Assignment (Corlang)

Bianca Axel B Garcia

19, 2015
BSIT 401
Beltran

Nov
Sir Agriel

Basic design of microcomputer

Central Processing Unit (CPU). This is the "brains" of the computer. It controls
the other components by deciding what to do next.

Registers are temporary storage areas that retain their information between
instructions. They usually hold 16, 32 or 64 bits of information.
The control unit is the unit responsible for directing the other units inside
the CPU. It usually interprets instructions after they have been loaded.
The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) performs arithmetic and logic operations
on values in the internal registers. It performs operations such as addition,
multiplications, logical AND, etc.
The interface unit provides the external interface to the CPU. It performs
the necessary operations to access memory and the I/O subsystem.
Most CPUs also have one or more internal bus to connect the CPU's internal
components. It is usually quite different to the computer's main bus as it is
designed to work much faster.

Memory. This is the part of the program that temporarily stores data and
instruction for the CPU. Memory is divided into many identical storage cells. Each of
them contains a fixed number of bits. Most modern computers have eight bit cells
which are also called bytes. Each storage cell is given a unique address, which is
also called the cell's location. Addresses start at zero and sequentially number
each cell.
I/O Subsystem. This is the part of the computer that interacts with the outside
world. If a computer did not have an I/O system then it would not be useful for
anything.

Access the port as a memory address. CPUs that implement this

technique reserve a special range of memory addresses for I/O ports. This
means that an instruction can access the port using the same instructions
that access memory. Motorola 680x0 processors use this technique.
Use a separate addressing mechanism. CPUs that reserve a separate
address space for I/O ports must use special instructions for accessing the
ports. Intel 80x86 processors use this technique.

Bus. This is the "wires" that connect the other three parts of the computer together.
Buses are collections of wires that are individually either on or off (0 or 1).
Everything connected to the bus sees the same status for each wire.

X86 modes processors

Protected Mode - also called protected virtual address mode, is an

operational mode of x86-compatible central processing units (CPUs). It allows
system software to use features such as virtual memory, paging and safe multitasking designed to increase an operating system's control over application
software.
Real-address Mode - is an operating mode of all x86-compatible CPUs.
Real mode provides no support for memory protection, multitasking, or code
privilege levels.
System Management Mode - sometimes called ring -2, is an operating
mode of x86 central processor units (CPUs) in which all normal execution, including
the operating system, is suspended and special separate software, which is usually
part of the firmware or a hardware-assisted debugger, is executed with high
privileges.

Different types of register

1. Memory Address Register (MAR):

This register holds the address of memory where CPU wants to read or write
data. When CPU wants to store some data in the memory or reads the data from the
memory, it places the address of the required memory location in the MAR.
2. Memory Buffer Register (MBR):
This register holds the contents of data or instruction read from, or written in
memory. The contents of instruction placed in this register are transferred to the
Instruction Register, while the contents of data are transferred to the accumulator
or I/O register.
In other words you can say that this register is used to store data/instruction
coming from the memory or going to the memory.
3. I/O Address Register (I/O AR):

I/O Address register is used to specify the address of a particular I/O device.
4. I/O Buffer Register (I/O I3R):
I/O Buffer Register is used for exchanging data between the I/O module and
the processor.

5. Program Counter (PC)

Program Counter register is also known as Instruction Pointer Register. This
register is used to store the address of the next instruction to be fetched for
execution. When the instruction is fetched, the value of IP is incremented. Thus this
register always points or holds the address of next instruction to be fetched.
6. Instruction Register (IR):
Once an instruction is fetched from main memory, it is stored in the
Instruction Register. The control unit takes instruction from this register, decodes
and executes it by sending signals to the appropriate component of computer to
carry out the task.
7. Accumulator Register:
The accumulator register is located inside the ALU, It is used during
arithmetic & logical operations of ALU. The control unit stores data values fetched
from main memory in the accumulator for arithmetic or logical operation. This
register holds the initial data to be operated upon, the intermediate results, and the
final result of operation. The final result is transferred to main memory through
MBR.
8. Stack Control Register:
A stack represents a set of memory blocks; the data is stored in and retrieved
from these blocks in an order, i.e. First In and Last Out (FILO). The Stack Control
Register is used to manage the stacks in memory. The size of this register is 2 or 4
bytes.
9. Flag Register:
The Flag register is used to indicate occurrence of a certain condition during
an operation of the CPU. It is a special purpose register with size one byte or two
bytes. Each bit of the flag register constitutes a flag (or alarm), such that the bit

value indicates if a specified condition was encountered while executing an

instruction.