Copper

The Copper is a simple programmed system which allows certain Next Registers to be altered automatically at certain scanline positions.

"Copper" is a strangulation of "co-processor" and is a term taken from the Amiga which had a similar function. The copper on the Spectrum Next is not associated with the Raspberry Pi 'coprocessor'.

A program is uploaded to the Copper by sending it, byte by byte, to Copper Data ($60). Each Copper instruction is 16 bits wide and there are only 2 opcodes, so only a single bit in an instruction determines the operation. The two operations are:

Opcode	Bit pattern	Effect
WAIT	%1hhhhhhv %vvvvvvvv	Wait for raster line v (0-311) and horizontal position h*8 (h is 0-55) (duration 1 CLOCK)
MOVE	%0rrrrrrr %vvvvvvvv	Write value v to Next register r (duration 2 CLOCKS)
NOOP	%00000000 %00000000	Special case of "value 0 to port 0" works as "no operation" (duration 1 CLOCK)
HALT	%11111111 %11111111	Special case of "WAIT 63,511" works as "halt" instruction

The copper's program storage is 2k big; since each instruction is 2 bytes it can store exactly 1024 instructions, numbered 0-1023. The copper is controlled by a word accessed through Next Registers Copper Control Low Byte ($61) and Copper Control High Byte ($62). The internal "program counter" (CPC) has 10 bits (0-1023), auto-incrementing it after each instruction, wrapping around after last one back to first one.

The copper control word has the structure: %cc000iii %iiiiiiii. I is the storage position (0-2047) (for writing instructions with Copper Data ($60)), and c is used to set the behaviour mode of the copper, as follows:

C bits	Effect
%00	STOP, copper does nothing (CPC keeps its current value)
%01	reset CPC to 0, then START
%10	START (resumes from current CPC)
%11	reset CPC to 0, then START; Also VBLANK does reset CPC to 0

When c bits are identical to previously written value, the control mode is ignored, and only write-index I is modified.

If you don't want the copper program to loop infinitely, then you can mark the "end" of the copper program by waiting for a line higher than 311 ("HALT" instruction). Since these lines will never be reached, the copper will essentially halt until reset.

The precise timing and many more details are currently documented in distribution file "/docs/extra-hw/copper/COPPER-v0.1c.TXT".