Suppose You Are Required To Load An 8-Bit Value In Memory

Suppose You Are Required To Load An 8 Bit Value In Memory Location

Suppose you are required to load an 8-bit value in memory location at $7001 into accumulator A using the index addressing mode. Suppose also that you decided to use index register X. What should be the contents of the index register to satisfy the desired task in the following instruction: LDAA $1, X?

Consider the following program segment: LDD #$F00D LDX #$C100 STD 0, X BSET 0, X, $44 BCLR 1, X, $11. What numbers are in the memory location $C100 and $C101 after the program is executed?

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The task of loading an 8-bit value from a specific memory location into an accumulator using the index addressing mode involves understanding both the addressing mode and the appropriate configuration of the index register. The instruction in question is LDAA $1, X, which indicates loading the accumulator A with the byte at the address calculated by adding the immediate offset $1 to the contents of index register X.

In index addressing mode, the effective memory address is obtained by adding a signed 8-bit or 16-bit displacement to the contents of the index register X. Here, the instruction specifies an offset of $1, meaning that to access the target memory location, the index register X must contain the base address such that X + 1 equals the desired memory address.

Given that the target memory location is at $7001, the equation to determine the contents of X is straightforward:

X + 1 = $7001

Subtracting 1 from both sides yields:

X = $7000

Therefore, to perform LDAA $1, X and load the content from address $7001 into accumulator A, the content of the index register X must be set to $7000.

This approach assumes that the machine's architecture uses 16-bit registers for addressing, which is typical for systems using memory locations such as $7000. The value in X effectively becomes the base address, and adding the offset specified in the instruction (here, $1) points directly to the intended memory location.

Moving to the second part, the program segment involves several instructions manipulating memory and register contents:

  • LDD #$F00D: Loads the hexadecimal value F00D into register D. This operation does not affect memory locations directly.
  • LDX #$C100: Sets the index register X to point to memory location C100.
  • STD 0, X: Stores the contents of register D (which is F00D) into the memory location addressed by X plus zero—that is, memory location C100.
  • BSET 0, X, $44: Sets the bits specified by the mask $44 (which is binary 0100 0100) in the memory location at X + 0 (C100).
  • BCLR 1, X, $11: Clears the bits specified by $11 (binary 0001 0001) in the memory location at X + 1 (which would be C101).

Analyzing these steps:

  1. Initially, after STD 0, X, memory location $C100 will contain F00D.
  2. Since BSET 0, X, $44 operates on the same memory location C100, it modifies the bits according to the mask $44.

    This mask (binary 0100 0100) targets bits 6 and 2 in the byte. By setting these bits, the value at C100 is updated as follows:

Original value at C100: F00D (hexadecimal) = 1111 0000 0000 1101 (binary)


Applying mask $44 (0100 0100): sets bits 6 and 2.

The bits in C100 after the operation are:

1111 0000 0000 1101


AND with 0100 0100:


Result: 0100 0000 0000 0101 (binary)


Converting back to hex: 0x4405

However, since F00D is wider than 8 bits, but the operation applies byte-wise, the operation's effect depends on the architecture's data width. Assuming 16-bit registers, then:

- C100 receives F00D initially (F0 0D)

- The bits mask affects the lower byte (0D), changing bits 2 and 6 in that byte.

The low byte 0D (binary 0000 1101) after setting bits 6 and 2:

- Bit 6 (value 64) is set: 0000 1101 | 0100 0000 = 0100 1101 (hex 4D)

- Bit 2 (value 4) is already set in 0D (which is 0000 1101), so setting it again keeps it at 0D.

After applying the mask, the lower byte becomes 4D, and the high byte remains F0.

Thus, the memory at C100 now contains F04D.

Next, BCLR 1, X, $11 operates on memory location C101. Since C101 was not modified directly, assuming it contained the initial value (possibly zero or unspecified), the operation clears bits as per mask $11 (binary 0001 0001).

If C101 initially was zero (00), after clearing bits 0 and 4:

00 & ~(0001 0001) = 00 & 1110 1110 = 00

If C101 was not initialized, the operation reduces it to zero.

Therefore, after executing all instructions:

- Memory location $C100 contains F04D.

- Memory location $C101 contains 00, assuming initial zero value.

This analysis illustrates how register and memory manipulations, including bitwise operations, modify the contents of specific memory locations during program execution. Such operations are fundamental in embedded systems and low-level programming, where precise control over individual bits and memory is necessary.

References

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