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Microprocessor and

Assembly Language

History of Microprocessor

A microprocessor (sometimes abbreviated


P) is a digital electronic component with
transistors on a single semiconductor
integrated circuit (IC).
A Central processing unit (CPU) in a
computer system or handheld device
consists of one or more microprocessors.

A Microprocessor is essentially a set of


switches. Using photographic technology a
massive set of electronic switches is
superimposed onto a very small piece of
silicon.
Through the use of binary language, which
consists of only two states; one and zero (on
and off), these can be used to store
information and perform operations on it.

A bit refers to one binary digit; a zero or one. In


computer memory and processing this refers to
the state of one switch. The transistors are
arranged into groups in order to represent
complex numbers and instructions

The very first microprocessor is considered to


be the Intel 4004. It was released in 1971 and
was a 4 Bit processor.
Then the 8 bit 8008 microprocessor. It was
developed by Intel in 1972
The first multi-chip 16 bit processor was
released by National Semiconductor in 1973
Intel upgraded the 8008 into a 16 bit version
they called the 8086. It was the first of the
x86 family by which many modern PCs are
powered.

32 bit designs didn't require much to improve


performance since it has double the size of
instructions as well as the amount of
addressable memory.
68000 by Motorola was one of the first
microprocessors developed to 32 bit
architectures. It was released in 1979 and
continued to be in use today.

Most of today's computers are turning to 64


bit designs to handle dealing with very large
amounts of data. This is needed especially as
demand for 3D Graphics and fast video has
risen. E.g. AMD Athlon, Pentium i5/i7
processors.

Microcomputer Block Diagram

Basic Block Diagram of


Microprocessor

Arithmetic
and Logic
Unit (ALU)

Register
Array

Timing and Control


unit

ALU Performs all


arithmetic and logical
operations
Register array Holds the
data temporarily for
processing
Control Unit It supervises/
monitors all the operations
carried out in the computer

The 8085 Microprocessor

The 8085 microprocessor was introduced by


Intel in the year 1976.
This microprocessor is an update of 8080
microprocessor. The 8080 processor was
updated with Enable/Disable instruction pins
and Interrupt pins to form the 8085
microprocessor.
It is an 8-bit microprocessor with a 40 pin
dual in line package

The 8085 has a set of registers for performing various


operations. The various registers include:

Accumulator 8 bit register which holds the latest result from ALU

B, C, D, E, H and L are general purpose registers

HL pair can be used for indirect addressing as well

Program counter 16 bit register which holds the address of the next
instruction to be executed

Instruction register It holds the instruction that is currently being processed.

Stack pointer is used during subroutine calling and execution.

Address Latch It increments/ decrements the address before sent to the


address buffer

Various Flags

Sign Flag:If the result of the latest arithmetic operation is having MSB (mostsignificant byte) 1 (meaning it is a negative number), then the sign flag is set.
Otherwise, it is reset to 0 which means it is a positive number.

Zero flag: If the result of the latest operation is zero, then zero flag will be set;
otherwise it be reset.

Auxiliary Carry Flag: This flag is not accessible to programmer. This flag will
be used by the system during BCD (binary-coded decimal) operations.

Parity Flag: If the result of the latest operation is having even number of 1s,
then this flag will be set. Otherwise this will be reset to 0. This is used for error
checking.

Carry Flag: If the result of the latest operations exceeds 8-bits then this flag will
be set. Otherwise it be reset.

An example assembly
language program

Address Instruction
202A
202C
202E

MVI
MVI
ADD

A, 21
B, 2A
B

202F

STA

41 FF

2032

HLT

;Copies 21 into accumulator


;Copies 2A into B register
;Adds B reg content with Acc and
stores the result in Acc.
; Stores the Acc (the sum) into
the memory location 41 FF.
; Stops the program

Memory storage of the Assembly


language
Address

Instruction/Data

202A
202B
202C
202D
202E
202F
2030
2031
2032

MVI
21
MVI
2A
ADD
STA
FF
41
HLT

A,
B,
B

Reference:

http://www.brighthub.com/engineering/electric
al/articles/51225.aspx

http://www.cpu-world.com/Arch/8085.html

http://www.ehow.com/way_5230222_8085microprocessor-tutorial.html

http://www.brighthub.com/engineering/electric
al/articles/51225.aspx

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