Engineering Guruji

Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering

Viva - Voce Questions With Answers
Microprocessors and Microcontrollers

1. What are the functions of an accumulator?

Ans : The accumulator is the register associated with the ALU
operations and sometimes I/O operations. It is an integral part
of ALU. It holds one of data to be processed by ALU. It also
temporarily stores the result of the operation performed by the
ALU.
2. What is Microprocessor? Give the power supply & clock
frequency of 8085
Ans : A microprocessor is a multipurpose, programmable logic
device that reads binary instructions from a storage device called
memory accepts binary data as input and processes data accord-
ing to those instructions and provides result as output. The power
supply of 8085 is +5V and clock frequency in 3MHz.
3. List few applications of microprocessor-based system.
Ans : It is used:
1. For measurements, display and control of current, voltage,
temperature, pressure, etc.
2. For traffic control and industrial tool control.
3. For speed control of machines.
4. List the 16 bit registers of 8085 microprocessor.
Ans : Stack pointer (SP) and Program counter (PC).
5. List the allowed register pairs of 8085.
Ans :
1. B-C register pair
2. D-E register pair

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3. H-L register pair

6. Mention the purpose of SID and SOD lines
Ans : SID (Serial input data line): It is an input line through
which the microprocessor accepts serial data.
SOD (Serial output data line): It is an output line through
which the microprocessor sends output serial data.
7. What is an Opcode?
Ans : The part of the instruction that specifies the operation to
be performed is called the operation code or opcode.
8. What is the function of IO/M signal in the 8085?
Ans : It is a status signal. It is used to differentiate between
memory locations and I/O operations. When this signal is low
(IO/M = 0) it denotes the memory related operations. When
this signal is high (IO/M = 1) it denotes an I/O operation.
9. What is an Operand?
Ans : The data on which the operation is to be performed is
called as an Operand.
10. How many operations are there in the instruction set of
8085 microprocessor?
Ans : There are 74 operations in the 8085 microprocessor.
11. List out the five categories of the 8085 instructions. Give
examples of the instructions for each group.
Ans :
1. Data transfer group MOV, MVI, LXI.
2. Arithmetic group ADD, SUB, INR.
3. Logical group ANA, XRA, CMP.
4. Branch group JMP, JNZ, CALL.
5. Stack I/O and Machine control group PUSH, POP, IN,
HLT.
12. Explain the difference between a JMP instruction and
CALL instruction.
Ans : A JMP instruction permanently changes the program

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counter. A CALL instruction leaves information on the stack

so that the original program execution sequence can be resumed.
13. Explain the purpose of the I/O instructions IN and OUT.

Ans : The IN instruction is used to move data from an I/O port

into the accumulator.
The OUT instruction is used to move data from the accumulator
to an I/O port.
The IN & OUT instructions are used only on microprocessor,
which use a separate address space for interfacing.
14. What is the difference between the shift and rotate in-
structions?
Ans : A rotate instruction is a closed loop instruction. That is,
the data moved out at one end is put back in at the other end.
The shift instruction loses the data that is moved out of the last
bit locations.
15. How many address lines in a 4096 × 8 EPROM CHIP?
Ans : 12 address lines.
16. Control signals used for DMA operation are –
Ans : HOLD & HLDA
17. What is meant by Wait State?
Ans : This state is used by slow peripheral devices. The periph-
eral devices can transfer the data to or from the microprocessor
by using READY input line. The microprocessor remains in wait
state as long as READY line is low. During the wait state, the
contents of the address, address/data and control buses are held
constant.
18. List the four instructions which control the interrupt
structure of the 8085 microprocessor.
Ans :
1. DI ( Disable Interrupts )
2. EI ( Enable Interrupts )
3. RIM ( Read Interrupt Masks )

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4. SIM ( Set Interrupt Masks )

19. What is meant by polling?
Ans : Polling or device polling is a process which identifies the
device that has interrupted the microprocessor.
20. What is meant by interrupt?
Ans : Interrupt is an external signal that causes a microprocessor
to jump to a specific subroutine.
21. Explain priority interrupts of 8085.
Ans : The 8085 microprocessor has five interrupt inputs. They
are TRAP, RST 7.5, RST 6.5, RST 5.5, and INTR. These inter-
rupts have a fixed priority of interrupt service. If two or more
interrupts go high at the same time, the 8085 will service them on
priority basis. The TRAP has the highest priority followed bye
RST 7.5, RST 6.5, RST 5.5. The priority of interrupts in 8085 is
shown in the table.

Interrupts Priority
TRAP 1
RST 7.5 2
RST 6.5 3
RST 5.5 4
INTR 5

22. What is the signal classification of 8085

Ans : All the signals of 8085 can be classified into 6 groups -
1. Address bus
2. Data bus
3. Control and status signals
4. Power supply and frequency signals
5. Externally initiated signals
6. Serial I/O ports
23. What are operations performed on data in 8085
Ans : The various operations performed are -
1. Store 8-bit data

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2. Perform arithmetic and logical operations

3. Test for conditions
4. Sequence the execution of instructions
5. Store data temporarily during execution in the defined R/W
memory locations called the stack
24. What are the Steps involved to fetch a byte in 8085?
Ans :
1. The PC places the 16-bit memory address on the address bus
2. The control unit sends the control signal RD to enable the
memory chip
3. The byte from the memory location is placed on the data bus
4. The byte is placed in the instruction decoder of the micropro-
cessor and the task is carried out according to the instruction
25. How many interrupts does 8085 have, mention them
Ans : The 8085 has 5 interrupt signals; they are INTR, RST7.5,
RST6.5, RST5.5 and TRAP
26. Basic concepts in memory interfacing
Ans : The primary function of memory interfacing is that the
microprocessor should be able to read from and write into a given
register of a memory chip. To perform these operations the mi-
croprocessor should -
1. Be able to select the chip
2. Identify the register
3. Enable the appropriate buffer
27. Define instruction cycle, machine cycle and T-state
Ans : Instruction cycle is defined, as the time required completing
the execution of an instruction. Machine cycle is defined as the
time required completing one operation of accessing memory, I/O
or acknowledging an external request. T- cycle is defined as one
subdivision of the operation performed in one clock period.
28. What is an instruction?
Ans : An instruction is a binary pattern entered through an input

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device to command the microprocessor to perform that specific

function.
29. What is the use of ALE ?
Ans : The ALE is used to latch the lower order address so that it
can be available in T2 and T3 and used for identifying the memory
address. During T1 the ALE goes high, the latch is transparent
ie, the output changes according to the input data, so the output
of the latch is the lower order address. When ALE goes low the
lower order address is latched until the next ALE.
30. How many machine cycles does 8085 have, mention them
?
Ans : The 8085 have seven machine cycles. They are -
1. Opcode fetch
2. Memory read
3. Memory write
4. I/O read
5. I/O write
6. Interrupt acknowledge
7. Bus idle
31. Explain the signals HOLD, READY and SID.
Ans : HOLD indicates that a peripheral such as DMA controller
is requesting the use of address bus, data bus and control bus.
READY is used to delay the microprocessor read or write cycles
until a slow responding peripheral is ready to send or accept data.
SID is used to accept serial data bit by bit
32. Explain LDA, STA and DAA instructions.
Ans : LDA copies the data byte into accumulator from the mem-
ory location specified by the 16-bit address. STA copies the data
byte from the accumulator in the memory location specified by
16-bit address. DAA changes the contents of the accumulator
from binary to 4- bit BCD digits.
33. Explain the different instruction formats with examples.

Ans : The instruction set is grouped into the following formats-

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1. One byte instruction : Example - MOV C,A

2. Two byte instruction : Example - MVI A,39H
3. Three byte instruction : Example - JMP 2345H
34. What is the use of addressing modes, mention the differ-
ent types?
Ans : The various formats of specifying the operands are called
addressing modes, it is used to access the operands or data. The
different types are as follows :
1. Immediate addressing
2. Register addressing
3. Direct addressing
4. Indirect addressing
5. Implicit addressing
35. What is the use of bi-directional buffers?
Ans : It is used to increase the driving capacity of the data bus.
The data bus of a microcomputer system is bi-directional, so it
requires a buffer that allows the data to flow in both directions.
36. Define stack and explain stack related instructions
Ans : The stack is a group of memory locations in the R/W
memory that is used for the temporary storage of binary infor-
mation during the execution of the program. The stack related
instructions are PUSH & POP.
37. Why do we use XRA A instruction?
Ans : The XRA A instruction is used to clear the contents of the
Accumulator and store the value 00H.
38. Compare CALL and PUSH instructions.

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CALL PUSH
When CALL is executed The programmer uses the
the microprocessor auto- instruction PUSH to save
matically stores the 16 bit the contents of the register
Ans : address of the instructions pair on the stack.
next to CALL on the stack.
When CALL is executed When PUSH is executed
the stack pointer is decre- the stack pointer register is
mented by 2. decremented by 2.
39. What is Microcontroller and Microcomputer ?
Ans : Microcontroller is a device that includes microprocessor;
memory and I/O signal lines on a single chip, fabricated us-
ing VLSI technology. Microcomputer is a computer that is de-
signed using microprocessor as its CPU. It includes microproces-
sor, memory and I/O.
40. Define Flags.
Ans : The flags are used to reflect the data conditions in the
accumulator. The 8085 flags are : S - Sign flag, Z - Zero flag,
AC - Auxiliary carry flag, P - Parity flag, CY - Carry flag.
S Z AC P CY
41. How does the microprocessor differentiate between data
and instruction?
Ans : When the first m/c code of an instruction is fetched and
decoded in the instruction register, the microprocessor recognizes
the number of bytes required to fetch the entire instruction. For
example MVI A, Data, the second byte is always considered as
data. If the data byte is omitted by mistake whatever is in that
memory location will be considered as data & the byte after the
’data’ will be treated as the next instruction.
42. Compare RET and POP.

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RET POP
RET transfers the contents POP transfers the contents
of the top two locations of of the top two locations of
the stack to the PC the stack to the specified
Ans : register pair
When RET is executed the When POP is executed the
SP is incremented by two SP is incremented by two
Has 8 conditional RETURN No conditional POP in-
instructions structions
43. What is assembler?
Ans : The assembler translates the assembly language program
text which is given as input to the assembler to their binary equiv-
alents known as object code. The time required to translate the
assembly code to object code is called access time. The assembler
checks for syntax errors & displays them before giving the object
code.
44. What is loader ?
Ans : The loader copies the program into the computer’s main
memory at load time and begins the program execution at execu-
tion time.
45. What is linker ?
Ans : A linker is a program used to join together several object
files into one large object file. For large programs it is more effi-
cient to divide the large program modules into smaller modules.
Each module is individually written, tested & debugged. When
all the modules work they are linked together to form a large
functioning program.
46. Explain ALIGN & ASSUME.
Ans : The ALIGN directive forces the assembler to align the
next segment at an address divisible by specified divisor. The
format is ALIGN number where number can be 2, 4, 8 or 16.
Example ALIGN 8.
The ASSUME directive assigns a logical segment to a physical
segment at any given time. It tells the assembler what address will
be in the segment registers at execution time. Example ASSUME
CS: code, DS: data, SS: stack.

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47. Explain PTR & GROUP

Ans : A program may contain several segments of the same type.
The GROUP directive collects them under a single name so they
can reside in a single segment, usually a data segment. The format
is Name GROUP Seg-name,.....Seg-name.
PTR is used to assign a specific type to a variable or a label. It
is also used to override the declared type of a variable.
48. Explain about MODEL.
Ans : This directive provides short cuts in defining segments. It
initializes memory model before defining any segment. The mem-
ory model can be SMALL, MEDIUM, COMPACT or LARGE.

Model Code segments Data segments

Small One One
Medium Multiple One
Compact One Multiple
Large Multiple Multiple

49. Explain PROC & ENDP

Ans : PROC directive defines the procedures in the program.
The procedure name must be unique.
After PROC the term NEAR or FAR are used to specify the type
of procedure. Example FACT PROC FAR. ENDP is used along
with PROC and defines the end of the procedure.
50. Explain SEGMENT & ENDS.
Ans : An assembly program in .EXE format consists of one or
more segments. The starts of these segments are defined by SEG-
MENT and the end of the segment is indicated by ENDS directive.
Format
Name SEGMENT
Name ENDS
51. Explain TITLE & TYPE
Ans : The TITLE directive helps to control the format of a listing
of an assembled program. It causes avtitle for the program to
print on line 2 of each page of the program listing. Maximum 60
charactersvare allowed. Format TITLE text.

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TYPE operator tells the assembler to determine the type of spec-

ified variable in bytes. For bytes the assembler gives a value 1, for
word 2 & double word 4.
52. Define SOP
Ans : The segment override prefix allows the programmer to
deviate from the default segment.
53. Define variable.
Ans : A variable is an identifier that is associated with the first
byte of data item. In assembly language statement: COUNT DB
20H, COUNT is the variable.
54. What are procedures?
Ans : Procedures are a group of instructions stored as a sepa-
rate program in memory and it is called from the main program
whenever required. The type of procedure depends on where the
procedures are stored in memory. If it is in the same code segment
as that of the main program then it is a near procedure otherwise
it is a far procedure.
55. Explain the linking process.
Ans : A linker is a program used to join together several object
files into one large object file. The linker produces a link file
which contains the binary codes for all the combined modules. It
also produces a link map which contains the address information
about the link files. The linker does not assign absolute addresses
but only relative address starting from zero, so the programs are
relocatable & can be put anywhere in memory to be run.
56. What is recursive procedures?
Ans : A recursive procedure is a procedure, which calls itself. Re-
cursive procedures are used to work with complex data structures
called trees. If the procedure is called with N = 3, then the N is
decremented by 1 after each procedure CALL and the procedure
is called until N = 0.
57. What are libraries ?
Ans : Library files are collection of procedures that can be used
in other programs. These procedures are assembled and compiled
into a library file by the LIB program. The library file is invoked

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when a program is linked with linker program. when a library

file is linked only the required procedures are copied into the pro-
gram. Use of library files increase software reusability & reduce
s/w development time.
58. What are Macros?
Ans : Macro is a group of instruction. The macro assembler
generates the code in the program each time where the macro
is called. Macros are defined by MACRO & ENDM directives.
Creating macro is similar to creating new opcodes that can be
used in the program INIT MACRO MOV AX, data MOV DS
MOV ES, AX ENDM
59. How do 8086 interrupts occur?
Ans : An 8086 interrupt can come from any of the following three
sources -
1. External signals
2. Special instructions in the program
3. Condition produced by instruction
60. What are the 8086 interrupt types?
Ans : Dedicated interrupts
1. Type 0: Divide by zero interrupt
2. Type 1: Single step interrupt
3. Type 2:Non maskable interrupt
4. Type 3: Breakpoint
5. Type 4: Overflow interrupt Software interrupts
6. Type 0-255
61. What is interrupt service routine
Ans : Interrupt means to break the sequence of operation. While
the CPU is executing a program an interrupt breaks the normal
sequence of execution of instructions & diverts its execution to
some other program. This program to which the control is trans-
ferred is called the interrupt service routine.
62. Define BIOS.
Ans : The IBM PC has in its ROM a collection of routines, each

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of which performs some specific function such as reading a char-

acter from keyboard, writing character to CRT. This collection of
routines is referred to as Basic Input Output System or BIOS.
63. Explain PUBLIC.
Ans : For large programs several small modules are linked to-
gether. In order that the modules link together correctly any
variable name or label referred to in other modules must be de-
clared public in the module where it is defined. The PUBLIC di-
rective is used to tell the assembler that a specified name or label
will be accessed from other modules. Format PUBLIC Symbol.
64. Explain DUP.
Ans : The DUP directive can be used to initialize several lo-
cations & to assign values to these locations. Format Name
Data Type Num DUP (value).
Example : TABLE DW 10 DUP (0). Reserves an array of 10
words of memory and initializes all 10 words with 0. array name
is TABLE.
65. What is the purpose of segment registers in 8086?
Ans : There are 4 segment registers present in 8086. They are :
1. Code Segment (CS ) register
2. Data Segment (DS ) register
3. Stack Segment (SS ) register
4. Extra Segment (ES ) register
The code segment register gives the address of the current code
segment. ie. It will points out where the instructions, to be
executed, are stored in the memory.
The data segment register points out where the operands are
stored in the memory.
The stack segment registers points out the address of the current
stack, which is used to store the temporary results.
If the amount of data used is more the Extra segment register
points out where the large amount of data is stored in the memory.

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66. Define pipelining?

Ans : In 8086, to speedup the execution of program, the instruc-
tions fetching and execution of instructions are overlapped each
other. This technique is known as pipelining. In pipelining, when
the nth instruction is executed, the n+1 th instruction is fetched
and thus the processing speed is increased.
67. Discuss the function of instruction queue in 8086?
Ans : In 8086, a 6-byte instruction queue is presented at the
Bus Interface Unit (BIU). It is used to prefetch and store at the
maximum of 6 bytes of instruction code from the memory. Due
to this, overlapping instruction fetch with instruction execution
increases the processing speed.
68. What is the maximum memory size that can be addressed
by 8086?
Ans : In 8086, an memory location is addressed by 20 bit address
and the address bus is 20 bit address and the address bus is 20
bits. So it can address up to one mega byte (22 0) of memory
space.
69. What is the function of the BHE signal in 8086?
Ans : BHE signal means Bus High Enable signal. The BHE
signal is made low when there is some read or write operation is
carried out. ie . When ever the data bus of the system is busy
i.e. whenever there is some data transfer then the BHE signal is
made low.
70. What are the predefined interrupts in 8086?
Ans : The various predefined interrupts are -
1. DIVISION BY ZERO - (type 0) Interrupt.
2. SINGLE STEP - (type 1) Interrupt.
3. NONMASKABLE - (type2) Interrupt.
4. BREAK POINT - (type 3) Interrupt.
5. OVER FLOW - (type 4) Interrupt.
71. What are the different flag available in status register of
8086?
Ans : There are 6 one bit flags are present. They are -

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1. AF - Auxiliary Carry Flag

2. CF - Carry Flag
3. OF - Overflow Flag
4. SF - Sign Flag
5. PF - Parity Flag
6. ZF - Zero Flag
72. List the various addressing modes present in 8086?
Ans : There are 12 addressing modes present in 8086. They are-
1. Register and immediate addressing modes
(a) Register addressing modes
(b) Immediate addressing mode
2. Memory addressing modes
(a) Direct addressing modes
(b) Register indirect addressing modes
(c) Based addressing modes
(d) Indexed addressing modes
(e) Based Indexed addressing modes
(f) String addressing modes
3. I/O addressing modes
(a) Direct addressing mode
(b) Indirect addressing mode
4. Relative addressing mode
5. Implied addressing mode
73. How single stepping can be done in 8086?
Ans : By setting the Trace Flag (TF) the 8086 goes to single-
step mode. In this mode, after the execution of each instruction s
8086 generates an internal interrupt and by writing some interrupt
service routine we can display the content of desired registers and
memory locations. So it is useful for debugging the program.
74. State the significance of LOCK signal in 8086?
Ans : If 8086 is working at maximum mode, there are multipro-
cessors are present. If the system bus is given to a processor then

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the LOCK signal is made low. That means the system bus is busy
and it cannot be given of any other processors. After the use of
the system bus again the LOCK signal is made high. That means
it is ready to give the system bus to any processor.
75. What are the functions of bus interface unit (BIU) in
8086?
Ans :
1. Fetch instructions from memory.
2. Fetch data from memory and I/O ports.
3. Write data to memory and I/O ports.
4. To communicate with outside world.
5. Provide external bus operations and bus control signals.
76. What is the clock frequency of 8086?
8086 8086-2 8086-4
Ans : Internal clock Frequency 5 MHz 8 MHz 4 MHz
External Clock Frequency 15 MHZ 24 MHZ 12 MHZ
77. What are the two modes of operations present in 8086?
Ans :
1. Minimum mode (or) Uniprocessor system
2. Maximum mode (or) Multiprocessor system
78. Explain the process control instructions.
Ans :
1. STC It sets the carry flag & does not affect any other flag
2. CLC it resets the carry flag to zero & does not affect any
other flag
3. CMC It complements the carry flag & does not affect any
other flag
4. STD It sets the direction flag to 1 so that SI and/or DI
can be decremented automatically after execution of string
instruction & does not affect other flags
5. CLD It resets the direction flag to 0 so that SI and/or DI
can be incremented automatically after execution of string
instruction & does not affect other flags

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6. STI Sets the interrupt flag to 1. Enables INTR of 8086.

7. CLI Resets the interrupt flag to 0. 8086 will not respond to
INTR.
79. Explain REPEAT-UNTIL statements
Ans : REPEAT-UNTIL statements allow executing a series of in-
structions repeatedly until some condition occurs. The REPEAT
defines the start of the loop & UNTIL the end of the loop. UNTIL
has a condition when the condition is true the loop is terminated.
80. What is multiprogramming?
Ans : If more than one process is carried out at the same time,
then it is know as multiprogramming. Another definition is the
interleaving of CPU and I/O operations among several programs
is called multiprogramming.
To improve the utilization of CPU and I/O devices, we are de-
signing to process a set of independent programs concurrently by
a single CPU. This technique is known as multiprogramming.
81. Differentiate between absolute and linear select decod-
ing?
Ans :

Absolute decoding Linear decoding

All higher address lines areFew higher address lines are
defined. defined.
More hardware is required Hardware required to design
to design decoding logic. decoding logic is less
Higher cost for decoding cir-
Less cost for decoding cir-
cuit. cuit.
No multiple address. Has a disadvantage of mul-
tiple addressing
Used in large systems. Used in small systems.
to select the memory or I/O decoded to select the mem-
device. ory or I/O.

82. What are the functions of status pins in 8086?

Ans :

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S2 S1 S0
0 0 0 Interrupt acknowledge
0 0 1 Read I/O
0 1 0 Write I/O
0 1 1 Halt
1 0 0 Code access
1 0 1 Read memory
1 1 0 Write memory
1 1 1 inactive

S4 S3
0 0 I/O from extra segment
0 1 I/O from Stack Segment
1 0 I/O from Code segment
1 1 I/O from Data segment

S5 Status of interrupt enable flag

S6 Hold acknowledge for system bus
S7 Address transfer
83. What are the schemes for establishing priority in order
to resolve bus arbitration problem?
Ans : There are three basic bus access control and arbitration
schemes -
1. Daisy Chaining
2. Independent Request
3. Polling
84. What is the use of 8251 chip?
Ans : Intel’s 8251A is a universal synchronous asynchronous re-
ceiver and transmitter compatible with Intels Processors. This
may be programmed to operate in any of the serial communica-
tion modes built into it. This chip converts the parallel data into
a serial stream of bits suitable for serial transmission. It is also
able to receive a serial stream of bits and converts it into parallel
data bytes to be read by a microprocessor.
85. What are the different types of methods used for data
transmission?

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Ans : The data transmission between two points involves unidi-

rectional orbidirectional transmission of meaningful digital data
through a medium. There are basically there modes of data trans-
mission -
1. implex
2. Duplex
3. Half Duplex
In simplex mode, data is transmitted only in one direction over
a single communication channel.For example, a computer (CPU)
may transmit data for a CRT display unit in this mode.
In duplex mode, data may be transferred between two transre-
ceivers in both directions simultaneously.
In half duplex mode, on the other hand, data transmission may
take pace in either direction, but at a time data may be trans-
mitted only in one direction. For example, a computer may com-
municate with a terminal in this mode. When the terminal sends
data (i.e. terminal is sender). The message is received by the
computer (i.e the computer is receiver). However, it is not pos-
sible to transmit data from the computer to terminal and from
terminal to the computer simultaneously.
86. What are the various programmed data transfer meth-
ods?
Ans :
1. Synchronous data transfer
2. Asynchronous data transfer
3. Interrupt driven data transfer
87. What is synchronous data transfer?
Ans : It is a data method which is used when the I/O device
and the microprocessor match in speed. To transfer a data to
or from the device, the user program issues a suitable instruction
addressing the device. The data transfer is completed at the end
of the execution of this instruction.
88. What is asynchronous data transfer?
Ans : It is a data transfer method which is used when the speed

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of an I/O device does not match with the speed of the micropro-
cessor. Asynchronous data transfer is also called as Handshaking.
89. What are the functional types used in control words of
8251a?
Ans : The control words of 8251A are divided into two functional
types.
1. Mode Instruction control word
2. Command Instruction control word
Mode Instruction control word :-This defines the general op-
erational characteristics of 8251A.
Command Instruction control word:-The command instruc-
tion controls the actual operations of the selected format like en-
able transmit/receive, error reset and modem control.
90. What are the basic modes of operation of 8255?
Ans : There are two basic modes of operation of 8255, viz.
1. I/O mode.
2. BSR mode.
In I/O mode, the 8255 ports work as programmable I/O ports,
while in BSR mode only port C (P C0 − P C7 ) can be used to set
or reset its individual port bits. Under the IO mode of operation,
further there are three modes of operation of 8255, So as to sup-
port different types of applications, viz. mode 0, mode 1 and
mode 2.
Mode 0 Basic I/O mode
Mode 1 Strobed I/O mode
Mode 2 Strobed bi-directional I/O

91. What are the features used mode 1 in 8255?

Ans : Two groups group A and group B are available for strobed
data transfer.
1. Each group contains one 8-bit data I/O port and one 4-bit
control/data port.
2. The 8-bit data port can be either used as input or output
port. The inputs and outputs both are latched.

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3. Out of 8-bit port C, P C0 − P C2 is used to generate control

signals for port B and P C3 − P C5 are used to generate con-
trol signals for port A. The lines P C6 , P C7 may be used as
independent data lines.
92. What are the features used mode 2 in 8255?
Ans : The single 8-bit port in-group A is available.
1. The 8-bit port is bi-directional and additionally a 5-bit control
port is available.
2. Three I/O lines are available at port C, viz P C2 − P C0 .
3. Inputs and outputs are both latched.
4. The 5-bit control port C (P C3 − P C7 ) is used for generat-
ing/accepting handshake signals for the 8- bit data transfer
on port A.
93. What are the modes of operations used in 8253?
Ans : Each of the three counters of 8253 can be operated in one
of the following six modes of operation.
1. Mode 0 (Interrupt on terminal count)
2. Mode 1 (Programmable monoshot)
3. Mode 2 (Rate generator)
4. Mode 3 (Square wave generator)
5. Mode 4 (Software triggered strobe)
6. Mode 5 (Hardware triggered strobe)
94. What are the different types of write operations used in
8253?
Ans : There are two types of write operations in 8253 :
1. Writing a control word register
2. Writing a count value into a count register
The control word register accepts data from the data buffer and
initializes the counters, as required. The control word register
contents are used for :
1. Initializing the operating modes (mode 0 - mode4)

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2. Selection of counters (counter 0- counter 2)

3. Choosing binary / BCD counters
4. Loading of the counter registers.
The mode control register is a write only register and the CPU
cannot read its contents.
95. Give the different types of command words used in 8259a?

Ans : The command words of 8259A are classified in two groups

1. Initialization command words (ICWs)
2. Operation command words (OCWs)
96. Give the operating modes of 8259a?
Ans :
1. Fully Nested Mode
2. End of Interrupt (EOI)
3. Automatic Rotation
4. Automatic EOI Mode
5. Specific Rotation
6. Special Mask Mode
7. Edge and level Triggered Mode
8. Reading 8259 Status
9. Poll command
10. Special Fully Nested Mode
11. Buffered mode
12. Cascade mode
97. Define scan counter?
Ans : The scan counter has two modes to scan the key matrix
and refresh the display. In the encoded mode, the counter provides
binary count that is to be externally decoded to provide the scan
lines for keyboard and display. In the decoded scan mode, the
counter internally decodes the least significant 2 bits and provides
a decoded 1 out of 4 scan onSL0-SL3.The keyboard and display
both are in the same mode at a time.

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98. What is the output modes used in 8279?

Ans : 8279 provides two output modes for selecting the display
options :
1. Display Scan :
In this mode, 8279 provides 8 or 16 character-multiplexed
displays those can be organized as dual 4-bit or single 8-bit
display units.
2. Display Entry :
8279 allows options for data entry on the displays. The dis-
play data is entered for display from the right side or from
the left side.
99. What are the modes used in keyboard modes?
Ans :
1. Scanned Keyboard mode with 2 Key Lockout.
2. Scanned Keyboard with N-key Rollover.
3. Scanned Keyboard special Error Mode.
4. Sensor Matrix Mode.
100. What are the modes used in display modes?
Ans :
1. Left Entry mode
In the left entry mode, the data is entered from the left side
of the display unit.
2. Right Entry Mode
In the right entry mode, the first entry to be displayed is
entered on the rightmost display.
101. What is the use of modem control unit in 8251?
Ans : The modem control unit handles the modem handshake
signals to coordinate the communication between the modem and
the USART.
102. Give the register organization of 8257?
Ans : The 8257 perform the DMA operation over four indepen-
dent DMA channels. Each of the four channels of 8257 has a pair
of two 16-bit registers. DMA address register and terminal count

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register. Also, there are two common registers for all the channels;
namely, mode set registers and status register. Thus there are a
total of ten registers. The CPU selects one of these ten registers
using address lines A0 − A3 .
103. What is the function of DMA address register?
Ans : Each DMA channel has one DMA address register. The
function of this register is to store the address of the starting
memory location, which will be accessed by the DMA channel.
Thus the starting address of the memory block that will be ac-
cessed by the device is first loaded in the DMA address register
of the channel. Naturally, the device that wants to transfer data
over a DMA channel, will access the block of memory with the
starting address stored in the DMA Address Register.
104. What is the use of terminal count register?
Ans : Each of the four DMA channels of 8257 has one terminal
count register. This 16-bit register is used for ascertaining that
the data transfer through a DMA channel ceases or stops after
the required number of DMA cycles.
105. What is the function of mode set register in 8257?
Ans : The mode set register is used for programming the 8257
as per the requirements of the system. The function of the mode
set register is to enable the DMA channels individually and also
to set the various modes of operation.
106. List the operation modes of 8255
Ans :
1. I/O Mode
(a) Mode 0-Simple Input/Output.
(b) Mode 1-Strobed Input/Output (Handshake mode)
(c) Mode 2-Strobed bidirectional mode
2. Bit Set/Reset Mode.
107. What is a control word?
Ans : It is a word stored in a register (control register) used to
control the operation of a program digital device.

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108. What is the purpose of control word written to control

register in 8255?
Ans :The control words written to control register specify an I/O
function for each I.O port. The bit D7 of the control word deter-
mines either the I/O function of the BSR function.
109. What is the size of ports in 8255?
Ans : Port-A : 8-bits , Port-B : 8-bits, Port-C Upper : 4-bits,
Port-C Lower : 4-bits
110. What is interfacing?
Ans : An interface is a shared boundary between the devices
which involves sharing information. Interfacing is the process of
making two different systems communicate with each other.
111. What is memory mapping?
Ans : The assignment of memory addresses to various registers
in a memory chip is called as memory mapping.
112. What is I/O mapping?
Ans : The assignment of addresses to various I/O devices in the
memory chip is called as I/O mapping.
113. What is an USART?
Ans : USART stands for universal synchronous/Asynchronous
Receiver/ Transmitter. It is a programmable communication in-
terface that can communicate by using either synchronous or
asynchronous serial data.
114. What is the use of 8251 chip?
Ans : 8251 chip is mainly used as the asynchronous serial inter-
face between the processor and the external equipment.
115. List the major components of the keyboard/Display in-
terface.
Ans :
1. Keyboard section
2. Scan section
3. Display section
4. CPU interface section

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116. What is Key bouncing?

Ans : Mechanical switches are used as keys in most of the key-
boards. When a key is pressed the contact bounce back and forth
and settle down only after a small time delay (about 20ms). Even
though a key is actuated once, it will appear to have been actuated
several times. This problem is called Key Bouncing.
117. Define HRQ?
Ans : The hold request output requests the access of the system
bus. In noncascaded 8257 systems, this is connected with HOLD
pin of CPU. In cascade mode, this pin of a slave is connected with
a DRQ input line of the master 8257, while that of the master is
connected with HOLD input of the CPU.
118. What is the use of stepper motor?
Ans : A stepper motor is a device used to obtain an accurate posi-
tion control of rotating shafts. A stepper motor employs rotation
of its shaft in terms of steps, rather than continuous rotation as
in case of AC or DC motor.
119. What is TXD?
Ans : TxD- Transmitter Data Output
This output pin carries serial stream of the transmitted data bits
along with other information like start bit, stop bits and priority
bit.
120. What is RXD?
Ans : RxD- Receive Data Input
This input pin of 8251A receives a composite stream of the data
to be received by 8251A.
121. What is meant by key bouncing?
Ans : Microprocessor must wait until the key reach to a steady
state; this is known as Key bounce.
122. Write the function of crossbar switch?
Ans : The crossbar switch provides the inter connection paths
between the memory module and the processor. Each node of the
crossbar represents a bus switch. All these nodes may be con-
trolled by one of these processors or by a separate one altogether.

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123. What is a data amplifier?

Ans : Transceivers are the bi-directional buffers are some times
they are called as data amplifiers. They are required to sepa-
rate the valid data from the time multiplexed address data signal.
They are controlled by 2 signals i.e DEN & DT /R.
124. What are the different inter connection topologies?
Ans :
1. Shared bus
2. Multiport Memory
3. Linked Input/Output
4. Bus window
5. Crossbar Switching.
125. What are the configurations used for physical intercon-
nections?
Ans :
1. Star Configuration
2. Loop configuration
3. Complete interconnection
4. Regular topologies
5. Irregular topologies
126. Give the instruction set of 8087?
Ans :
1. Data Transfer Instructions
2. Arithmetic Instructions
3. Comparison Instructions.
4. Transcendental Operations.
5. Constant Operations.
6. Coprocessor Control Operations.
127. Write the advantages of loosely coupled system over
tightly coupled systems?
Ans :

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1. More number of CPUs can be added in a loosely coupled

system to improve the system performance.
2. The system structure is modular and hence easy to maintain
and troubleshoot.
3. A fault in a single module does not lead to a complete system
breakdown.
128. What is the different clock frequencies used in 80286?
Ans : Various versions of 80286 are available that run on 12.5MHz,
10MHz and 8MHz clock frequencies.
129. Define swapping in?
Ans : The portion of a program is required for execution by the
CPU, it is fetched from the secondary memory and placed in the
physical memory. This is called swapping in of the program.
130. What are the different operating modes used in 80286?

Ans : The 80286 works in two operating modes -

1. Real addressing mode
2. Protected virtual address mode.
131. What are the CPU contents used in 80286?
Ans : The 80286 CPU contains almost the same set of registers,
as in 8086-
1. Eight 16-bit general purpose register
2. Four 16-bit segment registers
3. Status and control register
4. Instruction pointer.
132. What is status flag bit?
Ans : The flag register reflects the results of logical and arithmetic
instructions. The flag register digits D0 , D2 , D4 , D6 , D7 and D11
are modified according to the result of the execution of logical and
arithmetic instruction. These are called as status flag bits.
133. What is a control flag?
Ans : The bits D8 and D9 namely, trap flag (TF) and interrupt

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flag (IF) bits, are used for controlling machine operation and thus
they are called control flags.
134. What is instruction pipelining?
Ans : Major function of the bus unit is to fetch instruction bytes
from the memory. In fact, the instructions are fetched in advance
and stored in a queue to enable faster execution of the instruc-
tions. This concept is known as instruction pipelining.
135. What is swapping?
Ans : The procedure of fetching the chosen program segments
or data from the secondary storage into the physical memory is
called ’swapping’.
136. What is mean by microcontroller?
Ans : A device which contains the microprocessor with integrated
peripherals like memory, serial ports, parallel ports, timer/counter,
interrupt controller, data acquisition interfaces like ADC,DAC is
called microcontroller.
137. Explain DJNZ instructions of intel 8051 microcontroller?

Ans :
1. DJNZ Rn, rel
Decrement the content of the register Rn and jump if not
zero.
2. DJNZ direct , rel
Decrement the content of direct 8-bit address and jump if not
zero.
138. State the function of RS1 and RS0 bits in the flag reg-
ister of intel 8051 microcontroller?
RS1 RS0 Bank Selection
0 0 Bank 0
Ans : RS1 , RS0 - Register bank select bits 0 1 Bank 1
1 0 Bank 2
1 1 Bank 3
139. Specify the single instruction, which clears the most sig-
nificant bit of B register of 8051, without affecting the

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remaining bits.
Ans : Single instruction, which clears the most significant bit of
B register of 8051, without affecting the remaining bits is CLR
B.7.
140. Explain the function of the pins PSEN and EA of 8051.

Ans : PSEN: PSEN stands for program store enable. In 8051

based system in which an external ROM holds the program code,
this pin is connected to the OE pin of the ROM.
EA :EA stands for external access. When the EA pin is connected
to Vcc, program fetched to addresses 0000H through 0FFFH are
directed to the internal ROM and program fetches to addresses
1000H through FFFFH are directed to external ROM/EPROM.
When the EA pin is grounded, all addresses fetched by program
are directed to the external ROM/EPROM.
141. Explain the 16-bit registers DPTR and SP of 8051.
Ans : DPTR:
DPTR stands for data pointer. DPTR consists of a high byte
(DPH) and a low byte (DPL). Its function is to hold a 16-bit
address. It may be manipulated as a 16-bitdata register or as two
independent 8-bit registers. It serves as a base register in indirect
jumps, lookup table instructions and external data transfer.
SP:
SP stands for stack pointer. SP is a 8- bit wide register. It is
incremented before data is stored during PUSH and CALL in-
structions. The stack array can reside anywhere in onchip RAM.
The stack pointer is initialised to 07H after a reset. This causes
the stack to begin at location 08H.
142. Name the special functions registers available in 8051.
Ans :
1. Accumulator
2. B Register
3. Program Status Word.
4. Stack Pointer.
5. Data Pointer.

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6. Port 0
7. Port 1
8. Port 2
9. Port 3
10. Interrupt priority control register.
11. Interrupt enable control register.
143. Explain the register IE format of 8051.
Ans :
EA ET2 ES ET1 EX1 ET0 EX0
EA- Enable all control bit.
ET2- Timer 2 interrupt enable bit.
ES Enable serial port control bit.
ET1 Enable Timer1 control bit.
EX1- Enable external interrupt1 control bit.
ET0 Enable Timer0 control bit.
EX0- Enable external interrupt0 control bit.
144. Compare Microprocessor and Microcontroller.
Ans :

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S.N. Microprocessor Microcontroller

1 Microprocessor contains Microcontroller contains
ALU,general purpose regis- the circuitry of micropro-
ters,stack pointer,program cessor and in addition it
counter, clock timing circuit has built- in ROM, RAM,
and interrupt circuit. I/O devices, timers and
counters
2 It has many instructions to It has one or two instruc-
move data between memory tions to move data between
and CPU. memory and CPU.
3 It has one or two bit han- It has many bit handling in-
dling instructions. structions.
4 Access times for memory Less access times for built-
and I/O devices are more. in memory and I/O devices.
5 Microprocessor based sys- Microcontroller based sys-
tem requires more hard- tem requires less hardware
ware. reducing PCB size and in-
creasing the reliability.
145. How the RS -232C serial bus is interfaced to 1TL logic
device?
Ans : The RS-232C signal voltage levels are not compatible with
TTL logic levels. Hence for interfacing TTL devices to RS-232C
serial bus, level converters are used. The popularly used level
converters are MC 1488 & MC 1489 or MAX 232.
146. List some of the features of 8096 microcontroller.
Ans :
1. a.The 8096 is a 16-bit microcontroller.
2. The 8096 is designed to use in applications which require high
speed calculations and fast I/O operations.
3. The high speed I/O section of an 8096 includes a 16-bit timer,
a 16-bitcounter, a 4 input programmable edge detector, 4
software timers and a6-output programmable event generator.
4. It has 100 instructions, which can operate on bit, byte, word,
and double words.
5. The bit operations are possible and these can be performed on
any bit in the register file or in the special function register.

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147. List the features of 8051 microcontroller?

Ans : The features are :
1. single supply +5 volt operation using HMOS technology.
2. 4096 bytes program memory on chip(not on 8031)
3. 128 data memory on chip.
4. Four register banks.
5. Two multiple mode,16-bit timer/counter.
6. Extensive Boolean processing capabilities.
7. 64 KB external RAM size
8. 32 bi-directional individually addressable I/O lines.
9. 8 bit CPU optimized for control applications.
148. What is the function of NEU?
Ans : The numeric execution unit executes all the instructions
including arithmetic, logical transcendental, and data transfer in-
structions.
The numeric execution unit executes all the numeric processor in-
structions while the control unit (CU) receives, decodes instruc-
tions, reads and writes memory operands and executes the 8087
control instructions.

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