P3 Documentation

Here you will find unofficial documentation for the P3 educational CPU.

This is a work in progress. If you want to contribute with content to this website, check p3doc on GitHub.

Check the P3JS assembler and simulator to test/run programs for the P3 CPU directly on your browser.

P3 CPU Introduction

The P3 is a 16-bit CPU used at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) as a learning tool for Computer Engineering students.

It is described in chapters 10, 11 and 12 of the book:

Arquitectura de Computadores: Dos Sistemas Digitais aos Microprocessadores
G. Arroz, J. Monteiro, A. Oliveira
IST Press

Some official links (in Portuguese):

• Book Information
• P3 CPU assembler and simulator
• Manual for the assembler and simulator (alt)

The P3 itself is not a commercial product and doesn’t exist as a dedicated IC. It is normally implemented on an FPGA or simulated on a computer.

Not to be confused with the Pentium III.