ISA Design Studio#

Install ISA Design Studio, load a CX seed, save it, and review the first elaborated instruction.

Overview#

ISA Design Studio is a Linux desktop workspace for defining an instruction-set contract and checking that encodings and behavior stay consistent. It uses the CX architecture source as the basis for parsing, elaboration, assembly, disassembly, and validation operations.

Install and Open#

  1. Follow Downloads, Verify Downloads, and Install on Linux.

  2. Launch altifigence-isa-studio or open ISA Design Studio from the application menu.

  3. Complete First Launch and Licence.

  4. Let the application open its local CX workspace.

The native document is managed in the application’s local data workspace under the logical label workspace/main.cx. It is not the same model as opening an arbitrary RTL project directory in SystemVerilog IDE.

First Instruction Quickstart#

Use the built-in seed before writing a new architecture from scratch. Loading a seed replaces the current editor contents, so first copy any work you need to keep into a user-controlled .cx file.

  1. Open Library in the left activity rail.

  2. Under Tensor / NPU, select the Tensor / NPU accelerator model card. The card is labelled npu.cx and replaces the editor with that model.

  3. Wait for the live elaboration result. If diagnostics appear, stop and review them before continuing.

  4. Open Instructions and select one instruction derived from the seed.

  5. Open Encoding and confirm that the selected instruction has a format, fixed encoding information, and no reported collision.

  6. Save with Ctrl+S. The status bar must show npu.cx · saved rather than modified, saving, failed, or read only.

At this point, one saved CX document has elaborated successfully and its first instruction appears in the instruction and encoding views.

If Assembler is available, choose an example generated from the elaborated encoding and assemble it. Then disassemble the returned bits and compare the result with the original instruction. If the view says the feature is disabled or unavailable for the current account, skip this optional check.

Inputs and Outputs#

Input

Purpose

Review before acceptance

Instruction fields and encodings

Define the binary contract

Overlap, width, reserved values, and decode ambiguity

Operand and state behavior

Define architectural meaning

Side effects, exceptions, and unsupported states

Assembly example, when available

Test source-to-bits behavior

Exact bits, length, and diagnostics

Binary example, when available

Test bits-to-source behavior

Recovered instruction and ambiguity

Validation result

Record bounded checks

Check kind, source revision, and unavailable checks

Treat generated definitions and reports as versioned artifacts. Keep the CX source, application version, input examples, and result evidence together. See Local Workspaces and Data Boundaries before backup, restore, or migration.

Local and Preview Features#

Core CX operations use the local native workspace. Local AI or Evolve-related surfaces can have a separate capability state and must not be treated as an authority for architectural signoff. A prompt or generated suggestion never replaces deterministic parse, elaborate, encode, decode, and project-specific verification.

Current Limitations#

  • Tested release host: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS amd64/x86_64.

  • Browser sign-in and a valid machine licence are required for product access.

  • The application workspace is local and app-managed; export intentionally for repository or team use.

  • Availability of AI, Evolve, measured implementation, or external tool results is separate from the core CX checks.

  • There is no automatic updater; install each newly verified .deb manually.

For package, launcher, callback, credential-store, or licence problems, use Troubleshooting.