Introduction To Microprocessor and Microcomputer Architecture

MODULE: 1
1. INTRODUCTION TO MICROPROCESSOR AND MICROCOMPUTER

ARCHITECTURE:
A microprocessor is a programmable electronics chip that has computing and decision

making capabilities similar to central processing unit of a computer. Any microprocessor-
based systems having limited number of resources are called microcomputers. Nowadays,
microprocessor can be seen in almost all types of electronics devices like mobile phones,
printers, washing machines etc. Microprocessors are also used in advanced applications like
radars, satellites and flights. Due to the rapid advancements in electronic industry and large
scale integration of devices results in a significant cost reduction and increase application of
microprocessors and their derivatives.
Fig.1 Microprocessor-based system
 Bit: A bit is a single binary digit.

 Word: A word refers to the basic data size or bit size that can be processed by the
arithmetic and logic unit of the processor. A 16-bit binary number is called a word in
a 16-bit processor.
 Bus: A bus is a group of wires/lines that carry similar information.
 System Bus: The system bus is a group of wires/lines used for communication
between the microprocessor and peripherals.
 Memory Word: The number of bits that can be stored in a register or memory
element is called a memory word.
 Address Bus: It carries the address, which is a unique binary pattern used to identify
a memory location or an I/O port. For example, an eight bit address bus has eight
lines and thus it can address 28 = 256 different locations. The locations in
hexadecimal format can be written as 00H – FFH.
 Data Bus: The data bus is used to transfer data between memory and processor or
between I/O device and processor. For example, an 8-bit processor will generally
have an 8-bit data bus and a 16-bit processor will have 16-bit data bus.
 Control Bus: The control bus carry control signals, which consists of signals for
selection of memory or I/O device from the given address, direction of data transfer
and synchronization of data transfer in case of slow devices.
A typical microprocessor consists of arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) in association with
control unit to process the instruction execution. Almost all the microprocessors are based
on the principle of store-program concept. In store-program concept, programs or
instructions are sequentially stored in the memory locations that are to be executed. To do
any task using a microprocessor, it is to be programmed by the user. So the programmer
must have idea about its internal resources, features and supported instructions. Each
microprocessor has a set of instructions, a list which is provided by the microprocessor
manufacturer. The instruction set of a microprocessor is provided in two forms: binary
machine code and mnemonics.
Microprocessor communicates and operates in binary numbers 0 and 1. The set of

instructions in the form of binary patterns is called a machine language and it is difficult for
us to understand. Therefore, the binary patterns are given abbreviated names, called
mnemonics, which forms the assembly language. The conversion of assembly-level
language into binary machine-level language is done by using an application called
assembler.
Technology Used:
The semiconductor manufacturing technologies used for chips are:
 Transistor-Transistor Logic (TTL)

 Emitter Coupled Logic (ECL)
 Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)
Classification of Microprocessors:
Based on their specification, application and architecture microprocessors are classified.
Based on size of data bus:
 4-bit microprocessor
Based on application:
 General-purpose microprocessor- used in general computer system and can be used

by programmer for any application. Examples, 8085 to Intel Pentium.
 Microcontroller- microprocessor with built-in memory and ports and can be
programmed for any generic control application. Example, 8051.
 Special-purpose processors- designed to handle special functions required for an
application. Examples, digital signal processors and application-specific integrated
circuit (ASIC) chips.
Based on architecture:
 Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) processors

 Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) processors
2. 8085 MICROPROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE
The 8085 microprocessor is an 8-bit processor available as a 40-pin IC package and uses +5
V for power. It can run at a maximum frequency of 3 MHz. Its data bus width is 8-bit and
address bus width is 16-bit, thus it can address 216 = 64 KB of memory. The internal
architecture of 8085 is shown is Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 Internal Architecture of 8085
Arithmetic and Logic Unit
The ALU performs the actual numerical and logical operations such as Addition (ADD),
Subtraction (SUB), AND, OR etc. It uses data from memory and from Accumulator to
perform operations. The results of the arithmetic and logical operations are stored in the
accumulator.
Registers
The 8085 includes six registers, one accumulator and one flag register, as shown in Fig. 3.
In addition, it has two 16-bit registers: stack pointer and program counter. They are briefly
described as follows.
The 8085 has six general-purpose registers to store 8-bit data; these are identified as B, C,
D, E, H and L. they can be combined as register pairs - BC, DE and HL to perform some
16-bit operations. The programmer can use these registers to store or copy data into the
register by using data copy instructions.
Fig. 3 Register organisation
Accumulator
The accumulator is an 8-bit register that is a part of ALU. This register is used to store 8-bit
data and to perform arithmetic and logical operations. The result of an operation is stored in
the accumulator. The accumulator is also identified as register A.
Flag register
The ALU includes five flip-flops, which are set or reset after an operation according to data
condition of the result in the accumulator and other registers. They are called Zero (Z),
Carry (CY), Sign (S), Parity (P) and Auxiliary Carry (AC) flags. Their bit positions in the
flag register are shown in Fig. 4. The microprocessor uses these flags to test data conditions.
Fig. 4 Flag register
For example, after an addition of two numbers, if the result in the accumulator is larger than
8-bit, the flip-flop uses to indicate a carry by setting CY flag to 1. When an arithmetic
operation results in zero, Z flag is set to 1. The S flag is just a copy of the bit D7 of the
accumulator. A negative number has a 1 in bit D7 and a positive number has a 0 in 2’s
complement representation. The AC flag is set to 1, when a carry result from bit D3 and
passes to bit D4. The P flag is set to 1, when the result in accumulator contains even number
of 1s.
Program Counter (PC)
This 16-bit register deals with sequencing the execution of instructions. This register is a
memory pointer. The microprocessor uses this register to sequence the execution of the
instructions. The function of the program counter is to point to the memory address from
which the next byte is to be fetched. When a byte is being fetched, the program counter is
automatically incremented by one to point to the next memory location.
Stack Pointer (SP)
The stack pointer is also a 16-bit register, used as a memory pointer. It points to a memory
location in R/W memory, called stack. The beginning of the stack is defined by loading 16-
bit address in the stack pointer.
Instruction Register/Decoder
It is an 8-bit register that temporarily stores the current instruction of a program. Latest
instruction sent here from memory prior to execution. Decoder then takes instruction and
decodes or interprets the instruction. Decoded instruction then passed to next stage.
Control Unit
Generates signals on data bus, address bus and control bus within microprocessor to carry
out the instruction, which has been decoded. Typical buses and their timing are described as
follows:
 Data Bus: Data bus carries data in binary form between microprocessor and other
external units such as memory. It is used to transmit data i.e. information, results of
arithmetic etc between memory and the microprocessor. Data bus is bidirectional in
nature. The data bus width of 8085 microprocessor is 8-bit i.e. 28 combination of
binary digits and are typically identified as D0 – D7. Thus size of the data bus
determines what arithmetic can be done. If only 8-bit wide then largest number is
11111111 (255 in decimal). Therefore, larger numbers have to be broken down into
chunks of 255. This slows microprocessor.
 Address Bus: The address bus carries addresses and is one way bus from
microprocessor to the memory or other devices. 8085 microprocessor contain 16-bit
address bus and are generally identified as A0 - A15. The higher order address lines
(A8 – A15) are unidirectional and the lower order lines (A0 – A7) are multiplexed
(time-shared) with the eight data bits (D0 – D7) and hence, they are bidirectional.
 Control Bus: Control bus are various lines which have specific functions for
coordinating and controlling microprocessor operations. The control bus carries
control signals partly unidirectional and partly bidirectional. The following control
and status signals are used by 8085 processor:
I. ALE (output): Address Latch Enable is a pulse that is provided when an
address appears on the AD0 – AD7 lines, after which it becomes 0.
II. RD (active low output): The Read signal indicates that data are being read
from the selected I/O or memory device and that they are available on the
data bus.
III. WR (active low output): The Write signal indicates that data on the data bus
are to be written into a selected memory or I/O location.
IV. IO/M (output): It is a signal that distinguished between a memory operation
and an I/O operation. When IO/M = 0 it is a memory operation and IO/M =
1 it is an I/O operation.
V. S1 and S0 (output): These are status signals used to specify the type of
operation being performed; they are listed in Table 1.
Table 1 Status signals and associated operations
S1 S0 States
0 0 Halt
0 1 Write
1 0 Read
1 1 Fetch
The schematic representation of the 8085 bus structure is as shown in Fig. 5. The
microprocessor performs primarily four operations:
I. Memory Read: Reads data (or instruction) from memory.

II. Memory Write: Writes data (or instruction) into memory.
III. I/O Read: Accepts data from input device.
IV. I/O Write: Sends data to output device.
The 8085 processor performs these functions using address bus, data bus and control bus as
shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5 The 8085 bus structure

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MODULE: 1

1. INTRODUCTION TO MICROPROCESSOR AND MICROCOMPUTER

A microprocessor is a programmable electronics chip that has computing and decision

Fig.1 Microprocessor-based system

 Bit: A bit is a single binary digit.

Microprocessor communicates and operates in binary numbers 0 and 1. The set of

The semiconductor manufacturing technologies used for chips are:

 Transistor-Transistor Logic (TTL)

Based on their specification, application and architecture microprocessors are classified.

Based on size of data bus:

 General-purpose microprocessor- used in general computer system and can be used

 Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) processors

2. 8085 MICROPROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE

Fig. 2 Internal Architecture of 8085

Arithmetic and Logic Unit

Fig. 3 Register organisation

Fig. 4 Flag register

Stack Pointer (SP)

Table 1 Status signals and associated operations

I. Memory Read: Reads data (or instruction) from memory.

Fig. 5 The 8085 bus structure

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