SAM Language and Processor Project Demonstration

Why It Matters

By delivering a full stack—from language design to hardware execution—the SAM project proves that custom instruction sets can be built and validated quickly, empowering rapid hardware‑software co‑design in academic and startup environments.

Key Takeaways

• SAM language defines simple arithmetic and assignment syntax.
• Grammar written in ANTLR4 generates lexer and parser automatically.
• Code generator traverses parse tree to emit custom SAM instructions.
• SAM processor, built in Verilog, executes 32‑bit instruction format.
• Demo shows end‑to‑end compilation from source to correct output.

Summary

The video showcases a complete prototype of the SAM programming language and its dedicated processor, built for the ECE Thread Innovate Challenge. The presenter walks through the language’s grammar, which supports basic arithmetic expressions and variable assignments, and demonstrates how the ANTLR4‑based grammar is fed into an online tool to generate a lexer and parser.

Key technical steps include a front‑end that tokenizes source code, parses it into an abstract syntax tree, and a code‑generator that walks the tree to emit a custom 32‑bit instruction set. Instruction helpers such as LOADI, ADD, MOVE, and OUTPUT are assembled into a .mme file that the Verilog‑based SAM processor reads and executes in a two‑stage pipeline.

During the demo, the presenter swaps a simple expression from 9 + 19 to 9 + 10, showing the processor correctly recomputes the result (28 then 19) and prints it to the terminal. The live run highlights the tight coupling between the compiler front‑end and the hardware back‑end.

The end‑to‑end flow—from high‑level source to hardware execution—illustrates a viable path for students and hobbyists to prototype domain‑specific languages and corresponding silicon, potentially shortening development cycles for custom compute units.

Original Description

SamHauck demonstrates the SAM Language and Processor project that won the Systems & Architecture Best in Thread Award at the Innovate ECE Ultimate Thread Competition.