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

*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
register used inside NES/FC controllers.

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

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º7654 3210³xx0 00x³xx1 00x³xx0 10x³xx1 10x³xx0 01x³xx1 01x³xx0 11x³xx1 11xº
ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
º000x xx00³BRK IMD³BPL ³PHP ³CLC ³nop opg³nop opx³nop abs³nop abxº
º001x xx00³JSR ABS³BMI ³PLP ³SEC ³BIT 0PG³nop opx³BIT ABS³nop abxº
º010x xx00³RTI ³BVC ³PHA ³CLI ³nop opg³nop opx³JMP ABS³nop abxº
º011x xx00³RTS ³BVS ³PLA ³SEI ³nop opg³nop opx³JMP IND³nop abxº
º100x xx00³nop imd³BCC ³DEY ³TYA ³STY 0PG³STY 0PX³STY ABS³shy abxº
º101x xx00³LDY IMD³BCS ³TAY ³CLV ³LDY 0PG³LDY 0PX³LDY ABS³LDY ABXº
º110x xx00³CPY IMD³BNE ³INY ³CLD ³CPY 0PG³nop opx³CPY ABS³nop abxº
º111x xx00³CPX IMD³BEQ ³INX ³SED ³CPX 0PG³nop opx³CPX ABS³nop abxº
º000x xx10³ ³ ³ASL A ³nop ³ASL 0PG³ASL 0PX³ASL ABS³ASL ABXº
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º010x xx10³ ³ ³LSR A ³nop ³LSR 0PG³LSR 0PX³LSR ABS³LSR ABXº
º011x xx10³ ³ ³ROR A ³nop ³ROR 0PG³ROR 0PX³ROR ABS³ROR ABXº
º100x xx10³nop imd³ ³TXA ³TXS ³STX 0PG³STX 0PY³STX ABS³shx abyº
º101x xx10³LDX IMD³ ³TAX ³TSX ³LDX 0PG³LDX 0PY³LDX ABS³LDX ABYº
º110x xx10³nop imd³ ³DEX ³nop ³DEC 0PG³DEC 0PX³DEC ABS³DEC ABXº
º111x xx10³nop imd³ ³NOP ³nop ³INC 0PG³INC 0PX³INC ABS³INC ABXº
º000x xx01³ORA NDX³ORA NDY³ORA IMD³ORA ABY³ORA 0PG³ORA 0PX³ORA ABS³ORA ABXº
º001x xx01³AND NDX³AND NDY³AND IMD³AND ABY³AND 0PG³AND 0PX³AND ABS³AND ABXº
º010x xx01³EOR NDX³EOR NDY³EOR IMD³EOR ABY³EOR 0PG³EOR 0PX³EOR ABS³EOR ABXº
º011x xx01³ADC NDX³ADC NDY³ADC IMD³ADC ABY³ADC 0PG³ADC 0PX³ADC ABS³ADC ABXº
º100x xx01³STA NDX³STA NDY³nop imd³STA ABY³STA 0PG³STA 0PX³STA ABS³STA ABXº
º101x xx01³LDA NDX³LDA NDY³LDA IMD³LDA ABY³LDA 0PG³LDA 0PX³LDA ABS³LDA ABXº
º110x xx01³CMP NDX³CMP NDY³CMP IMD³CMP ABY³CMP 0PG³CMP 0PX³CMP ABS³CMP ABXº
º111x xx01³SBC NDX³SBC NDY³SBC IMD³SBC ABY³SBC 0PG³SBC 0PX³SBC ABS³SBC ABXº
º000x xx11³slo ndx³slo ndy³anc imd³slo aby³slo opg³slo opx³slo abs³slo abxº
º001x xx11³rla ndx³rla ndy³anc imd³rla aby³rla opg³rla opx³rla abs³rla abxº
º010x xx11³sre ndx³sre ndy³asr imd³sre aby³sre opg³sre opx³sre abs³sre abxº
º011x xx11³rra ndx³rra ndy³arr imd³rra aby³rra opg³rra opx³rra abs³rra abxº
º100x xx11³sax ndx³sha ndy³ane imd³shs aby³sax opg³sax opy³sax abs³sha abyº
º101x xx11³lax ndx³lax ndy³lxa imd³las aby³lax opg³lax opy³lax abs³lax abyº
º110x xx11³dcp ndx³dcp ndy³sbx imd³dcp aby³dcp opg³dcp opx³dcp abs³dcp abxº
º111x xx11³isb ndx³isb ndy³sbc imd³isb aby³isb opg³isb opx³isb abs³isb abxº
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º$nn,PC
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º*
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º*
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º$nnnn
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+-------------+
|table 2 notes|
+-------------+
unusual operation (see "NMOS 65xx Instruction Set" document for
details)
 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 & transfered to PCH, simultaniously 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
equivelant. 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
register is then clocked at 8x the DMA frequency (which means that the CPU
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"

behaviour 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 neccessary upon IRQ generation. Note that reading this
register will NOT clear bit 7 (meaning that the DMC's IRQ will still NOT be
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 syncronization.

- 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"
behaviour; 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 syncronous 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
register disables the forced length counter value of 0, but will not change
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 asymmetery, 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 neccessary).

+------------------------------+
| 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
7.

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 fequency 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
register to produce the 1-bit pseudo-random number sequences for each mode.

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 recieving 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