This signal correspond to the PowerPC instruction. Such a signal is a good candidate for connecting modules implementing a PowerPC pipeline. This signal is declared as the Instruction class defined in the ppc_instruction.h file of the repository.

As explained in the previous chapter, the fields composing the instruction presented below are filled as the instruction goes along the pipeline.

As the signal is tied to the instruction defined in the PowerPC ISA, the PowerPC instruction signal is not parametrized.

• bool predecoded
  Becomes true once the instruction is predecoded.
• bool decoded
  Becomes true once the instruction is decoded.
• ppc_operation_t *operation
  The emulator data type corresponding to the instruction.
• ppc_code_t binary
  The binary image of the instruction. (unsigned word corresponding to the instruction)
• address_t cia
  The program counter of the instruction (current instruction address).
• address_t predicted_nia
  The predicted next instruction address, as guessed at fetch.
• address_t nia
  The next instruction address, as known at commit.
• branch_direction_t predicted_branch_direction
  The predicted branch direction (taken, not taken).
• branch_direction_t branch_direction
  The effective branch direction, as known at commit.
• function_t function
  The function category of the instruction, as defined in the PowerPC emulator library.
• int64_t inum
  A Unique id number for the instruction (convenient for ordering instructions).
• int tag
  Tag used by reorder buffers to reorder instructions.
• uint32_t ea
  The effective address of a load/store instruction.
• int ls_reg_count
  The load/store counter for multiple load and multiple store instructions.
• int ls_byte_count
  The number of byte to load/store for load string and store string instructions.
• int load_reg
  The load register for used by multiple and string load / stores.
• bool emul_executed
  Whether the instruction has been executed through the emulator.
• bool verified
  Set to true once the instruction has been verified against the emulator.
• ppc_cpu_t *cpu
  A pointer to the emulator cpu to which the instruction belongs.

This type specify the function performed by the instruction.They are presented below by category of instruction. Check the PowerPC emulator library for more details.

• Integer instructions: FnIntBasic, FnIntBasicSerial, FnIntExtended.
• Floating point instructions: FnFpCommon, FnFpFPSCR, FnFpFPSCRSerial.
• Branch instructions: FnBranch, FnConditionalBranch, FnBranchCountReg, FnBranchLinkReg, FnCondRegister.
• Load instructions: FnLoadInstruction, FnLoad, FnLoadByteReversed, FnLoadFloat, FnLoadMultiple, FnLoadString, FnLoadStringImm, FnLoadSerial.
• Store instructions: FnStore, FnStoreByteReversed, FnStoreFloat, FnStoreMultiple, FnStoreString, FnStoreStringImm, FnStoreSerial, FnDataCacheBA, FnDataCacheBF, FnDataCacheBI.
• Special instructions: FnInvalid, FnNop, FnCache, FnCacheSerial, FnSysRegister, FnSysRegisterSerial, FnSysCall, FnMac.

This data type is used to specify if a branch should be taken or not. Possible values are { Taken, NotTaken, DontKnow }.