Instruction Set Architecture
Computer Organization
Lecture #8
Jahan Zeb
ISA Level
ISA level defines the interface
between the compilers and the
hardware
Backward compatibility
New machine
Predecessor Compatibility
Operating System
Applications Unmodified
Lecture #8, ISA 2
Properties of the ISA Level
Memory Models
Registers
Types of instructions
Normative
Which impose requirements
Informative
Intended to help the reader but are not part of definitions
Kernel Mode
Allows all instructions
User Mode
Allow application programs and not permit certain sensitive
instructions
Lecture #8, ISA 3
Memory Models
Memory divided into cells, consecutive addresses, common size is 8 bits
Many architectures require words to be aligned on their natural
boundaries
Alignment is illustrated in figure (a)
Having the ability to read words at arbitrary addresses requires extra
logic on the chip, which makes it bigger and more expensive
Lecture #8, ISA 4
Registers
ISA level registers can be divided into two categories:
Special Purpose Registers: include registers like program
counter, stack pointer, as well as other registers with a
specific function
General Purpose Registers: are there to hold key local
variables and intermediate results of calculations
On some machines, the general purpose registers are
completely symmetric and interchangeable, at some machines
general purpose registers can be a bit special e.g. EDX in
Pentium II
Lecture #8, ISA 5
contd…
Even general purpose registers are interchangeable it is
common to adopt conventions about how they are used,
system-wide conventions regarding some registers should be
adhered
Special purpose registers only available in kernel mode,
controls various caches, memory, I/O devices etc
Control register: Flag Register or Program Status Word, hold
various bits needed by the CPU e.g. condition codes
N: set when the result was Negative
Z: set when the result was Zero
V: Set when the result caused an oVerflow
Lecture #8, ISA 6
Pentium II ISA Level
Instrucions
Main feature of the ISA level is its set of machine
instructions, these control what a machine can do
LOAD, STORE, MOVE
In figure, first four registers: EAX, EBX, ECX,
EDX are general purpose registers
EAX: arithmetic register, EBX: hold pointers,
ECX: Looping, EDX: Multiplication/Division
Lecture #8, ISA 7
Overview of Pentium II ISA Level
The Pentium IIs primary registers.
Lecture #8, ISA 8
Pentium II ISA Level Primary Registers
ESI and EDI are used to hold pointers in memory
EBP, points to stack frame, frame pointer
ESP, is the stack pointer
CS through GS are segment registers used by
predecessor
EIP: Program Counter
EFLAGS: which is the PSW
Lecture #8, ISA 9
UltraSPARC II ISA Level
In order to make procedure calls more efficient, organization of
registers is a bit complex
It has two groups of registers: general purpose registers and
floating point registers
Conventional functions are listed in figure, though it would be
unwise to deviate from the listed uses
Global variables: variables and pointers needed in all
procedures
Three dedicated registers are used for special purposes, FP, SP,
R31
Register Window, using registers as a stack
Current Window Pointer keeps track of which register set is in
use
Lecture #8, ISA 10
Lecture #8, ISA 11
Data Types
For processing computers require data
Computer systems process commercial, financial,
engineering etc data
Data has to be represented inside the computer
At ISA level variety of data types are used
Numeric Data Types
Non Numeric Data Types
Lecture #8, ISA 12
Numeric Data Types
Integers
Count things (No. of computers, cars etc)
Identify things (Bank Account Numbers, Credit card numbers,
passwords)
Integers can be further categorized into unsigned and signed
integers, an unsigned integer contains no sign bit and all the bits
contain data
Floating Point
For numbers like, 2.7, 7.7, 0.5 etc, floating point data types are
used
Many Computers have separate registers for holding integer
operands and for holding floating point operands
Lecture #8, ISA 13
Nonnumeric Data Types
Characters
For the representation of various characters, character data type is
used
Most common character codes are ASCII, UNICODE
Character Strings
For handling consecutive run of characters, special instructions are
intended to handle character strings
Instructions can perform copy, search, edit and other functions on
strings
Boolean
Boolean value can take one or two values: true or false
In practice, a byte or a word is used per Boolean value because
individual bits in a byte do not have their own addresses
Bit Map: Consecutive 1 bit Boolean values
Lecture #8, ISA 14
contd…
Pointers
Just an address
Accessing a variable at a fixed location we require
pointer
Lecture #8, ISA 15
Instruction Formats
An instruction consists upon an ‘opcode’ and ‘address’
Opcode is usually along with information e.g. where
operands come from, where results go to
Specifying where the operands are (i.e. addresses) is
called addressing
Figure shows several possible formats for instructions,
having opcode and address(s)
There can be a zero, one, two, or three addresses present
Lecture #8, ISA 16
Instruction Formats
Four common instruction formats:
(a) Zero-address instruction. (b) One-address instruction
(c) Two-address instruction. (d) Three-address instruction.
Lecture #8, ISA 17
