Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2019 / Digital systems, linear algebra, introduction to formal proof / 1 / e

Use four working processor registers by packing the growing quotient into the vacated low bits of the shifting dividend. The following is A32 assembly language with conditional execution, an allowed instance of the question's general 32-bit Reduced instruction set computer. It is not restricted to the sixteen-bit encodings in the supplied Thumb instruction set table. On entry r0 is the dividend and r1 the positive divisor; r2 becomes the high remainder machine word and r3 counts iterations. The quotient is returned in r0 and the ordinary remainder remains in r2.

mov   r2, #0
mov   r3, #32
loop:
adds  r0, r0, r0
adcs  r2, r2, r2
cmp   r2, r1
subcs r2, r2, r1
adc   r0, r0, #0
subs  r3, r3, #1
bne   loop
bx    lr

Here subcs means conditional sub when arithmetic carry is set, without the flag-setting suffix. adc also preserves flags. Consequently the arithmetic carry from cmp survives until it is inserted as the next quotient bit. The loop has seven instructions, one of them conditional, and no data-dependent branch. Its sole branch is the backwards loop branch, taken 31 times. It uses no separate quotient processor register, zero processor register, temporary comparison processor register or saved arithmetic carry processor register. A Thumb instruction set rendering using conditional execution would need an explicit conditional-execution encoding such as it cs; that is an additional encoded instruction, not an unexplained free operation.

The packed restoring division loop invariant relates it to the displayed algorithm. Specifically, let $M=2^{32}$, let $a$ retain its original mathematical value, and let $k$ be the number of completed iterations. Define the processed prefix $p_k=\lfloor a/2^{32-k}\rfloor$, its quotient $Q_k=\lfloor p_k/b\rfloor$ and remainder $R_k=p_k-b{Q}_k$. The processor register loop invariant isThe two terms in the low machine word occupy disjoint bit positions. Its next outgoing arithmetic carry is therefore the next original dividend bit, not a quotient bit. adds shifts the low machine word; adcs doubles the high remainder and incorporates that dividend bit. cmp decides whether this trial remainder is at least the divisor; subcs performs the conditional subtraction, and adc appends its decision to the shifted quotient. This is exactly the doubling, compare/subtract and quotient-bit update, with the counter maintained separately. Before processing bit $k\le 32$, the trial remainder is at most $p_k<2^k\le M$, so the high-word addition does not require a hidden 33rd remainder bit for this 32-bit dividend problem. After 32 iterations the residual dividend portion is zero, giving the stated outputs.

There is a printed source error in the auxiliary bound. At the initial state, choosing valid inputs $a=b=1$ makes the printed strict inequality $r{2}^j<b{2}^{32}$ false. The algorithm instead preserves $0\le r<b{2}^{32}$ for its unpacked 64-bit variable, together with its printed equality loop invariant. Doubling and subtracting $b{2}^{32}$ when necessary preserves that corrected bound. At termination the equality becomes $a{2}^{32}=qb{2}^{32}+r$; since $r$ is then divisible by $2^{32}$, it gives $0\le a-qb<b$. This source error does not invalidate the algorithm or the packed implementation. The figure is mathematical pseudocode: its 2^32 denotes exponentiation, rather than C's XOR operator.

The displayed A32 routine assembled successfully with Clang and was disassembled to check the conditional and non-flag-setting forms. Its carry flag model was checked exhaustively at an eight-bit machine word size and against boundary and randomized 32-bit divisions. No native ARM architecture family execution is claimed.