2A03 Chip Technical Reference Document

**************************

*2A03 technical reference*

**************************

Brad Taylor (BTTDgroup@hotmail.com)

First release: April 23rd, 2004

Thanks to hundreds of selfless people around the world, a document like this

one can exist because people who love NES/FC/FDS research & development have

chosen to share their findings, experience, and knowledge. With

"http://nesdev.parodius.com" and the Membled Messageboards, public-domain

NES software/hardware/emulator development has already hit a new standard of

excellence, and is attracting more people nowadays then ever before because

of this.

Note: to display this document properly, your text viewer needs two things:

1. support for the classic VGA-based text mode 256 character set with

line-drawing characters. 2. word-wrap. windows notepad can easially do both

if you change the font over to terminal style.

+----------------+

|Topics discussed|

+----------------+

Integrated components overview

2A03 pin nomenclature & signal descriptions

6502 opcode pattern tables

Introduction to sound channels

Low frequency programmable timer

2A03 internal hardware port map

Microarchitecture of basic sound channels

********************************

*Integrated components overview*

********************************

The 2A03 is a custom integrated circuit used as the heart of NES game

consoles and Family Computers. To avoid costly glue logic, Nintendo squeezed

alot of hardware (alot for the time, which was like 1982) inside this chip.

Here is a list of known integrated components found in the 2A03 (* prefix

indicates simple hardware discussed next).

- stock NMOS 6502 microprocessor lacking decimal mode support

- low frequency programmable timer

- two nearly-identical rectangle wave function generators

- triangle wave function generator

- random wavelength function generator

- audio sample playback unit (delta modulation channel)

- one shot programmable DMA transfer unit

* master dodecade clock divider

* two 6502 address decoders for $4016R and $4017R

* 3-bit register and address decoder for $4016W

*********************************************

*2A03 pin nomenclature & signal descriptions*

*********************************************

This chapter owes thanks to Kevin Horton for his help with alot of my early

technical questions on the NES back in 1999, and his excellent "NES Cart

Types" document.

___ ___

|* \/ |

ROUT <01] [40< VCC

COUT <02] [39> $4016W.0

/RES >03] [38> $4016W.1

A0 <04] [37> $4016W.2

A1 <05] [36> /$4016R

A2 <06] [35> /$4017R

A3 <07] [34> R/W

A4 <08] [33< /NMI

A5 <09] [32< /IRQ

A6 <10] 2A03 [31> PHI2

A7 <11] [30< ---

A8 <12] [29< CLK

A9 <13] [28] D0

A10 <14] [27] D1

A11 <15] [26] D2

A12 <16] [25] D3

A13 <17] [24] D4

A14 <18] [23] D5

A15 <19] [22] D6

VEE >20] [21] D7

|________|

ROUT: this signal carries the mixed outputs for both internal rectangle wave

function generators (see "4-bit DAC" section for details).

COUT: this signal carries the combined outputs for an internal triangle

wave/random wave function generator, and a programmable 7-bit DAC controlled

by a delta counter/DMA timer unit combination (see "4-bit DAC" section for

details).

/RES: hard reset on zero. Resets the status of several internal 2A03

registers, and the 6502.

A0-A15: the 6502's address bus output pins.

VEE, VCC: ground, and +5VDC power signals, respectfully.

D0-D7: the 6502's data bus.

CLK: this is the 2A03's master clock input line (236250/11 KHz), and clocks

an internal divide-by-12 counter.

---: normally grounded in NES/FC consoles, this pin has unknown

functionality. I suspect that it is an input controlling somthing, since the

pin does draw a little current.

PHI2: this output is the divide-by-12 result of the CLK signal (1.79 MHz).

The internal 6502 along with function generating hardware, is clocked off

this frequency, and is available externally here so that it can be used as a

data bus enable signal (when at logic level 1) for external 6502 address

decoder logic. The signal has a 62.5% duty cycle.

/IRQ: interrupts the 6502 when this pin is set to zero while the 6502's

internal interrupt mask flag is 0.

/NMI: NMI's the 6502 on a negative edge signal transition (1->0).

R/W: direction of 6502's data bus (0=write;1=read).

/$4017R: goes active (zero) when A0-A15 = $4017, R/W = 0, and PHI2 = 1. This

informs an external 3-state inverter to throw controller port data onto the

D0-D7 lines.

/$4016R: goes active (zero) when A0-A15 = $4016, R/W = 0, and PHI2 = 1.

$4016W.0, $4016W.1, $4016W.2: these signals represent the real-time status

of a 3 bit writable register located at $4016 in the 6502 memory map. In

NES/FC consoles, $4016W.0 is used as a strobe line for the CMOS 4021 shift

****************************

*6502 opcode pattern tables*

****************************

Below are two tables which displays the 6502 opcode matrix, and clearly

exposes all the wierd ways the opcode number relates to the operation of the

instruction. This new version has John West and Marko MŠkelŠ to thank for

their excellent "NMOS 65xx Instruction Set" documentation, available at

http://nesdev.parodius.com/. This document is recommend literature for those

of you out there who are looking for an exteremely detailed look at how the

6502 works on a per-clock cycle basis (useful for correct emulation of

instructions with dead cycles, like BRK, JSR, RTI, RTS, push/pop, implied,

and read-modify-write ones (RMW are the most important to implement

properly)).

+-------------+

|table 1 notes|

+-------------+

abbr. what it means

----- -------------

IMD #$xx

REL $xx,PC

0PG $xx

0PX $xx,X

0PY $xx,Y

ABS $xxxx

ABX $xxxx,X

ABY $xxxx,Y

IND ($xxxx)

NDX ($xx,X)

NDY ($xx),Y

1---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

|7654 3210|xx0 00x|xx1 00x|xx0 10x|xx1 10x|xx0 01x|xx1 01x|xx0 11x|xx1 11x|

+---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

|000x xx00|BRK IMD|BPL |PHP |CLC |nop opg|nop opx|nop abs|nop abx|

|001x xx00|JSR ABS|BMI |PLP |SEC |BIT 0PG|nop opx|BIT ABS|nop abx|

|010x xx00|RTI |BVC |PHA |CLI |nop opg|nop opx|JMP ABS|nop abx|

|011x xx00|RTS |BVS |PLA |SEI |nop opg|nop opx|JMP IND|nop abx|

|100x xx00|nop imd|BCC |DEY |TYA |STY 0PG|STY 0PX|STY ABS|shy abx|

|101x xx00|LDY IMD|BCS |TAY |CLV |LDY 0PG|LDY 0PX|LDY ABS|LDY ABX|

|110x xx00|CPY IMD|BNE |INY |CLD |CPY 0PG|nop opx|CPY ABS|nop abx|

|111x xx00|CPX IMD|BEQ |INX |SED |CPX 0PG|nop opx|CPX ABS|nop abx|

+---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

2--------+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

|adr.mode|++| 00| 20| 40| 60| 80| A0| C0| E0| 02| 22| 42| 62| 82| A2| C2| E2|

+--------+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

|#$nn* |00|BRK|JSR|RTI|RTS|nop|LDY|CPY|CPX|---|---|---|---|nop|LDX|nop|nop|

|$nn,PC |10|BPL|BMI|BVC|BVS|BCC|BCS|BNE|BEQ|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

|* |08|PHP|PLP|PHA|PLA|DEY|TAY|INY|INX|ASL|ROL|LSR|ROR|TXA|TAX|DEX|NOP|

|* |18|CLC|SEC|CLI|SEI|TYA|CLV|CLD|SED|nop|nop|nop|nop|TXS|TSX|nop|nop|

|$nn |04|nop|BIT|nop|nop|STY|LDY|CPY|CPX|ASL|ROL|LSR|ROR|STX|LDX|DEC|INC|

|$nn,X |14|nop|nop|nop|nop|STY|LDY|nop|nop|ASL|ROL|LSR|ROR|STX|LDX|DEC|INC|

|$nnnn |0C|nop|BIT|JMP|NDJ|STY|LDY|CPY|CPX|ASL|ROL|LSR|ROR|STX|LDX|DEC|INC|

|$nnnn,X |1C|nop|nop|nop|nop|shy|LDY|nop|nop|ASL|ROL|LSR|ROR|shx|LDX|DEC|INC|

|($nn,X) |01|ORA|AND|EOR|ADC|STA|LDA|CMP|SBC|slo|rla|sre|rra|sax|lax|dcp|isb|

|($nn),Y |11|ORA|AND|EOR|ADC|STA|LDA|CMP|SBC|slo|rla|sre|rra|sha|lax|dcp|isb|

|#$nn |09|ORA|AND|EOR|ADC|nop|LDA|CMP|SBC|anc|anc|asr|arr|ane|lxa|sbx|sbc|

|$nnnn,Y |19|ORA|AND|EOR|ADC|STA|LDA|CMP|SBC|slo|rla|sre|rra|shs|las|dcp|isb|

|$nn |05|ORA|AND|EOR|ADC|STA|LDA|CMP|SBC|slo|rla|sre|rra|sax|lax|dcp|isb|

|$nn,X |15|ORA|AND|EOR|ADC|STA|LDA|CMP|SBC|slo|rla|sre|rra|sax|lax|dcp|isb|

|$nnnn |0D|ORA|AND|EOR|ADC|STA|LDA|CMP|SBC|slo|rla|sre|rra|sax|lax|dcp|isb|

|$nnnn,X |1D|ORA|AND|EOR|ADC|STA|LDA|CMP|SBC|slo|rla|sre|rra|sha|lax|dcp|isb|

+--------+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

+-------------+

|table 2 notes|

+-------------+

italics unusual operation (see "NMOS 65xx Instruction Set" document for details)

strikethrough jams machine rarely

--- jams machine

*: The first clock of any instruction is forced to read the next program

counter address value into an internal 6502 temp reg, since any 6502 address

has to be calculated one cycle before it can be accessed (the 6502's opcode

fetch microcode cycles always increment & select the program counter as the

next address to appear on the bus). For implied instructions, this means

that the next instruction's opcode byte is loaded into an internal temp reg,

but _not_ into the instruction register, which is where it would need to be

to execute the instruction in just one clock. As a result, no 6502

instructions are less than two clocks long.

*: JSR uses 2 byte immediate. The first immediate byte is read into a 6502

temp reg on the first clock, then PC is pushed onto the stack. After, the

second immediate byte is read in & transferred to PCH, simultaneously while

loading PCL with the temp reg contents.

-JSR has a latency of six cycles, which includes one which seems to be a

completely dead cycle. I think that this is because the 6502 is reusing the

BRK microcode to perform the JSR.

-all instructions where any $nn,X and $nnnn,X addressing mode rows intersect

with opcode columns 82 and A2, use the Y register for indexing.

-lowercase instructions are undocumented. However, most of them are

basically composed of replacing the last microcode cycle of an instruction

from the corresponding read-modify-write group (shift/inc/dec) column, with

one from the load-execute group (and,ora,adc,etc.) column. The reason they

can be combined like this, is because memory-based read-modify-write ALU

operations don't do any special work on the last clock cycle of the

instruction (the next instruction opcode fetch cycle), as the register-based

ones do. This is why it's possible to perform two ALU functions in one

instruction with the same latency as regular 6502 read-modify-write

instructions, and thus makes the undocumented instructions highly efficient

to use.

index adjust

------------

11001000 inc y

bit 6 =0, dec y

bit 5 =1, inc x

bit 1 =1, dec x

********************************

*Introduction to sound channels*

********************************

Thanks to Matthew Conte, Kentaro Ishihara, Goroh, Memblers, FluBBa, Izumi,

Chibi-Tech, Quietust, SnowBro, Bananmos, and many others for their time and

help on and off the NESdev mailing list, and the Membled Messageboards, in

order to make the sound information here as accurate as possible.

The 2A03 (NES's integrated CPU) has 4 internal channels to it that have the

ability to generate semi-analog sound, for musical playback purposes. These

channels are 2 rectangle wave channels, one triangle wave channel, and a

random wavelength channel. A fifth sound channel capable of playing samples

based in the 6502's memory map, or fed directly to it in 7-bit unsigned PCM

form, is also available.

Note that this document only details NTSC-related timing data for the sound

channels, but here's some information in regards to that. "Apparently,

timing differences between NTSC & PAL versions of the DMC exist only to

ensure that the outputted sound is the same on either platform. this means

that the difference between NTSC & PAL DMC timing, can simply be determined

by comparing the CPU clock ratios of the 2 platforms."

After 2A03 reset, the sound channels are unavailable for playback during the

first 2048 CPU clocks.

+--------------+

|Channel basics|

+--------------+

Each channel has different characteristics to it that make up it's

operation. All listed frequencies assume that the 2A03 is being clocked with

a 21.48 MHz signal.

The rectangle channel(s) have the ability to generate a rectangle wave

frequency in the range of 54.6 Hz to 12.4 KHz. It's key features are

frequency sweep abilities, and output duty cycle adjustment (square waves

are also possible).

The triangle wave channel has the ability to generate an output triangle

wave with a resolution of 4-bits (16 steps), in the range of 27.3 Hz to 55.9

KHz. The key features this channel has is it's analog triangle wave output,

and it's linear counter, which offers improved time resolution over the

conventional length counter found in the same channel.

The random wavelength channel prodces waves of lengths in integer multiples

inbetween 1 and 16 of 1-of-16 predefined base wavelengths. This results in

the ability for this channel to be suitable for all kinds of noisey sound

effect simulations. Output frequencys can range anywhere from 29.3 Hz to 447

KHz. It's key feature is it's 15-bit shift register-based random number

generator, which has two operational modes.

The delta modulation channel (DMC) is a complex series of digital counters

and registers used to produce pretty decent-sounding analog audio. It's

primary function is to play "samples" from memory, and have an internal

counter connected to a digital to analog converter (DAC) updated

accordingly. The channel is able to be assigned a pointer to a chunk of

memory to be played. At timed intervals, the DMC will halt the 6502 for *2

clock cycles to retrieve the sample to be played. This method of playback

will be refered to here on as direct memory access (DMA) playback. Another

method of playback known as pulse code modulation (PCM) is available by the

channel, which requires the constant updating of one of the DMC's

memory-mapped registers.

*: Goroh has quietly mentioned that a DMC DMA byte fetch phase takes 2 CPU

clock cycles. However, I haven't confirmed this, and it is my belief that

Nintendo would not design such a sloppy DMA unit; a 1 clock cycle DMA fetch

would sound more logical. At best, this information should be taken with a

grain of salt.

**********************************

*Low frequency programmable timer*

**********************************

The 2A03 has an internal programmable timer/counter, which is known as the

frame counter. The purpose of it is to generate the various low frequency

signals (60, 120, 240 Hz, and 48, 96, 192 Hz) required to clock several of

the sound hardware's counters. It also has the ability to generate IRQ's.

The smallest unit of timing the frame counter operates around is 240Hz; all

other frequencies are generated by multiples of this base frequency. An

internal clock edge divider of 14915 off the 2A03's PHI2 line is used to get

240Hz.

+-----------------------+

|Frame counter operation|

+-----------------------+

Depending on the status of $4017.7 (described later), the frame counter will

follow 2 different count sequences. These sequences determine when sound

hardware counters will be clocked, and is generally chosen in accordance

with the target PPU type (i.e., NTSC or PAL) that an NES game is expected to

run on. The sequences are initialized immediately following any write to

$4017.

$4017.7 sequence

------- --------

0 4, 0,1,2,3, 0,1,2,3,..., etc.

1 0,1,2,3,4, 0,1,2,3,4,..., etc.

During count sequences 0..3, the linear (triangle) and envelope decay

(rectangle & noise) counters recieve a clock for each count. This means that

both these counters are clocked once immediately after $4017.7 is written

with a value of 1.

Count sequences 1 & 3 clock (update) the frequency sweep (rectangle), and

length (all channels) counters. Even though the length counter's smallest

unit of time counting is a frame, it seems that it is actually being clocked

twice per frame. That said, you can consider the length counters to contain

an extra stage to divide this clock signal by 2.

No aforementioned sound hardware counters are clocked on count sequence #4.

You should now see how this causes the 96, and 192 Hz signals to be

generated when $4017.7=1.

The rest of the document will describe the operation of the sound channels

using the $4017.7=0 frequencies (60, 120, and 240 Hz). For $4017.7=1

operation, replace those frequencies with 48, 96, and 192 Hz (respectively).

*********************************

*2A03 internal hardware port map*

*********************************

The sound hardware internal to the 2A03 has been designated these special

memory addresses in the 6502's memory map.

$4000-$4003 Rectangle wave 1

$4004-$4007 Rectangle wave 2 (nearly identical to first)

$4008-$400B Triangle

$400C-$400F Noise

$4010 DMC play mode and DMA frequency

$4011 DMC delta counter

$4012 DMC play code's starting address

$4013 DMC length of play code

$4014 transfer 256 bytes from written page to $2004

$4015r Channel enable / length/frame counter status

$4017 frame counter control

Note: $4015 is the only R/W register here. All others do not respond to read

cycles. Reads from $4016 and $4017 are decoded inside the 2A03, and those

signals are available externally. Writes to bits D0-D2 of $4016 updates an

internal 3-bit latch, with the status of those bits available externally.

+--------------+

|Register set 1|

+--------------+

$4000(rct1)/$4004(rct2)/$400C(noise) bits

---------------------------------------

0-3 volume / envelope decay rate

4 envelope decay disable

5 length counter clock disable / envelope decay looping enable

6-7 duty cycle type (unused on noise channel)

$4008(tri) bits

---------------

0-6 linear counter load register

7 length counter clock disable / linear counter start

+--------------+

|Register set 2|

+--------------+

$4001(rct1)/$4005(rct2) bits

--------------------------

0-2 right shift amount

3 decrease / increase (1/0) wavelength

4-6 sweep update rate

7 sweep enable

$4009(tri)/$400D(noise) bits

----------------------------

0-7 unused

+--------------+

|Register set 3|

+--------------+

$4002(rct1)/$4006(rct2)/$400A(Tri) bits

-------------------------------------

0-7 8 LSB of wavelength

$400E(noise) bits

-----------------

0-3 playback sample rate

4-6 unused

7 random number type generation

+--------------+

|Register set 4|

+--------------+

$4003(rct1)/$4007(rct2)/$400B(tri)/$400F(noise) bits

--------------------------------------------------

0-2 3 MS bits of wavelength (unused on noise channel)

3-7 length counter load register

+---------------------------------------+

|$4010 - DMC Play mode and DMA frequency|

+---------------------------------------+

This register is used to control the frequency of the DMA fetches, and to

control the playback mode.

Bits

----

6-7 this is the playback mode.

00 - play DMC sample until length counter reaches 0 (see $4013)

x1 - loop the DMC sample (x = immaterial)

10 - play DMC sample until length counter reaches 0, then generate a CPU IRQ

Looping (playback mode "x1") will have the chunk of memory played over and

over, until the channel is disabled (via $4015). In this case, after the

length counter reaches 0, it will be reloaded with the calculated length

value of $4013.

If playback mode "10" is chosen, an interrupt will be dispatched when the

length counter reaches 0 (after the sample is done playing). There are 2

ways to acknowledge the DMC's interrupt request upon recieving it. The first

is a write to this register ($4010), with the MSB (bit 7) cleared (0). The

second is any write to $4015 (see the $4015 register description for more

details).

If playback mode "00" is chosen, the sample plays until the length counter

reaches 0. No interrupt is generated.

5-4 appear to be unused

3-0 this is the DMC frequency control. Valid values are from 0 - F. The

value of this register determines how many CPU clocks to wait before the DMA

will fetch another byte from memory. The # of clocks to wait -1 is initially

loaded into an internal 12-bit down counter. The down counter is then

decremented at the frequency of the CPU. The channel fetches the next DMC

sample byte when the count reaches 0, and then reloads the count. This

process repeats until the channel is disabled by $4015, or when the length

counter has reached 0 (if not in the looping playback mode). The exact

number of CPU clock cycles is as follows:

value clocks octave scale

----- ------ ------ -----

F 1B0 8 C

E 240 7 G

D 2A8 7 E

C 350 7 C

B 400 6 A

A 470 6 G

9 500 6 F

8 5F0 6 D

7 6B0 6 C

6 710 5 B

5 7F0 5 A

4 8F0 5 G

3 A00 5 F

2 AA0 5 E

1 BE0 5 D

0 D60 5 C

The octave and scale values shown represent the DMC DMA clock cycle rate

equivalent. These values are merely shown for the music enthusiast

programmer, who is more familiar with notes than clock cycles.

Every fetched byte is loaded into a internal 8-bit shift register. The shift

clock count would be 1/8th that of the DMA clock count), or shifted at +3

the octave of the DMA (same scale). The data shifted out of the register is

in serial form, and the least significant bit (LSB, or bit 0) of the fetched

byte is the first one to be shifted out (then bit 1, bit 2, etc.).

The bits shifted out are then fed to the UP/DOWN control pin of the internal

delta counter, which will effectively have the counter increment it's

retained value by one on "1" bit samples, and decrement it's value by one on

"0" bit samples. This effectively clocks the counter once (up or down) for

every shift register clock.

The counter is only 6 bits in size, and has it's 6 outputs tied to the 6 MSB

inputs of a 7 bit DAC. The analog output of the DAC is then what you hear

being played by the DMC.

Wrap around counting is not allowed on this counter. Instead, a "clipping"

behavior is exhibited. If the internal value of the counter has reached 0,

and the next bit sample is a 0 (instructing a decrement), the counter will

take no action. Likewise, if the counter's value is currently at -1

(111111B, or 03FH), and the bit sample to be played is a 1, the counter will

not increment.

+---------------------------------------+

|$4011 - DMC Delta counter load register|

+---------------------------------------+

bits

----

7 appears to be unused

1-6 the load inputs of the internal delta counter

0 LSB of the DAC

A write to this register effectively loads the internal delta counter with a

6 bit value. Bit 0 is connected directly to the LSB (bit 0) of the DAC, and

has no effect on the internal delta counter. Bit 7 appears to be unused.

This register can be used to output direct 7-bit digital PCM data to the

DMC's audio output. To use this register for PCM playback, the programmer

would be responsible for making sure that this register is updated at a

constant rate (therefore it is completely user-definable). A practical

update rate for this register would be every scanline (113.67 CPU clocks)

for a 15.7458 KHz playback rate.

Another use of this register (although unrelated to DMC playback) has been

to somewhat control the volume of the Triangle & Noise sound channel

outputs. Please see NESSOUND.TXT for more information.

On 2A03 reset, all 7 used bits of $4011 are reset to 0, the DMC's IRQ flag

is cleared (disabled), and the channel is disabled. All other registers will

remain unmodified.

+---------------------------------+

|$4012 - DMC address load register|

+---------------------------------+

This register contains the initial address where the DMC is to fetch samples

from memory for playback. The effective address value is $4012 shl 6 or

0C000H. This register is connected to the load pins of the internal DMA

address pointer register (counter). The counter is incremented after every

DMA byte fetch. The counter is 15 bits in size, and has addresses wrap

around from $FFFF to $8000 (not $C000, as you might have guessed). The DMA

address pointer register is reloaded with the initial calculated address,

when the DMC is activated from an inactive state, or when the length counter

has arrived at terminal count (count=0), if in the looping playback mode.

+---------------------------+

|$4013 - DMC length register|

+---------------------------+

This register contains the length of the chunk of memory to be played by the

DMC, and it's size is measured in bytes. The value of $4013 shl 4 is loaded

into a 12 bit internal down counter, dubbed the length counter. The length

counter is decremented after every DMA fetch, and when it arrives at 0, the

DMC will take action(s) based on the 2 MSB of $4010. This counter will be

loaded with the current calculated address value of $4013 when the DMC is

activated from an inactive state. Because the value that is loaded by the

length counter is $4013 shl 4, this effectively produces a calculated byte

sample length of $4013 shl 4 + 1 (i.e. if $4013=0, sample length is 1 byte

long; if $4013=FF, sample length is $FF1 bytes long).

+-----------------------------------------------------+

|$4014 - transfer 256 bytes from written page to $2004|

+-----------------------------------------------------+

As the name implies, writing to this port will cause the written value to be

used as the high 8-bits of the source 6502 address, and transfer 256

individual bytes from the source address maintained by an internal 8-bit up

counter, to $2004, a hardcoded address where the 2C02 (the NES's PPU) is

normally mapped in. Page transfers take 512 CPU clock cycles, but details on

when it starts are not clear. "The CPU either fetches the first byte of the

next instruction, and then begins DMA, or fetches and executes the next

instruction, and then begins DMA".

+-------------------------------------------------------------+

|$4015 - DMC/IRQ/length counter status/channel enable register|

+-------------------------------------------------------------+

read

----

0 rectangle wave channel 1 length counter status

1 rectangle wave channel 2 length counter status

2 triangle wave channel length counter status

3 noise channel length counter status

4 DMC is currently enabled (playing a stream of samples)

5 unknown

6 frame IRQ status (active when set)

7 DMC's IRQ status (active when set)

write

-----

0 rectangle wave channel 1 enable

1 rectangle wave channel 2 enable

2 triangle wave channel enable

3 noise channel enable

4 enable/disable DMC (1=start/continue playing a sample;0=stop playing)

5-7 unknown

When an IRQ goes off inside the 2A03, Bit 7 of $4015 can tell the interrupt

handler if it was caused by the DMC hardware or not. This bit will be set

(1) if the DMC is responsible for the IRQ. Of course, if your program has no

other IRQ-generating hardware going while it's using the DMC, then reading

this register is not necessary upon IRQ generation. Note that reading this

acknowledged). Also note that if the 2 MSBs of $4010 are not set to 10, no

IRQ will be generated, and bit 7 will always be 0.

Upon generation of an IRQ, to let the DMC know that the software has

acknowledged the /IRQ (and to reset the DMC's internal IRQ flag), any write

out to $4015 will reset the flag, or a write out to $4010 with the MSB set

to 0 will do. These practices should be performed inside the IRQ handler

routine. To replay the same sample that just finished, all you need to do is

just write a 1 out to bit 4 of $4015.

Bit 4 of $4015 reports the real-time status of the DMC. A returned value of

1 denotes that the channel is currently playing a stream of samples. A

returned value of 0 indicates that the channel is inactive. If the

programmer needed to know when a stream of samples was finished playing, but

didn't want to use the IRQ generation feature of the DMC, then polling this

bit would be a valid option.

Writing a value to $4015's 4th bit has the effect of enabling the channel

(start, or continue playing a stream of samples), or disabling the channel

(stop all DMC activity). Note that writing a 1 to this bit while the channel

is currently enabled, will have no effect on counters or registers internal

to the DMC.

The conditions that control the time the DMC will stay enabled are

determined by the 2 MSB of $4010, and register $4013 (if applicable).

Note that all 5 writable bits in $4015 will be set to 0 upon 2A03 reset.

+-----------------------------------+

|$4017 - Low frequency timer control|

+-----------------------------------+

Writes to register $4017 control operation of both the clock divider, and

the frame counter.

- Any write to $4017 resets both the frame counter, and the clock divider.

Sometimes, games will write to this register in order to synchronize the

sound hardware's internal timing, to the sound routine's timing (usually

tied into the NMI code). The frame IRQ frequency is slightly smaller than

the PPU's vertical retrace frequency, so you can see why games would desire

this synchronization.

- bit 6: enable frame IRQ's (when zero).

- bit 7: NTSC/PAL framerate switch (0/1). This bit controls the frame

counter's divide rate. Every time the counter cycles (reaches terminal count

(0)), a frame IRQ will be generated, if enabled by clearing bit 6 of $4017.

$4015.6 holds the status of the frame counter IRQ; it will be set if the

frame counter is responsible for the interrupt.

$4017.7 divider frame IRQ freq.

------- ------- ---------------

0 4 60

1 5 48

On 2A03 reset, both bits of $4017 (6 & 7) will be cleared, enabling frame

IRQ's off the hop. The reason why the existence of frame IRQ's are generally

unknown is because the 6502's maskable interrupt is disabled on reset, and

this blocks out the frame IRQ's. Most games don't use any IRQ-generating

hardware in general, therefore they don't bother enabling maskable

interrupts.

Note that the IRQ line will be held down by the frame counter until it is

acknowledged (by reading $4015). Before this, the 6502 will generate an IRQ

*every* time interrupts are enabled (either by CLI or RTI), since the IRQ

design on the 6502 is level-triggered, and not edge. So bottom line: if

you're going to enable interrupts in an IRQ handler, make sure you've

serviced the device responsible for the IRQ first.

*******************************************

*microarchitecture of basic sound channels*

*******************************************

This section will describe the internal components that make up the basic

sound channels.

Device Triangle Noise Rectangle

------ -------- ------ ---------

triangle step generator X

linear counter X

programmable timer X X X

length counter X X X

4-bit DAC X X X

volume/envelope decay unit X X

sweep unit X

duty cycle generator X

wavelength converter X

random number generator X

+-------------------------+

| Triangle step generator |

+-------------------------+

This is a 5-bit, single direction counter, and it is only used in the

triangle channel. Each of the 4 LSB outputs of the counter lead to one input

on a corresponding mutually exclusive XNOR gate. The 4 XNOR gates have been

strobed together, which results in the inverted representation of the 4 LSB

of the counter appearing on the outputs of the gates when the strobe is 0,

and a non-inverting action taking place when the strobe is 1. The strobe is

naturally connected to the MSB of the counter, which effectively produces on

the output of the XNOR gates a count sequence which reflects the scenario of

a near- ideal triangle step generator (D,E,F,F,E,D,...,2,1,0,0,1,2,...). At

this point, the outputs of the XNOR gates will be fed into the input of a

4-bit DAC.

This 5-bit counter will be halted whenever the Triangle channel's length or

linear counter contains a count of 0. This results in a "latching"

behavior; the counter will NOT be reset to any definite state.

On 2A03 reset, this counter is loaded with 0.

The counter's clock input is connected directly to the terminal count output

pin of the 11-bit programmable timer in the triangle channel. As a result of

the 5-bit triangle step generator, the output triangle wave frequency will

be 32 times less than the frequency of the triangle channel's programmable

timer is set to generate.

+----------------+

| Linear counter |

+----------------+

+--------------------+

| Programmable timer |

+--------------------+

The programmable timer is a 11-bit presettable down counter, and is found in

the rectangle, triangle, and noise channel(s). The bit assignments are as

follows:

$4002(rct1)/$4006(rct2)/$400A(Tri) bits

-------------------------------------

0-7 represent bits 0-7 of the 11-bit wavelength

$4003(rct1)/$4007(rct2)/$400B(Tri) bits

-------------------------------------

0-2 represent bits 8-A of the 11-bit wavelength

Note that on the noise channel, the 11 bits are not available directly. See

the wavelength converter section, for more details.

The counter has automatic synchronous reloading upon terminal count

(count=0), therefore the counter will count for N+1 (N is the 11-bit loaded

value) clock cycles before arriving at terminal count, and reloading. This

counter will typically be clocked at the 2A03's internal 6502 speed (1.79

MHz), and produces an output frequency of 1.79 MHz/(N+1). The terminal

count's output spike length is typically no longer than half a CPU clock.

The TC signal will then be fed to the appropriate device for the particular

sound channel (for rectangle, this terminal count spike will lead to the

duty cycle generator. For the triangle, the spike will be fed to the

triangle step generator. For noise, this signal will go to the random number

generator unit).

+----------------+

| Length counter |

+----------------+

The length counter is found in all sound channels. It is essentially a 7-bit

down counter, and is conditionally clocked at a frequency of 60 Hz.

When the length counter arrives at a count of 0, the counter will be stopped

(stay on 0), and the appropriate channel will be silenced.

The length counter clock disable bit, found in all the channels, can also be

used to halt the count sequence of the length counter for the appropriate

channel, by writing a 1 out to it. A 0 condition will permit counting

(unless of course, the counter's current count = 0). Location(s) of the

length counter clock disable bit:

$4000(rct1)/$4004(rct2)/$400C(noise) bits

---------------------------------------

5 length counter clock disable

$4008(tri) bits

---------------

7 length counter clock disable

To load the length counter with a specified count, a write must be made out

to the length register. Location(s) of the length register:

$4003(rct1)/$4007(rct2)/$400B(tri)/$400F(noise) bits

--------------------------------------------------

3-7 length

The 5-bit length value written, determines what 7-bit value the length

counter will start counting from. A conversion table here will show how the

values are translated.

+-----------------------+

| bit3 = 0 |

+-------+---------------+

| | frames |

| bits +-------+-------+

| 4-6 |bit7=0 |bit7=1 |

+-------+-------+-------+

| 0 | 05 | 06 |

| 1 | 0A | 0C |

| 2 | 14 | 18 |

| 3 | 28 | 30 |

| 4 | 50 | 60 |

| 5 | 1E | 24 |

| 6 | 07 | 08 |

| 7 | 0D | 10 |

+-------+-------+-------+

+---------------+

| bit3 = 1 |

+-------+-------+

| bits | |

| 4-7 |frames |

+-------+-------+

| 0 | 7F |

| 1 | 01 |

| 2 | 02 |

| 3 | 03 |

| 4 | 04 |

| 5 | 05 |

| 6 | 06 |

| 7 | 07 |

| 8 | 08 |

| 9 | 09 |

| A | 0A |

| B | 0B |

| C | 0C |

| D | 0D |

| E | 0E |

| F | 0F |

+-------+-------+

The length counter's real-time status for each channel can be attained. A 0

is returned for a zero count status in the length counter (channel's sound

is disabled), and 1 for a non-zero status. Here's the bit description of the

length counter status register:

$4015(read)

-----------

0 length counter status of rectangle wave channel 1

1 length counter status of rectangle wave channel 2

2 length counter status of triangle wave channel

3 length counter status of noise channel

4 length counter status of DMC

5 unknown

6 frame IRQ status

7 IRQ status of DMC

Writing a 0 to the channel enable register will force the length counters to

always contain a count equal to 0, which renders that specific channel

disabled (as if it doesn't exist). Writing a 1 to the channel enable

the count itself (it will still be whatever it was prior to the writing of

1).

Bit description of the channel enable register:

$4015(write)

------------

0 enable rectangle wave channel 1

1 enable rectangle wave channel 2

2 enable triangle wave channel

3 enable noise channel

4 enable DMC channel

5-7 unknown

+-----------+

| 4-bit DAC |

+-----------+

This is just a standard 4-bit DAC with 16 steps of output voltage

resolution, and is used by all 4 sound channels. On the 2A03, rectangle wave

1 & 2 are mixed together, and are available via pin 1. Triangle & noise are

available on pin 2.

These analog outputs require a negative current source, to attain linear

symmetry on the various output voltage levels generated by the channel(s)

(moreover, to get the sound to be audible). Instead of current sources, the

NES uses external 100 ohm pull-down resistors. This results in the output

waveforms having some linear asymmetry (i.e., as the desired output voltage

increases on a linear scale, the actual outputted voltage increases less and

less each step).

The side effect of this is that the DMC's 7-bit DAC port ($4011) is able to

indirectly control the volume (somewhat) of both triangle & noise channels.

While I have not measured the voltage asymmetry, others on the Membled

Messageboards have posted their findings. The conclusion is that when $4011

is 0, triangle & noise volume outputs are at maximum. When $4011 = 7F, the

triangle & noise channel outputs operate at only 57% total volume. The odd

thing is that a few games actually take advantage of this "volume" feature,

and write values to $4011 in order to regulate the amplitude of the triangle

wave channel's output.

The best circuit I've found to use for reproducing a signal coming out of

either pin of the 2A03 as accurately and with as few components as possible,

is to use a PNP transistor with it's emitter connected to the 2A03 audio

source pin(s), it's base connected to a simple adjustable voltage source

composed of a 500-2000 ohm potentiometer dropped across the +5VDC power

supply, and a 5-10 K ohm resistor connected between the collector and

ground. Retrieve the amplified audio off the collector (w/ resp. to ground),

and adjust the potentiometer for desired volume. In a two-transistor circuit

for stereo amplification, it's okay to use the same potentiometer, but it

may be desirable to adjust one channel to be quieter than the other (though

this is generally not necessary).

+------------------------------+

| Volume / envelope decay unit |

+------------------------------+

The volume / envelope decay hardware is found only in the rectangle wave and

noise channels.

$4000(rct1)/$4004(rct2)/$400C(noise)

----------------------------------

0-3 volume / envelope decay rate

4 envelope decay disable

5 envelope decay looping enable

When the envelope decay disable bit (bit 4) is set (1), the current volume

value (bits 0-3) is sent directly to the channel's DAC. However, depending

on certain conditions, this 4-bit volume value will be ignored, and a value

of 0 will be sent to the DAC instead. This means that while the channel is

enabled (producing sound), the output of the channel (what you'll hear from

the DAC) will either be the 4-bit volume value, or 0. This also means that a

4-bit volume value of 0 will result in no audible sound. These conditions

are as follows:

- When hardware in the channel wants to disable it's sound output (like the

length counter, or sweep unit (rectangle channels only)).

- On the negative portion of the output frequency signal coming from the

duty cycle / random number generator hardware (rectangle wave channel /

noise channel).

When the envelope decay disable bit is cleared, bits 0-3 now control the

envelope decay rate, and an internal 4-bit down counter (hereon the envelope

decay counter) now controls the channel's volume level. "Envelope decay" is

used to describe the action of the channel's audio output volume starting

from a certain value, and decreasing by 1 at a fixed (linear) rate (which

produces a "fade-out" sounding effect). This fixed decrement rate is

controlled by the envelope decay rate (bits 0-3). The calculated decrement

rate is 240Hz/(N+1), where N is any value between $0-$F.

When the channel's envelope decay counter reaches a value of 0, depending on

the status of the envelope decay looping enable bit (bit 5, which is shared

with the length counter's clock disable bit), 2 different things will

happen:

bit 5 action

----- ------

0 The envelope decay count will stay at 0 (channel silenced).

1 The envelope decay count will wrap-around to $F (upon the next clock

cycle). The envelope decay counter will then continue to count down

normally.

Only a write out to $4003/$4007/$400F will reset the current envelope decay

counter to a known state (to $F, the maximum volume level) for the

appropriate channel's envelope decay hardware. Otherwise, the envelope decay

counter is always counting down (by 1) at the frequency currently contained

in the volume / envelope decay rate bits (even when envelope decays are

disabled (setting bit 4)), except when the envelope decay counter contains a

value of 0, and envelope decay looping (bit 5) is disabled (0).

+------------+

| Sweep unit |

+------------+

The sweep unit is only found in the rectangle wave channels. The controls

for the sweep unit have been mapped in at $4001 for rectangle 1, and $4005

for rectangle 2.

The controls

------------

Bit 7 when this bit is set (1), sweeping is active. This results in

real-time increasing or decreasing of the the current wavelength value (the

audible frequency will decrease or increase, respectively). The wavelength

value in $4002/3 ($4006/7) is constantly read & updated by the sweep.

Modifying the contents of $4002/3 will be immediately audible, and will

result in the sweep now starting from this new wavelength value.

Bits 6-4 These 3 bits represent the sweep refresh rate, or the frequency at

which $4002/3 is updated with the new calculated wavelength. The refresh

rate frequency is 120Hz/(N+1), where N is the value written, between 0 and

Bit 3 This bit controls the sweep mode. When this bit is set (1), sweeps

will decrease the current wavelength value, as a 0 will increase the current

wavelength.

Bits 2-0 These bits control the right shift amount of the new calculated

sweep update wavelength. Code that shows how the sweep unit calculates a new

sweep wavelength is as follows:

bit 3

-----

0 New = Wavelength + (Wavelength >> N)

1 New = Wavelength - (Wavelength >> N) (minus an additional 1, if using

rectangle wave channel 1)

where N is the the shift right value, between 0-7.

Note that in decrease mode, for subtracting the 2 values:

1's compliment (NOT) is being used for rectangle wave channel 1

2's compliment (NEG) is being used for rectangle wave channel 2

This information is currently the only known difference between the 2

rectangle wave channels.

On each sweep refresh clock, the Wavelength register will be updated with

the New value, but only if all 3 of these conditions are met:

- bit 7 is set (sweeping enabled)

- the shift value (which is N in the formula) does not equal to 0

- the channel's length counter contains a non-zero value

Notes

-----

There are certain conditions that will cause the sweep unit to silence the

channel, and halt the sweep refresh clock (which effectively stops sweep

action, if any). Note that these conditions pertain regardless of any sweep

refresh rate values, or if sweeping is enabled/disabled (via bit 7).

- an 11-bit wavelength value less than $008 will cause this condition

- if the sweep unit is currently set to increase mode, the New calculated

wavelength value will always be tested to see if a carry (bit $B) was

generated or not (if sweeping is enabled, this carry will be examined before

the Wavelength register is updated) from the shift addition calculation. If

carry equals 1, the channel is silenced, and sweep action is halted.

+----------------------+

| Duty cycle generator |

+----------------------+

The duty cycle generator takes the frequency produced from the 11-bit

programmable timer, and uses a 4 bit counter to produce 4 types of duty

cycles. The output frequency is then 1/16 that of the programmable timer.

The duty cycle hardware is only found in the rectangle wave channels. The

bit assignments are as follows:

$4000(rct1)/$4004(rct2)

---------------------

6-7 Duty cycle type

duty (positive/negative)

val in clock cycles

--- ---------------

00 2/14

01 4/12

10 8/ 8

11 12/ 4

Where val represents bits 6-7 of $4000/$4004.

This counter is reset when the length counter of the same channel is written

to (via $4003/$4007).

The output frequency at this point will now be fed to the volume/envelope

decay hardware.

+----------------------+

| Wavelength converter |

+----------------------+

The wavelength converter is only used in the noise channel. It is used to

convert a given 4-bit value to an 11-bit wavelength, which then is sent to

the noise's own programmable timer. Here is the bit descriptions:

$400E bits

----------

0-3 The 4-bit value to be converted

Below is a conversion chart that shows what 4-bit value will represent the

11-bit wavelength to be fed to the channel's programmable timer:

value octave scale CPU clock cycles (11-bit wavelength+1)

----- ------ ----- --------------------------------------

0 15 A 002

1 14 A 004

2 13 A 008

3 12 A 010

4 11 A 020

5 11 D 030

6 10 A 040

7 10 F 050

8 10 C 065

9 9 A 07F

A 9 D 0BE

B 8 A 0FE

C 8 D 17D

D 7 A 1FC

E 6 A 3F9

F 5 A 7F2

Octave and scale information is provided for the music enthusiast programmer

who is more familiar with notes than clock cycles.

+-------------------------+

| Random number generator |

+-------------------------+

The noise channel has a 1-bit pseudo-random number generator. It's based on

a 15-bit shift register, and an exclusive or gate. The generator can produce

two types of random number sequences: long, and short. The long sequence

generates 32,767-bit long number patterns. The short sequence generates

93-bit long number patterns. The 93-bit mode will generally produce higher

sounding playback frequencys on the channel. Here is the bit that controls

the mode:

$400E bits

----------

7 mode

If mode=0, then 32,767-bit long number sequences will be produced (32K

mode), otherwise 93-bit long number sequences will be produced (93-bit

mode).

The following diagram shows where the XOR taps are taken off the shift

mode <-----

---- EDCBA9876543210

32K **

93-bit * *

The current result of the XOR will be transferred into bit position 0 of the

SR, upon the next shift cycle. The 1-bit random number output is taken from

pin E, is inverted, then is sent to the volume/envelope decay hardware for

the noise channel. The shift register is shifted upon receiving 2 clock

pulses from the programmable timer (the shift frequency will be half that of

the frequency from the programmable timer (one octave lower)).

On 2A03 reset, this shift register is loaded with a value of 1.

RP2A03E quirk

-------------

I have been informed that revisions of the 2A03 before "F" actually lacked

support for the 93-bit looped noise playback mode. While the Famicom's 2A03

went through 4 revisions (E..H), I think that only one was ever used for the

front loading NES: "G". Other differences between 2A03 revisions are

unknown.

EOF

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