initialize and otherwise not disturb R12 if the SWEET 16 subroutine capability is used since it is utilized as the automatic return stack pointer.

Memory Allocation:

The only storage that must be allocated for SWEET 16 variables are 32 consecutive locations in page zero for the SWEET 16 registers, four locations to save the 6502 register contents, and a few levels of the 6502 subroutine return address stack. if you don't need to preserve the 6502 register contents, delete the SAVE and RESTORE subroutines and the corresponding subroutine calls. This will free the four page zero locations ASAV, XSAV, YSAV, and PSAV.

User Modifications:

You may wish to add some of your own instructions to this implementation of SWEET 16. If you use the unassigned opcodes $0E and $0F, remember that SWEET 16 treats these as 2-byte instructions. You may wish to handle the break instruction as a SWEET 16 call, saving two bytes of code each time you transfer into SWEET 16 mode. Or you may wish to use the SWEET 16 BK (break) op as a 'CHAROUT' call in the interrupt handler. You can perform absolute jumps within SWEET 16 by loading the ACC (R0) with the address you wish to jump to (minus 1) and executing a ST R15 instruction.

Notes from Apple II System Description

This is kind of old stuff, but I ran across the issue of Byte that had the Apple II system description by Steve Wozniak:

00   1   Return to 6502 mode
01   2   Branch Always
02   2   Branch no Carry
03   2   Branch on Carry
04   2   Branch on Positive
05   2   Branch on Negative
06   2   Branch if equal
07   2   Branch not equal
08   2   Branch on negative 1
09   2   Branch not negative 1
0A   1   Break to Monitor
0B-0F   1   No operation
1R   3   R<-2 byte constant (load register immediate)
2R   1   ACC<-R
3R   1   ACC->R
4R   1   ACC<-@R, R<-R+1
5R   1   ACC->@R, R<-R+1
6R   1   ACC<-@R double
7R   1   ACC->@R double
8R   1   R<-R-1, ACC<-@R (pop)
9R   1   R<-R-1, ACC->@R
AR   1   ACC<-@R(pop) double
BR   1   compare ACC to R
CR   1   ACC<-ACC+R
DR   1   ACC<-ACC-R
ER   1   R<-R+1
FR   1   R<-R-1

notes

  1. All braches are followed by a 1 byte relative displacement. Works identically to 6502 branches.
  2. Only ADD,SUB, and COMPARE can set carry
  3. Notation:
  4. Length of instructions: Branches are always two bytes: opcodes followed by relative displacement. Load register immediate (1R) is three bytes: the hexadecimal opcode 10 to 1F followed by the 2 byte literal value of a 16 bit number. All other instructions are one byte in length.

And from that issue of Byte (Apr 1977, I think)...some words from the Woz himself. Retyped without permission.


Sweet 16 S-C Macro Assembler Text

SWEET-16 is a powerful programming tool developed by Steve Wozniak in the early days of Apple. Chances are that you do have this tool, whether you know it or not. The standard version is hidden away inside the Integer BASIC system. If you have Integer BASIC on your mother board, or in a firmware card, or in a 16K RAM card, then you have SWEET-16. I have included a commented source file of SWEET-16 on your S-C MACRO ASSEMBLER II disk, so you can assemble your own copy if you wish.

SWEET-16 is really a language, just like 6502 machine language, BASIC, Pascal, FORTRAN. It looks a lot like a machine language for a computer that does not really exist, so "Woz" has called it his "dream machine". You can read all about it in an old issue of BYTE Magazine (November, 1977, pages 150-159): "SWEET-16 -- The 6502 Dream Machine". Another article you may want to find is "SWEET-16 Revisited", by Charles F. Taylor. in MICRO--The 6502/6809 Journal. January, 1982, pages 25-42.

The beauty of SWEET-16 is in its ability to perform 16-bit arithmetic and data moves using automatically updated address pointers. And to add icing to the cake, most of the instructions are only one byte long! You can write extremely compact code, if you are willing to pay the price of slower execution. (A typical program will take half as many bytes, but ten times longer to execute.)

Does anyone really use SWEET-16? Yes, in a big way. I used it in several places inside the early versions of S-C Assembler II. The TED/ASM assembler, and all its descendants (including DOS Tool Kit, TED 11+, Big Mac, Merlin, and others) use SWEET-16 heavily. Several of the programs in the Apple Programmer's Aid ROM use SWEET-16. including the Integer BASIC Renumber/Append program.

The standard version of SWEET-16 is invoked by the 6502 instruction "JSR $F689"; the bytes immediately following contain opcodes for SWEET-16 to process. SWEET-16 opcodes will be executed until the "RTN" opcode, which returns to 6502 mode.

Programming Model

The SWEET-16 "machine" has sixteen 16-bit registers (R0-R15). R0 is actually the two memory bytes at $0000 and $0001. The next two bytes are called R1; R15 is stored in $001E and $001F. Several of the registers have special functions: R0 is used as an accumulator (like the 6502's A-register); R12 is the subroutine return stack pointer; R13 receives the results of comparisons; R14 is a status register; R15 is the program address counter.

    SWEET-16 REGISTERS

    Register    6502 Address    Purpose

       0          $00,01        Accumulator
       1          $02,03        General
       2          $04,05        General
       .             .            .
       .             .            .
       .             .            .
      11          $16,17        General
      12          $18,19        Subroutine Stack Pointer
      13          $1A,1B        Difference of comparands
      14          $1C,1D        Status
      15          $1E,1F        Program address

There are two general types of opoodes recognized by SWEET-16: register and non-register opcodes. The non-register opcodes all have the form "0x", where x is a hexadecimal digit from 0 through C. (Opcodes 0D, 0E, and 0F are not used.) These opcodes are used for relative branches, subroutine call and return, and to leave SWEET-16. The register opcodes have the format "xR", where x is a hexadecimal digit from 0 through F, and R is a register number (0-F).

SWEET-16 OPCODES

Non-Register Opcodes: RTN, BK, and RS are one byte opcodes. The rest have a second byte which is a relative address, similar to the relative branch addresses used in 6502 opcodes. The conditional branches use status bits found in R14.

    00      RTN          Return to 6502 code.
    0l ea   BR   addr    Unconditional Branch.
    02 ea   BNC  addr    Branch if Carry=0.
    03 ea   BC   addr    Branch if Carry=1.
    04 ea   BP   addr    Branch if last result positive.
    0S ea   BM   addr    Branch if last result negative.
    06 ea   BZ   addr    Branch if last result zero.
    07 ea   BNZ  addr    Branch if last result non-zero.
    08 ea   BM1  addr    Branch if last result = -1.
    09 ea   BNM1 addr    Branch if last result not -1.
    0A      BK           Execute 6502 BRK instruction.
    0B      RS           Return from SWEET-16 subroutine.
    0C ea   BS   addr    Call SWEET-16 subroutine.

Register Opcodes: The SET opcode uses three bytes, to load a 16-bit immediate value into a register. All the rest of the register opcodes only use one byte. ("MA" = memory address)

    1n lo hi    SET  n,value    Rn <-- value.
    2n          LD   n          R0 <-- (Rn).
    3n          ST   n          Rn <-- (R0).
    4n          LD   @n         MA = (Rn), ROL <-- (MA),
                                Rn <-- MA+1, R0H <-- 0.
    5n          ST   @n         MA = (Rn), MA <-- (R0L),
                                Rn <-- MA+1.
    6n          LDD  @n         MA = (Rn), R0 <-- (MA, MA+1),
                                Rn <-- MA+2.
    7n          STD  @n         MA = (Rn), MA,MA+l <-- (R0),
                                Rn <-- MA+2.
    8n          POP  @n         MA = (Rn)-1, R0L <-- (MA),
                                R0H <-- 0, Rn <-- MA.
    9n          STP  @n         MA <-- (Rn)-1, (MA) <-- R0L,
                                Rn <-- MA.
    An          ADD  n          R0 <-- (R0) + (Rn).
    Bn          SUB  n          R0 <-- (R0) - (Rn).
    Cn          POPD @n         MA = (Rn)-2, MA,MA+l <-- R0,
                                Rn <-- MA.
    Dn          CPR  n          R13 <-- (R0) - (Rn),
                                R14 <-- status flags.
    En          INR  n          Rn <-- (Rn) + 1.
    Fn          DCR  n          Rn <-- (Rn) - 1.

The S-C Assembler II includes all of the SWEET-16 opcodes, in the formats shown above. You can write programs which mix both 6502 code and SWEET-16 together in any combination.

Here are a few examples which illustrate programming in SWEET-16.

                    1000 *-------------------------------------
                    1010 *     CLEAR A BLOCK OF MEMORY
                    1020 *-------------------------------------
    F689-           1030 SWEET.16   .EQ $F689
    0A00-           1040 BLOCK      .EQ $A00
    0234-           1050 N          .EQ $234
                    1060 *-------------------------------------
    0800- 20 89 F6  1070 CLEAR      JSR SWEET.16
    0803- 10 00 00  1080            SET 0,0         0 FOR CLEARING WITH
    0806- 11 00 0A  1090            SET 1,BLOCK     ADDRESS OF BLOCK
    0809- 12 34 02  1100            SET 2,N         # BYTES TO CLEAR
    080C- 51        1110 .1         ST @1           STORE IN BLOCK
    080D- F2        1120            DCR 2
    080E- 07 FC     1130            BNZ .1          NOT FINISHED YET
    0810- 00        1140            RTN


    SYMBOL TABLE

    0A00- BLOCK
    0800- CLEAR
    .1=080C
    0234- N
    F689- SWEET.16

    0000 ERRORS IN ASSEMBLY



                    1000 *----------------------------
                    1010 *  MOVE A BLOCK OF MEMORY
                    1020 *----------------------------
    F689-           1030 SWEET.16   .EQ $F689
    0A00-           1040 SOURCE     .EQ $A00
    0A80-           1050 DESTIN     .EQ $A80
    0023-           1060 N          .EQ $23
                    1070 *----------------------------
    0800- 20 89 F6  1080 MOVE       JSR SWEET.16
    0803- 11 00 0A  1090            SET 1,SOURCE    ADDRESS OF SOURCE BLOCK
    0806- 12 80 0A  1100            SET 2,DESTIN    ADDRESS OF DESTINATION BLOCK
    0809- 13 23 00  1110            SET 3,N         # BYTES TO MOVE
    080C- 41        1120 .1         LD  @1          GET BYTE FROM SOURCE
    080D- 52        1130            ST  @2          STORE IN DESTINATION
    080E- F3        1140            DCR 3
    080F- 07 FB     1150            BNZ .1          NOT FINISHED YET
    0811- 00        1160            RTN


    SYMBOL TABLE

    0A80- DESTIN
    0800- MOVE
    .01=08CC
    0023- N
    0A00- SOURCE
    F689- SWEET.16

    0000 ERRORS IN ASSEMBLY


                    1000 *-------------------------------
                    1010 *      RENUMBER S-C ASSEMBLER SOURCE CODE
                    1020 *-------------------------------
    F689-           1030 SWEET.16   .EQ $F689
    004C-           1040 HIMEM      .EQ $4C,4D
    00CA-           1050 PP         .EQ $CA,CB
                    1060 *-------------------------------
                    1070 RENUMBER
    0800- 20 89 F6  1080        JSR SWEET.16
    0803- 11 CA 00  1090        SET 1,PP      PP HAS ADDRESS OF SOURCE CODE
    0806- 61        1100        LDD @1        GET ADDRESS OF SOURCE CODE
    0807- 31        1110        ST  1         ...IN R1
    0808- 12 0A 00  1120        SET 2,10      INCREMENT = 10
    080B- 13 4C 00  1130        SET 3,HIMEM   HIMEM HAS ADDR OF END OF SOURCE
    080E- 63        1140        LDD @3        GET ADDRESS IN HIMEM
    080F- 33        1150        ST  3         ...IN R3
    0810- 14 DE 03  1160        SET 4,990     START=990 (1ST LINE WILL BE 1000)
    0813- 21        1170 .1     LD  1         TEST IF FINISHED
    0814- D3        1180        CPR 3
    0815- 03 0E     1190        BC  .2        YES
    0817- 41        1200        LD  @1        GET # BYTES IN THIS SOURCE LINE
    0818- 35        1210        ST  5         ... INTO R5
    0819- 24        1220        LD  4         GET SEQUENCE NUMBER
    081A- A2        1230        ADD 2         ADD INCREMENT
    081B- 34        1240        ST  4         ... INTO R4 AGAIN
    081C- 71        1250        STD @1        ... AND ALSO INTO SOURCE LINE
    081D- F1        1260        DCR 1         BACK UP POINTER
    081E- F1        1270        DCR 1
    081F- F1        1280        DCR 1
    0820- 21        1290        LD  1         ADD LENGTH OF LINE TO POINTER
    0821- A5        1300        ADD 5
    0822- 31        1310        ST  1         POINT AT NEXT SOURCE LINE
    0823- 01 EE     1320        BR  .1
    0825- 00        1330 .2     RTN
    0826- 60        1340        RTS


    SYMBOL TABLE

    004C- HIHEM
    00CA- PP
    0800- RENUMBER
    .01-0813, .02-0825
    F689- SWEET.16

    0000 ERRORS IN ASSEMBLY

Appendix: Additional Material

A discussion in August 2021 on the 6502 forum notes that some of this document is derived from the file sweet16.txt, possibly collated by W. Sheldon Simms and posted to Usenet, and in turn drawing from BYTE, and from the Merlin assembler documentation. Another source is Call-A.P.P.L.E. Woz Pak II from 1979.

Also noted in the discussion, the original listing from the BYTE article was captured by Paul R. Santa-Maria in SW16RB.TXT.

Last page update: August 24, 2021.