Chapter 2

MICROCONTROLLER
ARCHITECTURE & ASSEMBLY
LANGUAGE
PROGRAMMING

Microcontroller Packaging and Appearance

PIC 12F508
PIC 16F84A

Motorola 68000

PIC 16C72

PIC 16F877
Motorola 68HC05B16

PIC microcontrollers in DIP and QFN packages

16-bit 28-pin PDIP PIC24 microcontroller next to a

metric ruler

PIC18 Architecture
Von Neumann Architecture:
Fetches instructions and data from a single memory
space
Limits operating bandwidth
Von Neumann
Architecture

8-bit Bus

CPU

Program
& Data
Memory

PIC18 Architecture
Harvard Architecture:
Uses two separate memory spaces for program instructions and
data
Improved operating bandwidth
Allows for different bus widths
Harvard
Architecture

8-bit Bus

16-bit Bus

Program
Memory

CPU

Data
Memory

PIC18 Microcontroller Families

PIC microcontrollers are designed using
the Harvard Architecture which includes:
Microprocessor unit (MPU)
Program memory for instructions
Data memory for data
I/O ports
Support devices such as timers

Microcontroller with the

Harvard Architecture

A Brief History of PIC C

8-bit Architecture Overview

Compare 8-bit PIC MCU Architectures

PIC18 Architecture Block Diagram

PIC18F4450 Block Diagram

PIC18F MCU and Memory

16 bit

2 MB
221

8 bit

4 KB
212

 Includes Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), Registers,

and Control Unit
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
WREG working register
Status register that stores flags
Instruction decoder when the instruction is fetched it goes into
the ID

 Registers
Bank Select Register (BSR)
4-bit register used in direct addressing the data memory

File Select Registers (FSRs)

16-bit registers used as memory pointers in indirect addressing
data memory

Program Counter (PC)

21-bit register that holds the program memory address while
executing programs

 Control unit
Provides timing and control signals to various
Read and Write operations

 Address bus
21-bit address bus for
program memory
addressing capacity: 2 MB
of memory
12-bit address bus for data
memory addressing
capacity: 4 KB of memory

Data bus
16-bit instruction/data bus
for program memory
8-bit data bus for data
memory

Control signals
Read and Write

Data RAM File Register

In the CPU, registers are used to store information temporarily.
It could be a byte of data to be processed, or an address
pointing to the data to be fetched.

Majority of PIC registers are 8-bit registers.

In the PIC there is only one data type: 8-bit.
The range goes from the MSB (most-significant bit) D7 to the
LSB least-significant bit) D0.
With an 8-bit data type, any data larger than 8 bits must be
broken into 8-bit chunks before it is processed.

WREG register
The 8-bit WREG register is the most widely used
register in the PIC micro controller.
WREG stands for working register, as there is only one.

The WREG register is the same as the accumulator in

other microprocessors.
The WREG register is used for all arithmetic and logic
instructions.

 To understand the use of the WREG register, we will

show it in the context of two simple instructions: MOVE
and ADD.

MOVLW
The MOVLW instruction MOVES 8-bit data into the
WREG register. It has the following format:
MOVLW K
;move literal value K into WREG
MOVLW 25H ; move value 25H into WREG (WREG = 25H)

Is the following code correct?

MOVLW 9H
MOVLW A23H

ADDLW
The ADDLW instruction ADD 8-bit data into the WREG
register. It has the following format:
ADDLW K
ADDLW 34H

;ADD literal value K to WREG

;ADD literal value 34H to WREG

Example:
MOVLW 12H
ADDLW 16H
ADDLW 32H

;move literal value 12H into WREG

; add value 16H into WREG (WREG = 28H)
; add value 32H into WREG (WREG = 60H)

PIC WREG and ALU Using Literal Value

File register (SFRs and GPR)

It is the data memory.

Read/Write - Static RAM
Used for data storage, scratch pad and
registers for internal use and function
8-bit width

Register relationship in PIC

PIC File Register

General Purpose RAM

GP RAM

EEPROM

Special Function Register

Register File
concept
All data memory
is part of register
file
Any location in
data memory can
be operated
directly
All peripherals
mapped into data
memory as a
series of registers

SFR Special Function Register

8 bit registers
Dedicated to specific functions such as ALU status, timers,
serial communication, I/O ports, ADC etc.

Each SFR functions is fixed by the CPU designer at the time of

design and it is used for controlling microcontroller/peripheral

GPR General Purpose Register

8 bit registers
A group of RAM locations in the file register that are used for
data storage.
Larger than SFR

The microchip website provides the data RAM size, which is the same as
GPR size

File Register Size

File Register

SFR

GPR

(Bytes)

(Bytes)

(Bytes)

PIC12F508
PIC16F84

32
80

7
12

25
68

PIC18F1220
PIC18F452
PIC18F2220
PIC18F458
PIC18F8722
PIC18F4550

512
1792
768
1792
4096
2048

256
256
256
256
158
160

256
1536
512
1536
3938
1888

File Registers of PIC12, PIC16, and PIC18

PIC Status Register

To indicate arithmetic conditions
It is a 8-bit register

Five bits are used

D0:
C
Carry Flag
D1:
DC
Digital Carry Flag
D2:
Z
Zero Flag
D3:
OV
Overflow Flag
D4:
N
Negative Flag

Bits of Status Register

Example 1

Show the status of the C, DC, Z flags after the

following addition instruction
MOVLW 38H
ADDLW 2FH
Solution

38H + 2FH = 67H WREG=67H

C=0
DC=1
Z=0

Example 2
Show the status of the C, DC, Z flags after the
following addition instruction
MOVLW 9CH
ADDLW 64H

Solution
9CH + 64H = 100H WREG= 00H

C=1
DC=1
Z=1

Instruction That Affect

Flag Bits

Flag Bits and Decision Making

PIC Data Format and Directives

There is one data type

8 bits

It is the job of the programmer to break down

data larger 8 bits ( 00 to FFH or 0 to 255)

Data type can be positive or negative number

Data format are

Hex (default in PIC) 12 or 0x12 or H'12' or 12H or

Binary B'00010010 or

Decimal .12 or D'12 or

ASCII A'c' or a'c'

Assembler Directives

What is the difference

between
Instruction and Directives?

Instruction
Tells the CPU what to do

Directives (pseudo-instruction)
Give directions to the assembler

Assembly language Format

LABEL

START

INSTRUCTION/
ASS. DIRECTIVE

MOVLW

OPERAND

12H

COMMENT

;move literal value 12H into

WREG

Label:
use to represent the location of an instruction or a value no
spacing not more than 8 characters including number.
Instruction:
tells the controller what to do. Ex. MOVWF, GOTO..

Assembler directive:
tells the assembler suppose to do. Ex. EQU, ORG, END
Operand:
data to operate on / source of data to operate on and its
destination after processing.

PIC Language Fundamental

Please refer to notes

Arithmetic and Logic Instruction

Please refer to notes
Chapter 5: Arithmetic, Logic Instructions and
Programs
Muhammad Ali Mazidi, Rolin D. Mckinlay & Danny Causey (2008).
PIC Microcontroller and Embedded Systems:
Using Assembly and C for PIC18.
Pearson Prentice Hall. (ISBN: 9780136009023)