CHAPTER – ONE: Microprocessors

INTRODUCTION TO PROCESSOR:

 A processor is the logic circuitry that responds to and processes the basic instructions that
drives a computer.
 The term processor has generally replaced the term central processing unit (cpu). The
processor in a personal computer or embedded in small devices is often called a
microprocessor.
 The processor (cpu, for central processing unit) is the computer's brain. It allows the
processing of numeric data, meaning information entered in binary form, and the execution
of instructions stored in memory.

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Evolution of Microprocessor
•A microprocessor is used as the CPU in a microcomputer. There are now many different
microprocessors available.
 Microprocessor is a program-controlled device, which fetches the instructions from
memory, decodes and executes the instructions. Most micro processor are single- chip
devices.
 Microprocessor is a backbone of computer system. Which is called CPU
 Microprocessor speed depends on the processing speed depends on DATA BUS WIDTH.
 A common way of categorizing microprocessors is by the no. Of bits that their ALU can
work with at a time
 The address bus is unidirectional because the address information is always given by the
micro processor to address a memory location of an input / output devices.
 The data bus is bi-directional because the same bus is used for transfer of data between
micro processor and memory or input / output devices in both the direction.

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 It has limitations on the size of data. Most microprocessor does not support floating-point
operations.
 Microprocessor contain rom chip because it contain instructions to execute data.
 What is the primary & secondary storage device? -

a) Primary devices are: Ram (read / write memory, high speed, volatile memory)
 In primary storage device the storage capacity is limited. It has a volatile memory.

b) Secondary devices are: floppy disc / hard disk

 In secondary storage device the storage capacity is larger. It is a nonvolatile memory.

• ROM (read only memory, low speed, non violate memory
•Compiler: compiler is used to translate the high-level language program into machine code at a
time. It doesn’t require special instruction to store in a memory, it stores automatically. The
•Execution time is less compared to interpreter.
1. 4-bit microprocessor:
• The first microprocessor (intel 4004) was invented in 1971.
• It was a 4-bit calculation device with a speed of 108 khz. Since then,
microprocessor power has grown exponentially. So what exactly are these little
pieces of silicone that run our computers(" common operating machine
particularly used for trade education and research ")
 It has 3200 PMOS transistors.
 It is a 4-bit device used in calculator.
• 2. 8-bit microprocessor:
 In 1972, intel came out with the 8008 which is 8-bit.

 In 1974, intel announced the 8080 followed by 8085 is a 8-bit processor because 8085 processor has 8 bit ALU (arithmetic
logic review). Similarly 8086 processor has 16 bit ALU.
 This had a larger instruction set then 8080. Used NMOS transistors, so it operated much faster than the 8008.
 The 8080 is referred to as a “second generation microprocessor”
3. Limitations of 8 bit microprocessor:
 Low speed of execution

 Low memory addressing capability

 Limited number of general purpose registers

 Less power full instruction set

4. Examples for 4/ 8 / 16 / 32 bit microprocessors:

 4-bit processor – 4004/4040

 8-bit processor - 8085 / Z80 / 6800

 16-bit processor - 8086 / 68000 / Z8000

 32-bit processor - 80386 / 80486

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3. What are 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th generation processor?
 The processor made of PMOS technology is called 1st generation processor, and it is
made up of 4 bits
 The processor made of NMOS technology is called 2nd generation processor, and it is
made up of 8 bits
 The processor made of CMOS technology is called 3rd generation processor, and it is
made up of 16 bits
 The processor made of HCMOS technology is called 4th generation processor, and it is
made up of 32 bits (HCMOS : high-density n- type complementary metal oxide
silicon field effect transistor)

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CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)
 This device coordinates all operations of a micro computer. It fetches programs stored in rom‟s or rams and
executes the instructions depending one a specific instructions set, Which is characteristic of each type of CPU,
and which is recognized by the CPU.
The random access memory (ram): temporary or trail programs are written.

 Besides the rom area, every computer has some memory space for temporary storage of data
as well as for programs under development. These memory devices are rams or read – write
memory.

 The contents of it are not permanent and are altered when power is turned off. So the RAM
memory is considered to be volatile memory.

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Read only memory (ROM): permanent programs are stored.
 The permanent memory device/area is called rom, because whatever be the memory contents of roms, they
cannot be over written with some other information.
 For a blank rom, the manufacturer supplies the device without any inf. In it, information
 Can be entered electrically into the memory space. This is called burning a ROM or PROM.

Data lines/data bus:

 The number of data lines, like add. Lines vary with the specific CPU .The set of data lines is database like the
address bus unlike add. Bus, the data bus is bidirectional because while the information on the address bus always
flows out of the CPU; the data can flow both out of the CPU as well as into the CPU.
Control lines/ control bus:
 The number of control lines also depends on the specific CPU one is using.
 Ex: read; write lines are examples of control lines
 Clock: the clock is a symmetrical square wave signal that drives the CPU
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•Instructions: an instruction is an elementary operation that the processor can accomplish.
•Instructions are stored in the main memory, waiting to be processed by the processor. An
instruction has two fields:
 Operation code, which represents the action that the processor must execute;
•Operand code, which defines the parameters of the action. The operand code depends on
the operation. It can be data or a memory address
INTRODUCTION TO 8085 MICROPROCESSOR

THE SALIENT FEATURES OF 8085 MICROPROCESSOR:

 8085 is an 8 bit microprocessor, manufactured with N-MOS technology.

 It has 16-bit address bus and hence can address up to 216 = 65536 bytes
(64kb) Memory locations through a0-a15.

 The first 8 lines of address bus and 8 lines of data bus are multiplexed ad0 - ad7

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 Data bus is a group of 8 lines D 0 - D 7.
 It supports external interrupt request.8085 consists of 16 bit

program counter (PC) and stack pointer (SP).

 Six 8-bit general purpose register arranged in pairs: BC, DE, HL.
 It requires a signal +5V power supply and can operate at 3 MHz,
5 MHz and 6 MHz Serial in/Serial out Port.
 It is enclosed with 40 pins DIP (Dual in line package).
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Internal Architecture of 8085:

8085 Bus Structure: Address Bus:

 The address bus is a group of 16 lines generally identified as A0 to A15.
 The address bus is unidirectional: bits flow in one direction-from the MPU to peripheral
devices.
 The MPU uses the address bus to perform the first function: identifying
a peripheral or a memory location.
.

Data Bus:
 The data bus is a group of eight lines used for data flow.
 These lines are bi-directional - data flow in both directions between the MPU and memory and peripheral
devices.
 The MPU uses the data bus to perform the second function: transferring binary information.
 The eight data lines enable the MPU to manipulate 8-bit data ranging from 00 to FF (28 = 256 numbers).
 The largest number that can appear on the data bus is 11111111. 14
Control Bus:
 The control bus carries synchronization signals and providing timing signals.
 The MPU generates specific control signals for every operation it performs. These signals are
used to identify a device type with which the MPU wants to communicate.
Registers of 8085:
 The 8085 have six general-purpose registers to store 8-bit data during program execution.
 These registers 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.

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.

Accumulator (A):
 The accumulator is an 8-bit register that is part of the arithmetic/logic unit (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.
Flags:
 The ALU includes five flip-flops that are set or reset according to the result of an operation.
 The microprocessor uses the flags for testing the data conditions.
 They are zero (z), carry (cy), sign (s), parity (p), and auxiliary carry (ac) flags. The most
commonly used flags are sign, zero, and carry.
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The bit position for the flags in flag register is,

1. Sign Flag (S):

 After execution of any arithmetic and logical operation, if D7 of the result is 1, the sign flag
is set. Otherwise it is reset.
 D7 is reserved for indicating the sign; the remaining is the magnitude of number.
 If D7 is 1, the number will be viewed as negative number. If D7 is 0, the number will be
viewed as positive number.
2.Zero Flag (z): If the result of arithmetic and logical operation is zero, then zero flag is set otherwise it is reset.

3.Auxiliary Carry Flag (AC): If D3 generates any carry when doing any arithmetic and logical operation, this flag

is set. Otherwise it is reset.

4.Parity Flag (P): If the result of arithmetic and logical operation contains even number of 1's then this flag will be

set and if it is odd number of 1's it will be reset.

5.Carry Flag (CY): If any arithmetic and logical operation result any carry then carry flag is set otherwise it is

reset.

Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU): It is used to perform the arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction,

multiplication, division, increment and decrement and logical operations like AND, OR and EX-OR.

 It receives the data from accumulator and registers.

 According to the result it set or reset the flags.

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Program Counter (PC):
 This 16-bit register sequencing the execution of instructions.
 It is a memory pointer. Memory locations have 16-bit addresses, and that is why this is a 16-
bit register.
 The function of the program counter is to point to the memory address of the next
instruction to be executed.
 When an opcode is being fetched, the program counter is 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 the stack.
 The beginning of the stack is defined by loading a 16-bit address in the stack pointer
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Temporary Register: It is used to hold the data during the arithmetic and logical operations.
Instruction Register: When an instruction is fetched from the memory, it is loaded in the instruction register.
Instruction Decoder: It gets the instruction from the instruction register and decodes the instruction. It
identifies the instruction to be performed.
Serial I/O Control: It has two control signals named SID and SOD for serial data transmission.
Timing and Control unit:
 It has three control signals ALE, RD (Active low) and WR (Active low) and three status signals
IO/M(Active low), S0 and S1.

 ALE is used for provide control signal to synchronize the components of microprocessor and timing for
instruction to perform the operation.
Revision on Microprocessors

 A microprocessor is a multipurpose programmable, clock driven, register based electronic

device that reads binary instructions from a storage device called memory, accepts binary data
as input, processes data according to those instructions and provide result as output.
 The microprocessor operates in binary 0 and 1 known as bits are represented in terms of
electrical voltages in the machine that means 0 represents low voltage level and 1 represents
high voltage level.
 Each microprocessor recognizes and processes a group of bits called the word and
microprocessors are classified according to their word length such as 8 bits microprocessor
with 8 bit word and 32 bit microprocessor with 32 bit word etc.
A PROGRAMMABLE MACHINE

Terms used

 CPU: - Central processing unit which consists of ALU

and control unit.
 Microprocessor: - Single chip containing all units of
CPU.
 Microcomputer: - Computer having microprocessor as
CPU.
 Microcontroller: single chip consisting of MPU,
memory, I/O and interfacing circuits.
 MPU: - Micro-processing unit – complete processing
unit with the necessary control signals.
Figure 1.1: A Programmable Machine
BASIC BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A COMPUTER
Traditionally, the computer is represented with four components such as memory, input, output
and central processing unit (CPU) which consists of arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and control
unit (CU).
 The CPU contains various registers to store data, the
ALU to perform arithmetic and logical operations,
instruction decoders, counters and control lines.

 The CPU reads instructions from memory and

performs the tasks specified.
Fig 1.2 (a): traditional block diagram of a computer  It communicates with input/output (I/O) devices
either to accept or to send data, the I/O devices is
known as peripherals.
Basic Block Diagram of a Computer
Later on around late 1960’s, traditional block diagram can be replaced with computer having
microprocessor as CPU which is known as microcomputer.
Here CPU was designed using integrated circuit technology (ic’s) which provided the possibility
to build the CPU on a single chip.

 Fig 1.2 (b): block diagram of a computer with the microprocessor as CPU

Later on semiconductor fabrication technology became more advanced, manufacturers were able

to place not only MPU but also memory and I/O interfacing circuits on a single chip known as
microcontroller, which also includes additional devices such as A/D converter, serial
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I/O, timer etc.
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Basic Block Diagram of a Computer
.

Fig 1.3: Microprocessor Based System with Bus Architecture

Microprocessor:
 It is clock driven semiconductor device consisting of electronic logic circuits manufactured
by using either a large scale integration (LSI) or very large scale integration (VLSI) technique.
 It is capable of performing various computing functions and making decisions to change
the sequence of program execution. It can be divided in to three segments.
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CONT..
1) Arithmetic/logic unit: it performs arithmetic operations as addition and subtraction
and logic operations as AND, OR & XOR.

2) Register array: the registers are primarily used to store data temporarily during the
execution of a program and are accessible to the user through instruction.

 The registers can be identified by letters such as B, C, D, E, H and L.

3) Control unit: it provides the necessary timing and control signals to all the operations
in the microcomputer.

 It controls the flow of data between the microprocessor and memory & peripherals.
CONT..
Memory:
 Memory stores binary information such as instructions and data, and provides that information
to the up whenever necessary.

 To execute programs, the microprocessor reads instructions and data from memory and
performs the computing operations in its ALU.

 Results are either transferred to the output section for display or stored in memory for later
use.
Memory has two sections.
 READ ONLY MEMORY (ROM): Used to store programs that do not need alterations and can only read.
 READ/WRITE MEMORY (RAM): Also known as user memory which is used to store user programs and data.
• The information stored in this memory can be easily read and altered.

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INPUT/OUTPUT:

 It communicates with the outside world using two devices input and output which are also
known as peripherals.
 The input device such as keyboard, switches, and analog to digital converter transfer
binary information from outside world to the microprocessor.
 The output devices transfer data from the microprocessor to the outside world.
 They include the devices such as LED, CRT, digital to analog converter, printer etc.

System Bus:
 It is a communication path between the microprocessor and peripherals; it is nothing but a
group of wires to carry bits.

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BUS ORGANIZATION
Bus is a common channel through which bits from any sources can be transferred to the
destination.
A typical digital computer has many registers and paths must be provided to transfer
instructions from one register to another.
 The number of wires will be excessive if separate lines are used between each register and
all other registers in the system.
A more efficient scheme for transferring information between registers in a multiple register
configuration is a common bus system.
A bus structure consists of a set of common lines, one for each bit of a register, through
which binary information is transferred one at a time.
 Control signals determine which register is selected by the bus during each particular
register transfer.
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BUS ORGANIZATION  A very easy way of constructing a common bus
system is with multiplexers.

 The multiplexers select the source register whose

binary information is then placed on the bus.

 A system bus consists of about 50 to 100 of separate

lines each assigned a particular meaning or function.

 Although there are many different bus designers, on

any bus, the lines can be classified into three
functional groups; data, address and control lines. In
addition, there may be power distribution lines as
Fig: Bus Organization
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BUS
ORGANIZATION
 The data lines provide a path for moving data between system modules. These lines are
collectively called data bus.
 The address lines are used to designate the source/destination of data on data bus.
 The control lines are used to control the access to and the use of the data and address lines.
o Because data and address lines are shared by all components, there must be a means of
controlling their use.
o Control signals transmit both command and timing signals indicate the validity of data
and address information.
o Command signals specify operations to be performed.
o Control lines include memory read/write, i/o read/write, bus request/grant, clock, reset,
interrupt request/acknowledge etc.

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Historical background of the development of computers:

The most efficient and versatile electronic machine computer is basically a development of a
calculator which leads to the development of the computer. The older computer were
mechanical and newer are digital.
The mechanical computer namely difference engine and analytical engine developed by
charles babbage the father of the computer can be considered as the forerunners of modern
digital computers.
The difference engine was a mechanical device that could add and subtract and could only run
a single algorithm. It’s output system was incompatible to write on punched cards and early
optical disks.
 The ‘analytical engine’ provided more advanced features. It consisted mainly four
components the store (memory), the mill (computation unit) , input section (punched card
reader) and output section (punched and printed output).
The store consisted of 1000s of words of 50 decimal digits used to hold variables and results.
The mill could accept operands from the store, add, subtract, multiply or divide them and return
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Historical Background Of The Development Of Computers:

The evolution of the vacuum tubes led the development of computer into a new era.
The world’s first general purpose electronic digital computer was ENIAC (electronic
numerical integrator and calculator) built by using vacuum tubes was enormous in size and
consumed very high power.
 However it was faster than mechanical computers.
The ENIAC was decimal machine and performed only decimal numbers. Its memory
consisted of 20 ‘accumulators’ each capable of holding 10 digits decimal numbers.
Each digit was represented by a ring of 10 vacuum tubes. ENIAC had to be programmed
manually by setting switches and plugging and unplug a cable which was the main
drawback of it.
Automated calculator:
It is a data processing device that carries out logic and arithmetic operations but
has limited programming capability for the user.
 It accepts data from a small keyboard one digit at a time performs required
arithmetic and logical calculations and stores the result on visual display like
LCD or LED.
The calculator’s programs are stored in Rom’s while the data is stored in RAM.
CONT.

Some important features of automated calculations:

 The ability to interface easily with keyboards and displays.

 The ability to handle decimal digits, the device is able to handle more than 4 bits at a
time.
 Ability to execute the standard programs stored in read only memory.
 Extendibility, so that mathematical functions such as %, √, trigonometric, statistical etc.
Can be easily executed.
 Flexibility so it can be used in engineering business or programming without a complete
new design.
 Low cost, small size and low power consumptions.
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Stored program concept and von-neumann machine

The simplest way to organize a computer is to have one processor, register and instruction
code format with two parts op-code and address/operand.

The memory address tells the control where to find an operand in memory.

This operand is read from memory and used as data to be operated on together with the data
stored in the processor register.

Instructions are stored in one section of same memory. It is called stored program concept.

The task of entering and altering the programs for eniac was tedious. It could be facilitated if
the program could be represented in a form suitable for storing in memory alongside the data.
So the computer could get its instructions by reading from the memory and program could be
set or altered by setting the values of a portion of memory.
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Stored Program Concept and Von-Neumann Machine:
This approach is known as 'stored- program concept' was first adopted by john von neumann and such
architecture is named as von-neumann architecture and shown in figure below

Fig: von –neumann architecture

The main memory is used to store both data and instructions. The arithmetic and logic unit is
capable of performing arithmetic and logical operation on binary data.
The program control unit interprets the instruction in memory and causes them to be
executed.
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Stored Program Concept and Von-Neumann Machine:

•The von–neumann architecture is the fundamental basis for the architecture of modern digital
computers.

•It consisted of 1000 storage locations which can hold words of 40 binary digits and both
instructions as well as data are stored in it.

•The storage location of control unit and ALU are called registers and the various models of
registers are:
CONT..
MAR – Memory address register – contains the address in memory of the word to be written
into or read from MBR.
MBR – memory buffer register – consists of a word to be stored in or received from memory.
IR – instruction register – contains the 8-bit op-code instruction to be executed.

IBR – instruction buffer register – used to temporarily hold the instruction from a word in
memory.

PC - program counter - contains the address of the next instruction to be fetched from
memory.

AC & MQ (accumulator and multiplier quotient) - holds the operands and results of ALU
after processing.
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Harvard Architecture
 In von-Neumann architecture, the same memory is used for storing instructions and data.
Similarly, a single bus called data bus or address bus is used for reading data and instructions
from or writing to memory.

 It also had limited the processing speed for computers. The hardvard architecture based
computer consists of separate memory spaces for the programs (instructions) and data.

 Each space has its own address and data buses. So instructions and data can be fetched from
memory concurrently and provides significance processing speed improvement.
.
 In figure below, there are two data and two address buses multiplexed for data bus and
address bus.
 Hence, there are two blocks of RAM chips one for program memory and another for data
memory addresses

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Fig: Harvard Architecture Based Microprocessor 11/11/2024
The control unit controls the sequence of operations. Central ALU consists of ALU, multiplier,
accumulator and scaling chief register.

 The PC used to address program memory and always contains the address of next instruction
to be executed. Here data and control buses are bidirectional and address bus is unidirectional.

Evolution of microprocessors (intel series)

The CPU of a computer consists of ALU, CU and memory. If all these components can be
Organized on a single chip by means of SSI, MSI, LSI, VLSI, ULSI, ELSI technology, then
such chip is called microprocessor.
 It can fetch instructions from memory, decode and execute them, perform logical and
arithmetic functions, accept data from input devices and send results to the output devices.
The evolution of microprocessor is dependent on the development of integrated circuit
Date Microprocessor Data bus Address Bus Memory
1971 4004 4-bit 10-bit 640 Bytes
1972 8008 8-bit 14-bit 16k
1974 8080 8bit 16bit 64k
1976 8085 8bit 16b it 64k
1978 8086 16bit 20bit 1M
1979 8088 8bit 20bit 1M
1982 80286 16bit 24bit 16M
1985 80386 32bit 32bit 4G
1989 80486 32bit 32bit 4G
1993 Pentium 32/64bit 32bit 4G
1995 Pentium pro 32/64bit 36bit 64G
1997 Pentium II 64bit 36bit 64G
1998 Celeron 64bit 36bit 64G
1999 Pentium III 64bit 36bit 64G
2000 Pentium IV 64bit 36bit 64G
2001 Itanium 128 bit 64bit 64G
2002 Itanium 2 128 bit 64bit 64G
2003 Pentium M/Centrino (wireless capability) for Mobile
version e.g. Laptop

Core 2: X86 – 64 Architecture

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Processing cycle of a stored program computer
 Fetch
 Identify
 Fetch data
 Process
 Write back
Microinstructions and hardwired/microprogrammed control unit micro-operations

 A computer executes a program consisting instructions. Each instruction is made up of

shorter sub-cycles as fetch, indirect, execute cycle, and interrupt.
 Performance of each cycle has a number of shorter operations called micro-operations.
Called so because each step is very simple and does very little.
 Thus micro-operations are functional atomic operation of cpu.
 Hence events of any instruction cycle can be described as a sequence of micro-
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MICROINSTRUCTIONS

Fetch – Registers
a) Memory Address Register (MAR)
 Connected to address bus
 Specifies address for read or write op
b). Memory Buffer Register (MBR)
 Connected to data bus
 Holds data to write or last data read
c) Program Counter (PC)
 Holds address of next instruction to be fetched
d) Instruction Register (IR)
 Holds last instruction fetched
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Fetch Sequence

 Address of next instruction is in PC

 Address (MAR) is placed on address bus
 Control unit issues READ command
 Result (data from memory) appears on data bus
 Data from data bus copied into MBR
 PC incremented by 1 (in parallel with data fetch from memory)
 Data (instruction) moved from MBR to IR
 MBR is now free for further data fetches
• t1: MAR <- PC
Fetch Sequence (symbolic) • t2: MBR <- (memory or
• t3: MAR) PC <- PC +1
(tx = time unit/clock cycle) IR <- MBR OR
t1: • MAR <- PC
t2: • MBR <- (memory or MAR)
PC <- PC +1
t3: • IR <- MBR
Control Unit
The control unit is the heart of CPU. It gets instruction from memory. The control unit
decides what the instructions mean and directs the necessary data to be moved from
memory to ALU.
It must communicate with both ALU and main memory. It coordinates all activities of
processor unit, peripheral devices and storage devices. Two types of control unit can be
implemented in computing systems
1. Hardwired Control Unit
• This CU is essentially a combinatorial circuit. It’s i/p logic signals are transformed into set of
o/p logic signals which are control signals.
• The CU performs different operations in the basis of op-codes.
• We have to derive the Boolean expression for each control signal as a function of input.
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• Since modern processor needs a Boolean equation, it is very difficult to build a
combinational circuit that satisfies all these operations.
• It has faster mode of operation.
• A hardwired control unit needs rewiring if design has to be modified.
2. Micro-programmed Control Unit

• An alternative to hardwired CU.

• In micro-programmed control unit, the control information is stored in control memory.
• The control memory is programmed to initiate required sequence of operations.
• Use sequences of instructions to perform control operations performed by micro
operations. Control address register contains the address of the next microinstruction to be
read. As it is read, it is transferred to control buffer register. Sequencing unit loads the
control address register and issues a read command. It is cheaper and simple than
hardwired CU. It is slower than hardwired CU.
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Introduction to Register Transfer Language (RTL)
The symbolic notation used to describe the micro operation transfers among register is called
register transfer language.
It is one of the forms of hardware description language (HDL).
The term ‘register transfer’ implies the availability of hardware logic circuits that can perform a
stated instruction and transfer the data. It also transfers result of the operation to the same or
another register.
The term ‘language’ is borrowed from programmers, who apply this term to programming
language.
RTL is the convenient tool for describing the internal organization of digital computers in
concise and precise manner.
It can also be used to facilitate the design process of digital systems such as microprocessors.
Fetch and execute cycle of MOV A, B in terms of RTL specification:

Within the fetch cycle, the operations performed during execution of instruction MOV A, B
are:
i) The program counter contains the address of the next instruction to be executed. If
the next instruction to be executed is MOV A, B; the program counter contains the
address of the memory location where the instruction code for MOV A, B resides.
In the first operation of fetch cycle, the contents of program counter will be transferred
to the memory address register (MAR). The memory address register then uses the
address bus to transmit its contents that specifies the address of memory location from
where that instruction code of MOV A, B is to be fetched.

Let t1 indicates the period of first operation t1 : MAR PC

ii) When the control unit issues the memory read signal, the contents o f the address memory location specified by MAR
will be transferred to the memory buffer register (MBR).
Suppose t2 is the time period for this operation.

t2 : MBR Memory or [MAR]

iii)Finally the contents of MBR will be transferred to the instruction register and then the program counter gets
incremented.
Let t3 be the time required by the CPU to complete these operations.

t3 : IR (MBR)

PC PC + 1
After the fetch cycle completed, the execution starts. The execute cycle steps:
i) At the start of execution cycle, the instruction register (IR) consists of instruction code for instruction MOV A, B. The
address field of instructions specifies the addresses of the two memory locations A & B. The first step needed is to
obtain the data from the location B. For this the address field of IR indicating the address of memory location will be
transferred to address bus through the MAR.
Let t1 be this time taken

t1 : MAR (IR(Address of B))

ii) When the control unit issues a memory read signal, the contents of location B will be output (written) to the memory
buffer register (MBR). Now the content of B which is to be written to memory location A is contained in MBR.
Let t2 be the time taken for that operation.

t2 : MBR (B)
iii)Now, we need the memory location of A because it is being written with the data of location B. For this the address field
of IR indicating the address of memory location
A. A will be transferred to MAR in time t3. t3 : MAR (IR(Address of A))

iv)When the control unit issues the memory write signal, the contents of MBR will be written to the memory location
indicated by the contents of MAR in time t4.
t4 : A MBR or t4 : [MAR] MBR

Note: [MAR] = A
Program consists of instructions which contains different cycles like fetch and execute. These cycles in turn are made up of
the smaller operation called micro operations.

Some RTL Examples

1) MVI A, 02H Fetch:

T1: MAR PC
T2: MBR [MAR] T3: IR MBR
PC