A.R.C.S | Rust-Based Custom Assembly Emulator

A custom x86-inspired assembly architecture emulator with ARC assembly language support

Explore the world of assembly programming with A.R.C.S!

For detailed information about the emulator's architecture, usage, and features, please see the full documentation.

Overview

A.R.C.S (Advanced RISC Computer System) is a terminal-based emulator for a custom ARC architecture with its own assembly language. It features a rich TUI interface built with Ratatui and Crossterm, providing an interactive environment for writing, debugging, and executing ARC assembly programs.

Features

• Full CPU Emulation: Complete implementation of a custom ARC architecture, inspired by AVR, 8086-like, and ARM architectures with custom extensions. Supports configurable memory sizes.
• Interactive TUI: Terminal user interface with multiple panels for registers, memory, and program editing.
• Program Editor: Built-in text editor with syntax support for the ARC assembly language.
• Memory Management: Virtual memory system with configurable total memory size and support for custom segment directives (.text_start, .stack_start, .stack_size).
• Debugging Tools: Step-by-step execution, breakpoints, and register monitoring.
• Save/Load Programs: Persistent storage of assembly programs with .arc extension.

Architecture

The emulator implements a custom ARC architecture with:

• 32-bit General and Pointer registers (AX, BX, CX, DX, EX, FX, GX, HX, SP, BP, SI, DI)
• Segment registers (CS, DS, SS, ES)
• Control registers (PC, FLAGS)
• Configurable addressable memory space (from 64KB to 8MB)
• Support for custom segment directives (.text_start, .stack_start, .stack_size)
• Stack-based subroutine calls
• Flag-based conditional jumps

Installation

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.60 or newer
• Cargo (Rust package manager)

Getting Started

To build and run this project:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/cristiano-s-r-filho/rust-c-asm.git
   

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd rust-c-asm
   cd asm_cli
   

3. Install the arcs command:

   cargo install --path .
   

   This command compiles the project and installs the arcs executable to your Cargo bin directory (usually ~/.cargo/bin or %USERPROFILE%\.cargo\bin). Ensure this directory is in your system's PATH.

4. Run the A.R.C.S emulator:

   arcs
   

   You can also specify the memory size using the --memory-size option:

   arcs --memory-size 1MB
   

   (Supported sizes: 64KB to 8MB, e.g., 64KB, 2MB. Default is 64KB.)

Future Applications

The knowledge acquired from this project forms a strong basis for understanding how software interacts with hardware, which is critical for advanced cybersecurity roles, including vulnerability analysis, reverse engineering, and developing secure operating systems components. I aim to apply these insights to contribute to robust security strategies and tech implementations.