CS 1203 SYSTEM SOFTWARE

QUESTION BANK - UNIT-I

CS1203 SYSTEM SOFTWARE 3 0 0 100

AIM
To have an understanding of foundations of design of assemblers, loaders, linkers, and macro processors.

OBJECTIVES
• To understand the relationship between system software and machine architecture.
• To know the design and implementation of assemblers
• To know the design and implementation of linkers and loaders.
• To have an understanding of macroprocessors.
• To have an understanding of system software tools.

UNIT I INTRODUCTION 8
System software and machine architecture – The Simplified Instructional Computer (SIC) - Machine architecture -
Data and instruction formats - addressing modes - instruction sets - I/O and programming.

UNIT II ASSEMBLERS 10
Basic assembler functions - A simple SIC assembler – Assembler algorithm and data structures - Machine
dependent assembler features - Instruction formats and addressing modes – Program relocation - Machine
independent assembler features - Literals – Symbol-defining statements – Expressions - One pass assemblers and
Multi pass assemblers - Implementation example - MASM assembler.

UNIT III LOADERS AND LINKERS 9

Basic loader functions - Design of an Absolute Loader – A Simple Bootstrap Loader - Machine dependent loader
features - Relocation – Program Linking – Algorithm and Data Structures for Linking Loader - Machine-independent
loader features - Automatic Library Search – Loader Options - Loader design options - Linkage Editors – Dynamic
Linking – Bootstrap Loaders - Implementation example - MSDOS linker.

UNIT IV MACRO PROCESSORS 9

Basic macro processor functions - Macro Definition and Expansion – Macro Processor Algorithm and data
structures - Machine-independent macro processor features - Concatenation of Macro Parameters – Generation of
Unique Labels – Conditional Macro Expansion – Keyword Macro Parameters-Macro within Macro-Implementation
example - MASM Macro Processor – ANSI C Macro language.

UNIT V SYSTEM SOFTWARE TOOLS 9

Text editors - Overview of the Editing Process - User Interface – Editor Structure. - Interactive debugging systems -
Debugging functions and capabilities – Relationship with other parts of the system – User-Interface Criteria.

TOTAL : 45
TEXT BOOK
rd
1. Leland L. Beck, “System Software – An Introduction to Systems Programming”, 3 Edition, Pearson
Education Asia, 2000.

REFERENCES
1. D. M. Dhamdhere, “Systems Programming and Operating Systems”, Second Revised Edition, Tata
McGraw-Hill, 1999.
2. John J. Donovan “Systems Programming”, Tata McGraw-Hill Edition, 1972.

1) What is system software?

System software consists of variety of programs that supports the operations of a computer. This
makes it possible for the user to focus on an application or other problem to be solved ,without
needing to know the details of how the machine works internally.
Examples of system software are text-editors,compilers,loaders or linkers,debuggers,assemblers,and
operating systems.

2) How system software is different from Software?

The most important characteristic in which most system software differ from application software is
machine dependency.
An application program is primarily concerned with the solution to some problem,using computer as a
tool. The focus is on the application,not on the application system.
System programs, on the other hand,are intended to support the operation and use of the computer
itself,rather than any particular application. They are usually related to the architecture of the machine
on which they are to run.

3) Explain the machine dependency of system software with examples?

An assembler is a system software. It translates mnemonic instructions into machine code; the
instruction formats,addressing modes ,etc,are of direct concern in assembler design.
Similarly, compilers must generate machine language code,taking into account such hardware
characteristics as the number and the types of registers and machine instructions available
Operating systems are directly concerned with the management of nearly all of the resources of a
computer system.

Example:

When you took the first programming course
• Text editor - create and modify the program
• Compiler- translate programs into machine language
• Loader or linker - load machine language program into memory

and prepared for execution
• Debugger - help detect errors in the program

When you wrote programs in assembler language
• Assembler - translate assembly program into machine language
• Macro processor - translate macros instructions into its definition

When you control all of these processes
• By interacting with the OS

4) What are the important machine structures used in the design of system software?

Memory structure

Registers

Data formats

Instruction formats

Addressing modes

Instruction set

5) What is SIC machine?

SIC refers to Simplified Instruction Computer which is a hypothetical computer that has been
designed to include the hardware features most often found on real machines,while avoiding unusual
and irrelevant complexities. This allows to clearly separate the central concepts of a system software
from the implementation details associated with a particular machine.

6) Explain SIC Machine architecture.

SIC Machine Architecture

Memory
o 215 bytes in the computer memory
o 3 consecutive bytes form a word
o 8-bit bytes

Registers

Mnemonic Number Special use

A 0 Accumulator; used for arithmetic operations
X 1 Index register; used for addressing
L 2 Linkage register; JSUB
PC 8 Program counter
SW 9 Status word, including CC

Data Formats
o Integers are stored as 24-bit binary numbers; 2’s complement representation is used for
negative values
o No floating-point hardware

Instruction Formats

opcode (8) x address (15)

Addressing Modes

Mode Indication Target address calculation

Direct x=0 TA=address
Indexed x=1 TA=address+(X)

Instruction Set
o integer arithmetic operations: ADD, SUB, MUL, DIV, etc.
 All arithmetic operations involve register A and a word in memory, with the result
being left in the register
o comparison: COMP
 COMP compares the value in register A with a word in memory, this instruction
sets a condition code CC to indicate the result
o conditional jump instructions: JLT, JEQ, JGT
 these instructions test the setting of CC and jump accordingly
o subroutine linkage: JSUB, RSUB
 JSUB jumps to the subroutine, placing the return address in register L
 RSUB returns by jumping to the address contained in register L

Input and Output

o Input and output are performed by transferring 1 byte at a time to or from the rightmost 8
bits of register A
o The Test Device (TD) instruction tests whether the addressed device is ready to send or
receive a byte of data
o Read Data (RD)
 o Write Data (WD)

7) What are the contents of status word register?

8)
9)
10)
11) Explain SIC/XE architecture
SIC/XE Machine Architecture

Memory

More Registers
Mnemonic Number Special use
B 3 Base register; used for addressing
S 4 General working register
T 5 General working register
F 6 Floating-point acumulator (48bits)

Data Formats
o Floating-point data type: frac*2(exp-1024)
 frac: 0~1
 exp: 0~2047

Instruction Formats
Format 1
op(8)
Format 2
op(8) r1(4) r2(4)

Format 3 e=0
op(6) n I xb p e disp(12)
 Format 4 e=1
op(6) n I x b p e address (20)

Instruction Set
o new registers: LDB, STB, etc.
o floating-point arithmetic: ADDF, SUBF, MULF, DIVF
o register move: RMO
o register-register arithmetic: ADDR, SUBR, MULR, DIVR
o supervisor call: SVC
 generates an interrupt for OS

Input/Output
SIO, TIO, HIO: start, test, halt the operation of I/O device

12) Explain SIC/XE Instruction formats.

Instruction Formats
• Larger memory means an address cannot fit into a 15-bit field

Extend addressing capacity
• Use some form of relative addressing -> instruction

format 3
• Extend the address field to 20 bits -> instruction format 4

Additional instructions do not reference memory
• Instruction format 1 & 2
13) Explain SIC/XE addressing modes.

How to compute TA?

Addressing modes:
Mode Indication Target address calculation operand
Base relative b=1, p=0 TA=(B)+disp (0<=disp<=4095) (TA)
PC-relative b=0, p=1 TA=(PC)+disp (-2048<=disp<=2047) (TA)

Direct b=0, p=0 TA=disp (format 3) or address (format 4) (TA)

Indexed x=1 TA=TA+(X) (TA)

How the target address is used?

Mode Indication operand value

immediate addressing i=1, n=0 TA
indirect addressing i=0, n=1 ((TA))
simple addressing i=0, n=0 SIC instruction (all end with 00)
i=1, n=1 SIC/XE instruction

 Addressing modes

Base relative (n=1, i=1, b=1, p=0)

Program-counter relative (n=1, i=1, b=0, p=1)

Direct (n=1, i=1, b=0, p=0)

Immediate (n=0, i=1, x=0)

Indirect (n=1, i=0, x=0)

Indexing (both n & i = 0 or 1, x=1)

Extended (e=1 for format 4, e=0 for format 3)

14) What is direct addressing?

15) What is indexed addressing?

16) What is immediate addressing?

17) What is indirect addressing?

18) What is simple addressing mode?

19) What are the instruction set for SIC/XE?
Instruction Set
a. new registers: LDB, STB, etc.
b. floating-point arithmetic: ADDF, SUBF, MULF, DIVF
c. register move: RMO
d. register-register arithmetic: ADDR, SUBR, MULR, DIVR
e. supervisor call: SVC
- generates an interrupt for OS (Chap 6)
Input/Output
f. SIO, TIO, HIO: start, test, halt the operation of I/O device
20) Give programming examples of SIC.
SIC Programming Examples
-- Data movement
ALPHA RESW 1
FIVE WORD 5
CHARZ BYTE C’Z’
C1 RESB1
.
.
LDA FIVE
STA ALPHA
LDCH CHARZ
STCH C1

(a)

No memory-memory move instruction

3-byte word:
o LDA, STA, LDL, STL, LDX, STX

1-byte:
o LDCH, STCH

Storage definition
o WORD, RESW
 o BYTE, RESB

All arithmetic operations are performed using register A, with the result being left in register A.
Arithmetic operation

Looping and indexing

21) Give an example for SIC IO programming.

22) Explain Pentium Pro Architecture.
Pentium Pro Architecture

Memory

physical level: address are byte addresses
• word (2 bytes), doubleword (or dword) (4 bytes)
• Some operations are more efficient when operands are aligned

logical level: programmers usually view the x86 memory
as a collection of segments.
• An address consists of segments and offsets
• In some cases, a segment can also be divided into pages
• The segment/offset address specified by the programmer is
translated into a physical address by the x86 MMU (Memory
Management Unit)

Registers

Eight 32-bit general-purpose registers:
• EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX: data manipulation
• ESI, EDI, EBP, ESP: address

Special-purpose registers:
• Two 32-bit registers:

EIP: pointer to the next instruction

FLAGS: status word
• Six 16-bit segment registers:

CS: code segment register

SS: stack segment register

DS, ES, FS, and GS: data segments

Floating-point unit (FPU)

All above registers are available to application programmers
• Other registers used only by system programs such as OS.