Microprocessor Architecture

• The internal logic design of the µP is called its architecture

• It determines the various operations of µP and the way they are performed
• A µP is a programmable logic device that contains the following components:
⇒ Registers
⇒ Flip-flops and
⇒ Timing elements
• It has a set of instructions to
⇒ Manipulate data and
⇒ Communicate with the peripherals
• The process of manipulation and communication is determined by the logic design of
the µP called architecture
• The various functions performed by the µP can be classified into three categories
⇒ µP initiated operations
⇒ Internal data operations
⇒ Peripheral/externally initiated operations

µP initiated operations and Bus organization:

8085 µP performs four basic operations

1) Memory read :- Reads data from memory
2) Memory write:- Writes data into memory
3) I/O read :- Accepts data from input device
4) I/O write :- Sends data to output device
• The above operations are the part of communication process between the µP and the
peripherals
• For communication following steps are performed
⇒ Step 1: Identify the peripheral or memory location with its address
⇒ Step 2: Transfer data
⇒ Step 3: Provide timing and synchronization signals
• 8085 µP performs above functions using three sets of communication lines called
buses
a) The address bus
b) The data bus
c) The control bus
 a) Address Bus:
⇒ It is a group of 16 lines generally identified as A0 to A15
⇒ It is unidirectional
Address bit can flow from µP to peripheral devices & not in opposite direction
⇒ µP uses the address bus to identify the peripherals or memory
st
location (1 function)
⇒ Each peripheral or memory location is identified by a binary
number called an address
An address is similar to postal address of a house
⇒ An address bus can carry 16-bit address
AD0 to AD7 are called Low-order address bus
A8 to A15 are called High-order address bus
⇒ No. of address lines in an address bus of µP determines its
capacity to identify different memory locations or peripherals
 e.g., 8085 µP with 16 address lines is capable of
addressing 216 = 65,536 memory locations (generally known as 64K ≈ 64,000)

b) Data Bus:
⇒ The data bus is a group of eight lines identified by AD0 to AD7
⇒ The data bus is multiplexed with A0 – A7 address bus
⇒ Data Bus is bidirectional
i.e. data can flow in both the directions between µP and peripheral devices
⇒ Data bus is used for transfer of data (2nd function of transfer of data)
⇒ An 8-bit data bus enables µP to handle 8-bit data
i.e. 28 = 256 numbers ranging from 0 to 255
the largest number that can be handled is 25510 = 111111112
⇒ The number of data lines in a data-bus determines
o The word-length
o Register-size of µP
o Influences the architecture of µP
⇒ Therefore, 8085 µP is called 8-bit µP

c) Control Bus:
⇒ The control bus has various single lines that carry control/synchronizing signals
⇒ These signals are used to synchronized the operations of various elements of µP