Random number generator/Linear feedback shift register (advanced)
Further commentary on the linear feedback shift register example at random number generator.
These are excerpted from the following source on github: prng_6502
prng:
ldy #8 ; iteration count
lda seed+0
:
asl ; shift the register
rol seed+1
bcc :+
eor #$39 ; apply XOR feedback whenever a 1 bit is shifted out
:
dey
bne :--
sta seed+0
cmp #0 ; reload flags
rts
The iteration count stored in Y can be reduced to speed up the generator, at the expense of quality of randomness. Each iteration effectively generators one more bit of entropy, so 8 iterations are needed for an 8-bit random number. If you intend to use fewer bits of the result (e.g. use AND to mask the result), or if you are satisfied with less randomness, you can reduce Y, or even parameterize it:
; Y as a parameter specifies number of random bits to generate (1 to 8)
prng:
lda seed+0
@bitloop:
asl
rol seed+1
bcc :+
eor #$39
:
dey
bne @bitloop
sta seed+0
cmp #0
rts
Alternatively this loop could be unrolled with 8 entry points, saving the need to use Y or load it as a parameter.
By adding an extra byte or two to the seed variable, and choosing an appropriate polynomial to XOR with, we can extend the sequence length significantly with only one additonal ROL per byte (+40 cycles).
This 24-bit version has a sequence length of 16777215: 21 bytes, 173-181 cycles.
.zeropage
seed: .res 3 ; 24-bit
.code
prng:
ldy #8
lda seed+0
:
asl
rol seed+1
rol seed+2
bcc :+
eor #$1B
:
dey
bne :--
sta seed+0
cmp #0
rts
This 32-bit version has a sequence length of 4294967295: 23 bytes, 213-221 cycles.
.zeropage
seed: .res 4 ; 32-bit
.code
prng:
ldy #8
lda seed+0
:
asl
rol seed+1
rol seed+2
rol seed+3
bcc :+
eor #$C5
:
dey
bne :--
sta seed+0
cmp #0
rts
Even longer sequences are possible, but it’s not likely to be practical, as it would already take approximately 7 days for an NTSC NES to complete this 32 bit LFSR cycle if doing nothing else.
With an XOR-feedback that contains only four bits, we can shift and feed back 8 bits at once in a more complex overlapped operation that essentially applies 4 16-bit XOR operations to the lower two bytes of the seed. (One XOR for each feedback bit.) With some careful rearrangement this can do 8 iterations at once very efficiently.
24-bit overlapped: 38 bytes, 73 cycles.
prng:
; rotate the middle byte left
ldy seed+1 ; will move to seed+2 at the end
; compute seed+1 ($1B>>1 = %1101)
lda seed+2
lsr
lsr
lsr
lsr
sta seed+1 ; reverse: %1011
lsr
lsr
eor seed+1
lsr
eor seed+1
eor seed+0
sta seed+1
; compute seed+0 ($1B = %00011011)
lda seed+2
asl
eor seed+2
asl
asl
eor seed+2
asl
eor seed+2
sty seed+2 ; finish rotating byte 1 into 2
sta seed+0
rts
32-bit overlapped: 44 bytes, 83 cycles.
prng:
; rotate the middle bytes left
ldy seed+2 ; will move to seed+3 at the end
lda seed+1
sta seed+2
; compute seed+1 ($C5>>1 = %1100010)
lda seed+3 ; original high byte
lsr
sta seed+1 ; reverse: 100011
lsr
lsr
lsr
lsr
eor seed+1
lsr
eor seed+1
eor seed+0 ; combine with original low byte
sta seed+1
; compute seed+0 ($C5 = %11000101)
lda seed+3 ; original high byte
asl
eor seed+3
asl
asl
asl
asl
eor seed+3
asl
asl
eor seed+3
sty seed+3 ; finish rotating byte 2 into 3
sta seed+0
rts
A note about the chosen polynomials: several XOR-feedback values are available that will produce a maximal-length LFSR period[1]. $39, $2D, and $C5 are chosen because they contain the minimum number of bits, in a compact arrangement that allows a fast overlapped computation.
- 32-bit LFSR PRNG by jroatch
- http://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/lfsr/index.html - a source for maximal polynomials for LFSRs of many lengths.