Microprocessor

 What is Microprocessor?
Microprocessor: A microprocessor is a processor which incorporates the functions of a CPU on a
single integrated circuit (IC).
Microprocessor is a controlling unit of a micro-computer, fabricated on a small chip capable of
performing ALU (Arithmetic Logical Unit) operations and communicating with the other devices
connected to it.
Microprocessor consists of an ALU, register array, and a control unit. ALU performs arithmetical
and logical operations on the data received from the memory or an input device. Register array
consists of registers identified by letters like B, C, D, E, H, L and accumulator. The control unit
controls the flow of data and instructions within the computer.

Block Diagram of a Basic Microcomputer:

How does a Microprocessor Work?

The microprocessor follows a sequence: Fetch, Decode, and then Execute.
Initially, the instructions are stored in the memory in a sequential order. The
microprocessor fetches those instructions from the memory, then decodes it and executes those
instructions till STOP instruction is reached. Later, it sends the result in binary to the output port.
Between these processes, the register stores the temporarily data and ALU performs the
computing functions.
List of Terms Used in a Microprocessor:
Here is a list of some of the frequently used terms in a microprocessor −
 Instruction Set − It is the set of instructions that the microprocessor can understand.
 Bandwidth − It is the number of bits processed in a single instruction.
 Clock Speed − It determines the number of operations per second the processor can
perform. It is expressed in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).It is also known as
Clock Rate.
 Word Length − It depends upon the width of internal data bus, registers, ALU, etc. An 8-
bit microprocessor can process 8-bit data at a time. The word length ranges from 4 bits to
64 bits depending upon the type of the microcomputer.
 Data Types − The microprocessor has multiple data type formats like binary, BCD,
ASCII, signed and unsigned numbers.
Features of a Microprocessor
Here is a list of some of the most prominent features of any microprocessor −
 Cost-effective − The microprocessor chips are available at low prices and results its low
cost.
 Size − The microprocessor is of small size chip, hence is portable.
 Low Power Consumption − Microprocessors are manufactured by using metaloxide
semiconductor technology, which has low power consumption.
 Versatility − The microprocessors are versatile as we can use the same chip in a number
of applications by configuring the software program.
 Reliability − The failure rate of an IC in microprocessors is very low, hence it is reliable.

A microprocessor can be classified into three categories −

RISC Processor
RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computer. It is designed to reduce the execution
time by simplifying the instruction set of the computer. Using RISC processors, each instruction
requires only one clock cycle to execute results in uniform execution time. This reduces the
efficiency as there are more lines of code, hence more RAM is needed to store the instructions.
The compiler also has to work more to convert high-level language instructions into machine
code.
Some of the RISC processors are −
 Power PC: 601, 604, 615, 620
 DEC Alpha: 210642, 211066, 21068, 21164
 MIPS: TS (R10000) RISC Processor
 PA-RISC: HP 7100LC
Architecture of RISC
RISC microprocessor architecture uses highly-optimized set of instructions. It is used in portable
devices like Apple iPod due to its power efficiency.
Characteristics of RISC
The major characteristics of a RISC processor are as follows −
 It consists of simple instructions.
 It supports various data-type formats.
 It utilizes simple addressing modes and fixed length instructions for pipelining.
 It supports register to use in any context.
 One cycle execution time.
 “LOAD” and “STORE” instructions are used to access the memory location.
 It consists of larger number of registers.
 It consists of less number of transistors.

CISC Processor
CISC stands for Complex Instruction Set Computer. It is designed to minimize the number of
instructions per program, ignoring the number of cycles per instruction. The emphasis is on
building complex instructions directly into the hardware.
The compiler has to do very little work to translate a high-level language into assembly level
language/machine code because the length of the code is relatively short, so very little RAM is
required to store the instructions.
Some of the CISC Processors are −
 IBM 370/168
 VAX 11/780
 Intel 80486
Architecture of CISC
Its architecture is designed to decrease the memory cost because more storage is needed in larger
programs resulting in higher memory cost. To resolve this, the number of instructions per
program can be reduced by embedding the number of operations in a single instruction.

Characteristics of CISC
 Variety of addressing modes.
 Larger number of instructions.
 Variable length of instruction formats.
 Several cycles may be required to execute one instruction.
 Instruction-decoding logic is complex.
  One instruction is required to support multiple addressing modes.

Difference between the RISC and CISC Processors

RISC CISC

It is a Reduced Instruction Set Computer. It is a Complex Instruction Set Computer.

It emphasizes on software to optimize the It emphasizes on hardware to optimize the

instruction set. instruction set.

It is a hard wired unit of programming in the RISC Microprogramming unit in CISC Processor.
Processor.

It requires multiple register sets to store the It requires a single register set to store the
instruction. instruction.

RISC has simple decoding of instruction. CISC has complex decoding of instruction.

Uses of the pipeline are simple in RISC. Uses of the pipeline are difficult in CISC.

It uses a limited number of instruction that requires It uses a large number of instruction that
less time to execute the instructions. requires more time to execute the instructions.

It uses LOAD and STORE that are independent It uses LOAD and STORE instruction in the
instructions in the register-to-register a program's memory-to-memory interaction of a program.
interaction.

RISC has more transistors on memory registers. CISC has transistors to store complex
instructions.

The execution time of RISC is very short. The execution time of CISC is longer.

RISC architecture can be used with high-end CISC architecture can be used with low-end
applications like telecommunication, image applications like home automation, security
 processing, video processing, etc. system, etc.

It has fixed format instruction. It has variable format instruction.

The program written for RISC architecture needs to Program written for CISC architecture tends to
take more space in memory. take less space in memory.

Example of RISC: ARM, PA-RISC, Power Examples of CISC: VAX, Motorola 68000
Architecture, Alpha, AVR, ARC and the SPARC. family, System/360, AMD and the Intel x86
CPUs.

Special Processors
These are the processors which are designed for some special purposes. Few of the special
processors are briefly discussed −
Coprocessor
A coprocessor is a specially designed microprocessor, which can handle its particular function
many times faster than the ordinary microprocessor.
For example − Math Coprocessor.
Some Intel math-coprocessors are −
 8087-used with 8086
 80287-used with 80286
 80387-used with 80386
Input/Output Processor
It is a specially designed microprocessor having a local memory of its own, which is used to
control I/O devices with minimum CPU involvement.
For example −
 DMA (direct Memory Access) controller
 Keyboard/mouse controller
 Graphic display controller
 SCSI port controller
Transputer (Transistor Computer)
A transputer is a specially designed microprocessor with its own local memory and having links
to connect one transputer to another transputer for inter-processor communications. It was first
designed in 1980 by Inmos and is targeted to the utilization of VLSI technology.
A transputer can be used as a single processor system or can be connected to external links,
which reduces the construction cost and increases the performance.
For example − 16-bit T212, 32-bit T425, the floating point (T800, T805 & T9000) processors.
DSP (Digital Signal Processor)
This processor is specially designed to process the analog signals into a digital form. This is done
by sampling the voltage level at regular time intervals and converting the voltage at that instant
into a digital form. This process is performed by a circuit called an analogue to digital converter,
A to D converter or ADC.
A DSP contains the following components −
 Program Memory − It stores the programs that DSP will use to process data.
 Data Memory − It stores the information to be processed.
 Compute Engine − It performs the mathematical processing, accessing the program from
the program memory and the data from the data memory.
 Input/Output − It connects to the outside world.
Its applications are −
 Sound and music synthesis
 Audio and video compression
 Video signal processing
 2D and 3d graphics acceleration.
For example − Texas Instrument’s TMS 320 series, e.g., TMS 320C40, TMS320C50.

8085 Microprocessor:
8085 is pronounced as "eighty-eighty-five" microprocessor. It is an 8-bit microprocessor
designed by Intel in 1977 using NMOS technology.
It has the following configuration −
 8-bit data bus
 16-bit address bus, which can address upto 64KB
  A 16-bit program counter
 A 16-bit stack pointer
 Six 8-bit registers arranged in pairs: BC, DE, HL
 Requires +5V supply to operate at 3.2 MHZ single phase clock
It is used in washing machines, microwave ovens, mobile phones, etc.
8085 Microprocessor – Functional Units
8085 consists of the following functional units −
Accumulator
It is an 8-bit register used to perform arithmetic, logical, I/O & LOAD/STORE operations. It is
connected to internal data bus & ALU.
Arithmetic and logic unit
As the name suggests, it performs arithmetic and logical operations like Addition, Subtraction,
AND, OR, etc. on 8-bit data.
General purpose register
There are 6 general purpose registers in 8085 processor, i.e. B, C, D, E, H & L. Each register can
hold 8-bit data.
These registers can work in pair to hold 16-bit data and their pairing combination is like B-C, D-
E & H-L.
Program counter
It is a 16-bit register used to store the memory address location of the next instruction to be
executed. Microprocessor increments the program whenever an instruction is being executed, so
that the program counter points to the memory address of the next instruction that is going to be
executed.
Stack pointer
It is also a 16-bit register works like stack, which is always incremented/decremented by 2
during push & pop operations.
Temporary register
It is an 8-bit register, which holds the temporary data of arithmetic and logical operations.
Flag register
It is an 8-bit register having five 1-bit flip-flops, which holds either 0 or 1 depending upon the
result stored in the accumulator.
These are the set of 5 flip-flops −
 Sign (S)
 Zero (Z)
 Auxiliary Carry (AC)
 Parity (P)
 Carry (C)
Its bit position is shown in the following table −

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0

S Z AC P CY

Instruction register and decoder

It is an 8-bit register. When an instruction is fetched from memory then it is stored in the
Instruction register. Instruction decoder decodes the information present in the Instruction
register.
Timing and control unit
It provides timing and control signal to the microprocessor to perform operations. Following are
the timing and control signals, which control external and internal circuits −
 Control Signals: READY, RD’, WR’, ALE
 Status Signals: S0, S1, IO/M’
 DMA Signals: HOLD, HLDA
 RESET Signals: RESET IN, RESET OUT
Interrupt control
As the name suggests it controls the interrupts during a process. When a microprocessor is
executing a main program and whenever an interrupt occurs, the microprocessor shifts the
control from the main program to process the incoming request. After the request is completed,
the control goes back to the main program.
There are 5 interrupt signals in 8085 microprocessor: INTR, RST 7.5, RST 6.5, RST 5.5, TRAP.
Serial Input/output control
It controls the serial data communication by using these two instructions: SID (Serial input data)
and SOD (Serial output data).
Address buffer and address-data buffer
The content stored in the stack pointer and program counter is loaded into the address buffer and
address-data buffer to communicate with the CPU. The memory and I/O chips are connected to
these buses; the CPU can exchange the desired data with the memory and I/O chips.
Address bus and data bus
Data bus carries the data to be stored. It is bidirectional, whereas address bus carries the location
to where it should be stored and it is unidirectional. It is used to transfer the data & Address I/O
devices.

The following image depicts the pin diagram of 8085 Microprocessor −

The pins of a 8085 microprocessor can be classified into seven groups −

Address bus
A15-A8, it carries the most significant 8-bits of memory/IO address.
Data bus
AD7-AD0, it carries the least significant 8-bit address and data bus.
Control and status signals
These signals are used to identify the nature of operation. There are 3 control signal and 3 status
signals.
Three control signals are RD, WR & ALE.
 RD − This signal indicates that the selected IO or memory device is to be read and is
ready for accepting data available on the data bus.
 WR − This signal indicates that the data on the data bus is to be written into a selected
memory or IO location.
 ALE − It is a positive going pulse generated when a new operation is started by the
microprocessor. When the pulse goes high, it indicates address. When the pulse goes
down it indicates data.
Three status signals are IO/M, S0 & S1.
IO/M
This signal is used to differentiate between IO and Memory operations, i.e. when it is high
indicates IO operation and when it is low then it indicates memory operation.
S1 & S0
These signals are used to identify the type of current operation.
Power supply
There are 2 power supply signals − VCC & VSS. VCC indicates +5v power supply and VSS
indicates ground signal.
Clock signals
There are 3 clock signals, i.e. X1, X2, CLK OUT.
 X1, X2 − A crystal (RC, LC N/W) is connected at these two pins and is used to set
frequency of the internal clock generator. This frequency is internally divided by 2.
 CLK OUT − This signal is used as the system clock for devices connected with the
microprocessor.
Interrupts & externally initiated signals
Interrupts are the signals generated by external devices to request the microprocessor to perform
a task. There are 5 interrupt signals, i.e. TRAP, RST 7.5, RST 6.5, RST 5.5, and INTR. We will
discuss interrupts in detail in interrupts section.
 INTA − It is an interrupt acknowledgment signal.
 RESET IN − This signal is used to reset the microprocessor by setting the program
counter to zero.
 RESET OUT − This signal is used to reset all the connected devices when the
microprocessor is reset.
 READY − This signal indicates that the device is ready to send or receive data. If
READY is low, then the CPU has to wait for READY to go high.
 HOLD − This signal indicates that another master is requesting the use of the address
and data buses.
 HLDA (HOLD Acknowledge) − It indicates that the CPU has received the HOLD
request and it will relinquish the bus in the next clock cycle. HLDA is set to low after the
HOLD signal is removed.
Serial I/O signals
There are 2 serial signals, i.e. SID and SOD and these signals are used for serial communication.
 SOD (Serial output data line) − The output SOD is set/reset as specified by the SIM
instruction.
 SID (Serial input data line) − The data on this line is loaded into accumulator whenever a
RIM instruction is executed.

Now let us discuss the addressing modes in 8085 Microprocessor.

Addressing Modes in 8085
These are the instructions used to transfer the data from one register to another register, from the
memory to the register, and from the register to the memory without any alteration in the content.
Addressing modes in 8085 is classified into 5 groups −
Immediate addressing mode
In this mode, the 8/16-bit data is specified in the instruction itself as one of its operand. For
example: MVI K, 20F: means 20F is copied into register K.
Register addressing mode
In this mode, the data is copied from one register to another. For example: MOV K, B: means
data in register B is copied to register K.
Direct addressing mode
In this mode, the data is directly copied from the given address to the register. For
example: LDB 5000K: means the data at address 5000K is copied to register B.
Indirect addressing mode
In this mode, the data is transferred from one register to another by using the address pointed by
the register. For example: MOV K, B: means data is transferred from the memory address
pointed by the register to the register K.
Implied addressing mode
This mode doesn’t require any operand; the data is specified by the opcode itself. For
example: CMP.
Interrupts in 8085
Interrupts are the signals generated by the external devices to request the microprocessor to
perform a task. There are 5 interrupt signals, i.e. TRAP, RST 7.5, RST 6.5, RST 5.5, and INTR.
Interrupt are classified into following groups based on their parameter −
 Vector interrupt − In this type of interrupt, the interrupt address is known to the
processor. For example: RST7.5, RST6.5, RST5.5, TRAP.
 Non-Vector interrupt − In this type of interrupt, the interrupt address is not known to
the processor so, the interrupt address needs to be sent externally by the device to
perform interrupts. For example: INTR.
 Maskable interrupt − In this type of interrupt, we can disable the interrupt by writing
some instructions into the program. For example: RST7.5, RST6.5, RST5.5.
 Non-Maskable interrupt − In this type of interrupt, we cannot disable the interrupt by
writing some instructions into the program. For example: TRAP.
 Software interrupt − In this type of interrupt, the programmer has to add the instructions
into the program to execute the interrupt. There are 8 software interrupts in 8085, i.e.
RST0, RST1, RST2, RST3, RST4, RST5, RST6, and RST7.
 Hardware interrupt − There are 5 interrupt pins in 8085 used as hardware interrupts, i.e.
TRAP, RST7.5, RST6.5, RST5.5, INTA.
Note − NTA is not an interrupt, it is used by the microprocessor for sending acknowledgement.
TRAP has the highest priority, then RST7.5 and so on.
Interrupt Service Routine (ISR)
A small program or a routine that when executed, services the corresponding interrupting source
is called an ISR.
TRAP
It is a non-maskable interrupt, having the highest priority among all interrupts. Bydefault, it is
enabled until it gets acknowledged. In case of failure, it executes as ISR and sends the data to
backup memory. This interrupt transfers the control to the location 0024H.
RST7.5
It is a maskable interrupt, having the second highest priority among all interrupts. When this
interrupt is executed, the processor saves the content of the PC register into the stack and
branches to 003CH address.
RST 6.5
It is a maskable interrupt, having the third highest priority among all interrupts. When this
interrupt is executed, the processor saves the content of the PC register into the stack and
branches to 0034H address.
RST 5.5
It is a maskable interrupt. When this interrupt is executed, the processor saves the content of the
PC register into the stack and branches to 002CH address.
INTR
It is a maskable interrupt, having the lowest priority among all interrupts. It can be disabled by
resetting the microprocessor.
When INTR signal goes high, the following events can occur −
 The microprocessor checks the status of INTR signal during the execution of each
instruction.
 When the INTR signal is high, then the microprocessor completes its current instruction
and sends active low interrupt acknowledge signal.
 When instructions are received, then the microprocessor saves the address of the next
instruction on stack and executes the received instruction.

8086 Microprocessor:
8086 Microprocessor is an enhanced version of 8085Microprocessor that was designed by Intel
in 1976. It is a 16-bit Microprocessor having 20 address lines and16 data lines that provides up to
1MB storage. It consists of powerful instruction set, which provides operations like
multiplication and division easily.
It supports two modes of operation, i.e. Maximum mode and Minimum mode. Maximum mode
is suitable for system having multiple processors and Minimum mode is suitable for system
having a single processor.
Features of 8086
The most prominent features of a 8086 microprocessor are as follows −
 It has an instruction queue, which is capable of storing six instruction bytes from the
memory resulting in faster processing.
 It was the first 16-bit processor having 16-bit ALU, 16-bit registers, internal data bus, and
16-bit external data bus resulting in faster processing.
 It is available in 3 versions based on the frequency of operation −
o 8086 → 5MHz
o 8086-2 → 8MHz
o (c)8086-1 → 10 MHz
 It uses two stages of pipelining, i.e. Fetch Stage and Execute Stage, which improves
performance.
 Fetch stage can prefetch up to 6 bytes of instructions and stores them in the queue.
 Execute stage executes these instructions.
 It has 256 vectored interrupts.
 It consists of 29,000 transistors.

Comparison between 8085 & 8086 Microprocessor:

 Size − 8085 is 8-bit microprocessor, whereas 8086 is 16-bit microprocessor.
 Address Bus − 8085 has 16-bit address bus while 8086 has 20-bit address bus.
 Memory − 8085 can access up to 64Kb, whereas 8086 can access up to 1 Mb of memory.
 Instruction − 8085 doesn’t have an instruction queue, whereas 8086 has an instruction
queue.
 Pipelining − 8085 doesn’t support a pipelined architecture while 8086 supports a
pipelined architecture.
 I/O − 8085 can address 2^8 = 256 I/O's, whereas 8086 can access 2^16 = 65,536 I/O's.
 Cost − The cost of 8085 is low whereas that of 8086 is high.

8086 Microprocessor is divided into two functional units, i.e., EU (Execution Unit)
and BIU (Bus Interface Unit).
EU (Execution Unit)
Execution unit gives instructions to BIU stating from where to fetch the data and then decode
and execute those instructions. Its function is to control operations on data using the instruction
decoder & ALU. EU has no direct connection with system buses as shown in the above figure, it
performs operations over data through BIU.
Let us now discuss the functional parts of 8086 microprocessors.
ALU
It handles all arithmetic and logical operations, like +, −, ×, /, OR, AND, NOT operations.
Flag Register
It is a 16-bit register that behaves like a flip-flop, i.e. it changes its status according to the result
stored in the accumulator. It has 9 flags and they are divided into 2 groups − Conditional Flags
and Control Flags.
Conditional Flags
It represents the result of the last arithmetic or logical instruction executed. Following is the list
of conditional flags −
 Carry flag − This flag indicates an overflow condition for arithmetic operations.
 Auxiliary flag − When an operation is performed at ALU, it results in a carry/barrow
from lower nibble (i.e. D0 – D3) to upper nibble (i.e. D4 – D7), then this flag is set, i.e.
carry given by D3 bit to D4 is AF flag. The processor uses this flag to perform binary to
BCD conversion.
 Parity flag − This flag is used to indicate the parity of the result, i.e. when the lower
order 8-bits of the result contains even number of 1’s, then the Parity Flag is set. For odd
number of 1’s, the Parity Flag is reset.
 Zero flag − This flag is set to 1 when the result of arithmetic or logical operation is zero
else it is set to 0.
 Sign flag − This flag holds the sign of the result, i.e. when the result of the operation is
negative, then the sign flag is set to 1 else set to 0.
 Overflow flag − This flag represents the result when the system capacity is exceeded.
Control Flags
Control flags controls the operations of the execution unit. Following is the list of control flags −
 Trap flag − It is used for single step control and allows the user to execute one
instruction at a time for debugging. If it is set, then the program can be run in a single
step mode.
  Interrupt flag − It is an interrupt enable/disable flag, i.e. used to allow/prohibit the
interruption of a program. It is set to 1 for interrupt enabled condition and set to 0 for
interrupt disabled condition.
 Direction flag − It is used in string operation. As the name suggests when it is set then
string bytes are accessed from the higher memory address to the lower memory address
and vice-a-versa.
General purpose register
There are 8 general purpose registers, i.e., AH, AL, BH, BL, CH, CL, DH, and DL. These
registers can be used individually to store 8-bit data and can be used in pairs to store 16bit data.
The valid register pairs are AH and AL, BH and BL, CH and CL, and DH and DL. It is referred
to the AX, BX, CX, and DX respectively.
 AX register − It is also known as accumulator register. It is used to store operands for
arithmetic operations.
 BX register − It is used as a base register. It is used to store the starting base address of
the memory area within the data segment.
 CX register − It is referred to as counter. It is used in loop instruction to store the loop
counter.
 DX register − This register is used to hold I/O port address for I/O instruction.
Stack pointer register
It is a 16-bit register, which holds the address from the start of the segment to the memory
location, where a word was most recently stored on the stack.
BIU (Bus Interface Unit)
BIU takes care of all data and addresses transfers on the buses for the EU like sending addresses,
fetching instructions from the memory, reading data from the ports and the memory as well as
writing data to the ports and the memory. EU has no direction connection with System Buses so
this is possible with the BIU. EU and BIU are connected with the Internal Bus.
It has the following functional parts −
 Instruction queue − BIU contains the instruction queue. BIU gets upto 6 bytes of next
instructions and stores them in the instruction queue. When EU executes instructions and
is ready for its next instruction, then it simply reads the instruction from this instruction
queue resulting in increased execution speed.
 Fetching the next instruction while the current instruction executes is called pipelining.
 Segment register − BIU has 4 segment buses, i.e. CS, DS, SS& ES. It holds the
addresses of instructions and data in memory, which are used by the processor to access
 memory locations. It also contains 1 pointer register IP, which holds the address of the
next instruction to executed by the EU.
o CS − It stands for Code Segment. It is used for addressing a memory location in
the code segment of the memory, where the executable program is stored.
o DS − It stands for Data Segment. It consists of data used by the program andis
accessed in the data segment by an offset address or the content of other register
that holds the offset address.
o SS − It stands for Stack Segment. It handles memory to store data and addresses
during execution.
o ES − It stands for Extra Segment. ES is additional data segment, which is used by
the string to hold the extra destination data.
 Instruction pointer − It is a 16-bit register used to hold the address of the next
instruction to be executed.
The 8086 microprocessor supports 8 types of instructions −
 Data Transfer Instructions
 Arithmetic Instructions
 Bit Manipulation Instructions
 String Instructions
 Program Execution Transfer Instructions (Branch & Loop Instructions)
 Processor Control Instructions
 Iteration Control Instructions
 Interrupt Instructions
Let us now discuss these instruction sets in detail.
Data Transfer Instructions
These instructions are used to transfer the data from the source operand to the destination
operand. Following are the list of instructions under this group −
Instruction to transfer a word
 MOV − Used to copy the byte or word from the provided source to the provided
destination.
 PPUSH − Used to put a word at the top of the stack.
 POP − Used to get a word from the top of the stack to the provided location.
  PUSHA − Used to put all the registers into the stack.
 POPA − Used to get words from the stack to all registers.
 XCHG − Used to exchange the data from two locations.
 XLAT − Used to translate a byte in AL using a table in the memory.
Instructions for input and output port transfer
 IN − Used to read a byte or word from the provided port to the accumulator.
 OUT − Used to send out a byte or word from the accumulator to the provided port.
Instructions to transfer the address
 LEA − Used to load the address of operand into the provided register.
 LDS − Used to load DS register and other provided register from the memory
 LES − Used to load ES register and other provided register from the memory.
Interrupt is the method of creating a temporary halt during program execution and allows
peripheral devices to access the microprocessor. The microprocessor responds to that interrupt
with an ISR (Interrupt Service Routine), which is a short program to instruct the microprocessor
on how to handle the interrupt.
The following image shows the types of interrupts we have in a 8086 microprocessor −

Hardware Interrupts
Hardware interrupt is caused by any peripheral device by sending a signal through a specified
pin to the microprocessor.
The 8086 has two hardware interrupt pins, i.e. NMI and INTR. NMI is a non-maskable interrupt
and INTR is a maskable interrupt having lower priority. One more interrupt pin associated is
INTA called interrupt acknowledge.
NMI
It is a single non-maskable interrupt pin (NMI) having higher priority than the maskable interrupt
request pin (INTR)and it is of type 2 interrupt.
When this interrupt is activated, these actions take place −
 Completes the current instruction that is in progress.
 Pushes the Flag register values on to the stack.
 Pushes the CS (code segment) value and IP (instruction pointer) value of the return
address on to the stack.
 IP is loaded from the contents of the word location 00008H.
 CS is loaded from the contents of the next word location 0000AH.
 Interrupt flag and trap flag are reset to 0.
INTR
The INTR is a maskable interrupt because the microprocessor will be interrupted only if
interrupts are enabled using set interrupt flag instruction. It should not be enabled using clear
interrupt Flag instruction.
The INTR interrupt is activated by an I/O port. If the interrupt is enabled and NMI is disabled,
then the microprocessor first completes the current execution and sends ‘0’ on INTA pin twice.
The first ‘0’ means INTA informs the external device to get ready and during the second ‘0’ the
microprocessor receives the 8 bit, say X, from the programmable interrupt controller.
These actions are taken by the microprocessor −
 First completes the current instruction.
 Activates INTA output and receives the interrupt type, say X.
 Flag register value, CS value of the return address and IP value of the return address are
pushed on to the stack.
 IP value is loaded from the contents of word location X × 4
 CS is loaded from the contents of the next word location.
 Interrupt flag and trap flag is reset to 0
Software Interrupts
Some instructions are inserted at the desired position into the program to create interrupts. These
interrupt instructions can be used to test the working of various interrupt handlers. It includes −
INT- Interrupt instruction with type number
It is 2-byte instruction. First byte provides the op-code and the second byte provides the interrupt
type number. There are 256 interrupt types under this group.
Its execution includes the following steps −
 Flag register value is pushed on to the stack.
 CS value of the return address and IP value of the return address are pushed on to the
stack.
 IP is loaded from the contents of the word location ‘type number’ × 4
 CS is loaded from the contents of the next word location.
 Interrupt Flag and Trap Flag are reset to 0
The starting address for type0 interrupt is 000000H, for type1 interrupt is 00004H similarly for
type2 is 00008H and ……so on. The first five pointers are dedicated interrupt pointers. i.e. −
 TYPE 0 interrupt represents division by zero situation.
 TYPE 1 interrupt represents single-step execution during the debugging of a program.
 TYPE 2 interrupt represents non-maskable NMI interrupt.
 TYPE 3 interrupt represents break-point interrupt.
 TYPE 4 interrupt represents overflow interrupt.
The interrupts from Type 5 to Type 31 are reserved for other advanced microprocessors, and
interrupts from 32 to Type 255 are available for hardware and software interrupts.
INT 3-Break Point Interrupt Instruction
It is a 1-byte instruction having op-code is CCH. These instructions are inserted into the program
so that when the processor reaches there, then it stops the normal execution of program and
follows the break-point procedure.
Its execution includes the following steps −
 Flag register value is pushed on to the stack.
 CS value of the return address and IP value of the return address are pushed on to the
stack.
 IP is loaded from the contents of the word location 3×4 = 0000CH
 CS is loaded from the contents of the next word location.
  Interrupt Flag and Trap Flag are reset to 0
INTO - Interrupt on overflow instruction
It is a 1-byte instruction and their mnemonic INTO. The op-code for this instruction is CEH. As
the name suggests it is a conditional interrupt instruction, i.e. it is active only when the overflow
flag is set to 1 and branches to the interrupt handler whose interrupt type number is 4. If the
overflow flag is reset then, the execution continues to the next instruction.
Its execution includes the following steps −
 Flag register values are pushed on to the stack.
 CS value of the return address and IP value of the return address are pushed on to the
stack.
 IP is loaded from the contents of word location 4×4 = 00010H
 CS is loaded from the contents of the next word location.
 Interrupt flag and Trap flag are reset to 0

The different ways in which a source operand is denoted in an instruction is known

as addressing modes. There are 8 different addressing modes in 8086 programming −
Immediate addressing mode
The addressing mode in which the data operand is a part of the instruction itself is known as
immediate addressing mode.
Example
MOV CX, 4929 H, ADD AX, 2387 H, MOV AL, FFH
Register addressing mode
It means that the register is the source of an operand for an instruction.
Example
MOV CX, AX ; copies the contents of the 16-bit AX register into
; the 16-bit CX register),
ADD BX, AX
Direct addressing mode
The addressing mode in which the effective address of the memory location is written directly in
the instruction.
Example
MOV AX, [1592H], MOV AL, [0300H]
Register indirect addressing mode
This addressing mode allows data to be addressed at any memory location through an offset
address held in any of the following registers: BP, BX, DI & SI.
Example
MOV AX, [BX] ; Suppose the register BX contains 4895H, then the contents
; 4895H are moved to AX
ADD CX, {BX}
Based addressing mode
In this addressing mode, the offset address of the operand is given by the sum of contents of the
BX/BP registers and 8-bit/16-bit displacement.
Example
MOV DX, [BX+04], ADD CL, [BX+08]
Indexed addressing mode
In this addressing mode, the operands offset address is found by adding the contents of SI or DI
register and 8-bit/16-bit displacements.
Example
MOV BX, [SI+16], ADD AL, [DI+16]
Based-index addressing mode
In this addressing mode, the offset address of the operand is computed by summing the base
register to the contents of an Index register.
Example
ADD CX, [AX+SI], MOV AX, [AX+DI]
Based indexed with displacement mode
In this addressing mode, the operands offset is computed by adding the base register contents. An
Index registers contents and 8 or 16-bit displacement.
Example
MOV AX, [BX+DI+08], ADD CX, [BX+SI+16]
A microcontroller is a small and low-cost microcomputer, which is designed to perform the
specific tasks of embedded systems like displaying microwave’s information, receiving remote
signals, etc.
The general microcontroller consists of the processor, the memory (RAM, ROM, EPROM),
Serial ports, peripherals (timers, counters), etc.
Difference between Microprocessor and Microcontroller
The following table highlights the differences between a microprocessor and a
microcontroller –

Microcontroller Microprocessor

Microcontrollers are used to execute a single Microprocessors are used for big
task within an application. applications.

Its designing and hardware cost is low. Its designing and hardware cost is high.

Easy to replace. Not so easy to replace.

It is built with CMOS technology, which Its power consumption is high because it has
requires less power to operate. to control the entire system.

It consists of CPU, RAM, ROM, I/O ports. It doesn’t consist of RAM, ROM, I/O ports.
It uses its pins to interface to peripheral
devices.

Types of Microcontrollers
Microcontrollers are divided into various categories based on memory, architecture, bits and
instruction sets. Following is the list of their types −
Bit
Based on bit configuration, the microcontroller is further divided into three categories.
 8-bit microcontroller − This type of microcontroller is used to execute arithmetic and
logical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication division, etc. For example,
Intel 8031 and 8051 are 8 bits microcontroller.
  16-bit microcontroller − This type of microcontroller is used to perform arithmetic and
logical operations where higher accuracy and performance is required. For example, Intel
8096 is a 16-bit microcontroller.
 32-bit microcontroller − This type of microcontroller is generally used in automatically
controlled appliances like automatic operational machines, medical appliances, etc.
Memory
Based on the memory configuration, the microcontroller is further divided into two categories.
 External memory microcontroller − This type of microcontroller is designed in such a
way that they do not have a program memory on the chip. Hence, it is named as external
memory microcontroller. For example: Intel 8031 microcontroller.
 Embedded memory microcontroller − This type of microcontroller is designed in such
a way that the microcontroller has all programs and data memory, counters and timers,
interrupts, I/O ports are embedded on the chip. For example: Intel 8051 microcontroller.
Instruction Set
Based on the instruction set configuration, the microcontroller is further divided into two
categories.
 CISC − CISC stands for complex instruction set computer. It allows the user to insert a
single instruction as an alternative to many simple instructions.
 RISC − RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computers. It reduces the operational
time by shortening the clock cycle per instruction.
Applications of Microcontrollers
Microcontrollers are widely used in various different devices such as −
 Light sensing and controlling devices like LED.
 Temperature sensing and controlling devices like microwave oven, chimneys.
 Fire detection and safety devices like Fire alarm.
 Measuring devices like Volt Meter.