Nano Processor Project

Project Overview

This is our final project for CS1050: Computer Organization & Digital Design, where our team of four successfully designed, implemented, and tested a Nano Processor using FPGA hardware and the Xilinx Vivado Design Suite. 🖥️🔧

We built two versions—a Basic Version and an Extended Version—integrating core concepts from digital logic, processor architecture, and system-level design. This wasn’t just about building circuits; it was about understanding how computers actually work at the hardware level.

🏗️ What We Built

Basic Version Highlights

• ✅ 4-bit Add/Subtract Unit & 3-bit Adder
• ✅ 3-bit Program Counter
• ✅ Multiplexers: 8-way 2-bit, 2-way 3-bit, and 2-way 4-bit
• ✅ Register Bank, Program ROM, Instruction Decoder
• ✅ Unsigned output displayed via 7-segment display

Extended Version Features

• ✅ Full upgrade to 8-bit components
• ✅ Integrated Multiplier Unit
• ✅ Three 7-segment displays with 2’s complement (minus sign support)
• ✅ Extended Program ROM to handle 16 instructions
• ✅ Enhanced visualization and functionality

🛠️ Technologies & Tools

• FPGA Implementation — Xilinx Basys 3 Board
• Xilinx Vivado — Synthesis, simulation, and deployment
• Custom Digital Logic — No soft processors, pure hardware design
• Hardware Description — Verilog for circuit implementation

💡 Key Learnings

This hands-on experience was incredibly valuable—it blended theory with real-world hardware design. Through this project, we deepened our understanding of:

• Computer architecture and processor design
• Digital logic circuits and hardware optimization
• FPGA development and hardware synthesis
• Hardware simulation and testing
• Collaborative engineering in hardware projects

🤝 Team Credits

A massive thank you to my amazing teammates who made this possible:

• Abdul Rafi
• Damindu Jayasinghe
• Sonath Kirindage

Couldn’t have asked for a better team! 🙌

🔗 GitHub Repository

📂 Nano-Processor-Project

Check out the full source code and implementation details on GitHub.