MICROPROCESSOR AND ASSEMBLY
LANGUAGE
CSE 311
TOPIC: MEMORY SEGMENTATION
Shaila Rahman
Assistant Professor
8086 MEMORY
In memory, data is stored as bytes.
Each byte has a specific address.
Intel 8086 has 20 lines address bus.
With 20 address lines, the memory that can
be addressed is 220 bytes.
220 = 1,048,576 bytes (1 MB).
8086 can access memory with address
ranging from 00000 H to FFFFF H.
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MEMORY CAPACITY
• 8086 memory capacity is 1 MB
• Capacity can be defined as,
• = No of bytes*size
• For 20-bit address lines it is 2 20
• Thus total capacity
220 *1 byte = 1 MB
• Thus physical address is 20-bit, as all registers are 16-bit, so 8086 generates a
32-bit logical address combination.
• 16-bit segment : 16-bit offset
• 16-bit segment value is given by appropriate segment register. Actually the upper
16-bit of a segment starting address is given by a segment register.
• And 16-bit offset is the displacement of data from segment base.
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MEMORY SEGMENTATION
The process of dividing memory into
logical blocks is called Segmentation.
According to this the total memory
size is divided into segments of
various sizes.
A segment is just a logical area in
memory.
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PHYSICAL ADDRESS CALCULATION
Segment value is 4-bit left
shifted then added with offset.
A segment offset may
range from 0000H to FFFFH.
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AN EXAMPLE OF PROCEDURE
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FINDING THE STARTING AND ENDING
ADDRESSES
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ADVANTAGES OF SEGMENTATION
i. Managing memory efficiently
ii. keeping different data in different address spaces. E.g. data, code, stack
iii. Searching easy and fast.
iv. Faster access and thus execution.
v. Helps and improves multiprogramming
vi. Possible to access 1 MB memory using 16-bit structure.
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MEMORY SEGMENTATION
In 8086, memory has four different types
of segments.
These are:
Code Segment
Data Segment
Stack Segment
Extra Segment
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SEGMENT REGISTERS
Each of these segments are addressed by
an address stored in corresponding
segment register.
These registers are 16-bit in size.
Each register stores the base address
(starting address) of the corresponding
segment.
Because the segment registers cannot
store 20 bits, they only store the upper 16
bits.
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SEGMENT REGISTERS
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EXAMPLE
The 20-bit address of a byte is called its Physical
Address.
But, it is specified as a Logical Address.
Logical address is in the form of:
Base Address : Offset
Offset is the displacement of the memory location
from the starting location of the segment.
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EXAMPLE
The value of Data Segment Register
(DS) is 2222 H.
To convert this 16-bit address into 20-bit,
the BIU appends 0H to the LSBs of the
address.
After appending, the starting address of
the Data Segment becomes 22220H.
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EXAMPLE
If the data at any location has a logical
address specified as:
2222 H : 0016 H
Then, the number 0016 H is the offset.
2222 H is the value of DS.
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EXAMPLE (CONTD.)
To calculate the effective address of the
memory, BIU uses the following formula:
Effective Address = Starting Address of
Segment + Offset
To find the starting address of the
segment, BIU appends the contents of
Segment Register with 0H.
Then, it adds offset to it.
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EXAMPLE (CONTD.)
Therefore:
EA = 22220 H
+ 0016 H
22236 H
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EXAMPLE (CONTD.)
2222 H BYTE – 0 22220 H
DS Register BYTE – 1
BYTE – 2
-
Offset = 0016 H -
-
-
-
Addressed Byte 22236 H
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MAX. SIZE OF SEGMENT
All offsets are limited to 16-bits.
It means that the maximum size
possible for segment is 216 = 65,535
bytes (64 KB).
The offset of the first location within the
segment is 0000 H.
The offset of the last location in the
segment is FFFF H.
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WHERE TO LOOK FOR THE OFFSET
Segment Offset Registers Function
CS IP Address of the next instruction
DS BX, DI, SI Address of data
SS SP, BP Address in the stack
ES DI Address of destination data
(for string operations)
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QUESTION
The contents of the following registers are:
CS = 1111 H
DS = 3333 H
SS = 2526 H
IP = 1232 H
SP = 1100 H
DI = 0020 H
Calculate the corresponding physical addresses for
the address bytes in CS, DS and SS.
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SOLUTION
1. CS = 1111 H
The base address of the code segment is 11110 H.
Effective address of memory is given by 11110H + 1232H = 12342H.
2. DS = 3333 H
The base address of the data segment is 33330 H.
Effective address of memory is given by 33330H + 0020H = 33350H.
3. SS = 2526 H
The base address of the stack segment is 25260 H.
Effective address of memory is given by 25260H + 1100H = 26350H.
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