ICS 3111:Microprocessor

Lec: Mourice Ojijo

School of Computing and Engineering Sciences,Strathmore University

October 1, 2021
 Course content

1 Microprocessors and Microcomputers

2 Microprocessor Architecture and Microcomputer systems
3 Microprocessor Architecture and Memory Interfacing
4 Interfacing I/O Devices
5 Interrupts
6 Programmable Interface Devices
7 General Purpose Programmable Peripheral Devices

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 Microprocessors

What is a microprocessor: 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 and provides results
A typical programmable machine consists of: a microprocessor,
a memory and input/output devices
The components of a programmable system include:
I Hardware: Which is the physical part of the system
I Program: Which is a set of instructions written for the
microprocessor to run
I Software: Which a group of programs combine to perform a
certain task

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 Microprocessors

A typical programmable system/microcomputer is shown in

figure 1

Figure 1: A programmable machine or microcomputer

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 Microprocessor as a programmable device

A microprocessor can receive instructions the perform a task

based on those instructions.
A modern microprocessor is designed to understand instructions
and execute them.
A programmer can select appropriate instructions and as the
microcomputer to perform various tasks on a given data.
The instructions are stored in a device called memory. A
memory is a set of finite size registers.
The registers are always grouped together in powers of two. For
instance, a group of 1024(210 ) 8-bit registers on a
semiconductor chip is known as 1K byte memory

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 Microprocessor as a programmable device

Input/output devices allow users to interact with a

microprocessor. Such devices include a keyboard, card reader, a
scanner, monitors, LED displays etc
The primary component of a microcomputer is a microprocessor
also known as the central processing unit (CPU)
The CPU contains various
I Registers to store temporary data
I The arithmetic logic unit (ALU) which performs arithmetic and
logical operations
I The instruction decoders, counters and control lines

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 Microprocessor as a programmable device

Figure 2: A block diagram of a computer

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 Microprocessor as a programmable device

Figure 3: A block diagram of a computer with CPU and a block diagram

of a microcontroller

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 Advance semiconductor technology
The invention of integrated circuits in the 1950s prompted
development of large scale integration which eventually led to
the manufacturing of microprocessors.

Figure 4: The historical perspective of Intel microprocessors

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 Organization of a Microprocessor-Based System
The figure 5 shows a microprocessor based system with the main
components including the system bus.

Figure 5: A microprocessor based system

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 Microprocessor Internal Architecture
As seen in figure 5 the microprocessor unit is made up of the
following internal components.
I Arithmetic Logic Unit: It performs arithmetic operations such
addition and subtraction and logic operation such as AND, OR,
and exclusive OR.
I Register array: It consists of various registers identified by
letters such as A,B,C,D,E,H and L. These registers are primarily
used to store data temporarily during the execution of a
program and are accessible to the user.
I Control unit: The control unit provides the necessary timing
and control signals to all operations in the microcomputer. It
also controls the flow of data between the microprocessor and
memory and other peripherals.
The memory can be divide into two categories namely RAM and
ROM.
The system is the communication path between the MPU and
its peripherals
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 How does the microprocessor work?

Assume there is a program and data already entered in the RAM

When the MPU is given a command to execute the program
which is stored in the memory sequentially
It fetches the first instruction from memory, it decodes it the
executes it.
This process is continued until all the instructions and executed.

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 Detailed 8085 internal architecture
The internal architecture of the Intel 8085 is given in the
diagram in figure 6

Figure 6: The internal architecture of the Intel 8085 MPU show the
register arrangement and system buses

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 The Intel 8085 Flag Register

The flag register is shown in figure 7

Figure 7: The Intel 8085 flag register

The flags play critical role in decision during program execution.

Their roles are explained in the next slide

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 The Intel 8085 Flag Register

Z-Zero flag: The Zero flag is set to one when the result in the
accumulator or other registers is zero. Otherwise it is reset.
CY-Carry flag: If an arithmetic operation results into a carry
then it is set to one otherwise it is reset to zero.
S-Sign Flag: The sign flag is set if bit D7 of the result is = 1.
P-Parity: If the result in the accumulator has an even number of
1s the this flag is set to one otherwise it is reset.
AC-Auxiliary carry: In an arithmetic operation when a carry is
generated by bit D3 into D4. Then AC is set to 1. This flag is
used internal for binary coded operation (BCD). There are no
jump instruction associated with this flag.

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 The Program counter and the stack pointer

These are two sixteen (16) bit registers used to hold memory
addresses.
The size of these register is 16 bits because the addresses are 16
bit
The microprocessor uses PC to sequence execution of
instructions
The function of PC is to point to the memory address from with
the next instruction (1 byte) is going to be fetched.
After the byte is fetched the content of PC is automatically
incremented by one to point to the next location.

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 The Program counter and the stack pointer

The stack pointer is also a 16 bit register used as a memory

pointer.
It points to the read write memory called stack
The beginning of the stack is defined by loading a 16 bit address
to the stack pointer.
The stack is important when dealing with subroutines (functions)

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 Microprocessor Architecture and Microcomputer
system

The microprocessor is a programmable device.

It can be programmed to perform and operation on data.
This instructions are given to the microprocessor by writing the
in the memory
All functions initiated by the microprocessor can be initiated in
three groups.
I Microprocessor initiated operation
I Internal operation
I Peripheral (external) operation

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