Question Bank for Microprocessor

1. Which type of architecture 8085 has?

Von-Neumann architecture
2. How many memory locations can be addressed by a microprocessor with 14 address lines?
16KB
3. 8085 is how many bit microprocessor?
8 bit
4. Why is data bus bi-directional?
It can transfer data in both directions
5. What is the function of accumulator?
The accumulator is an 8-bit register that is a part of arithmetic/logic unit (ALU). This register is used to
store 8-bit data and to perform arithmetic and logical operations. The result of an operation is stored in the
accumulator. The accumulator is also identified as register A.
6. What is flag, bus?
Flag is the register of 8 bit, it is also referred as program status word (PSW). which gives the status of the
result after performing the operation.
BUS: Bus is the group or collection of wires used for the data transmission, address generation and control
signals in the applications
7. What are tri-state devices and why they are essential in a bus oriented system?

Tri state buffer is nothing but three state buffer . Two states are equivalent which is logic 0 or 1 . Third
state is high impedance state . It behaves like open circuit. Third state is nothing but control input ,when
control input is high (1) whatever we are giving input same we are getting as output . When control input is
low(0) .the output goes to high impedance state (either 0 or 1) .

In a multiplexed bus system, many devices are connected to a common bus. If 2 or more devices attempt to
use the bus at the same time, then data will be lost. Thus, only one device must be allowed to use the bus at
a time. One method is to connect the devices through tri-state devices, which when disabled will effectively
disconnect devices from the bus.

8. Why are program counter and stack pointer 16-bit registers?

Program Counter (PC) and Stack Pointer (SP) are basically used to hold 16-bit memory addresses. PC
stores the 16-bit memory address of the next instruction to be fetched. SP can be used to temporarily store
the 16-bit memory address as well as data. So PC & SP are 16-bit registers.

9. What does it mean by embedded system?

An embedded system is defined as a device consisting of a processor, memory, and input/output units and
having a specific function within a larger system. Embedded systems have applications in the consumer,
home entertainment, industrial, medical, automotive, commercial, telecommunication, military, and
aerospace verticals.

10. What are the different addressing modes in 8085?

Immediate Addressing Mode – In immediate addressing mode the source operand is always data. If the data
is 8-bit, then the instruction will be of 2 bytes, if the data is of 16-bit then the instruction will be of 3 bytes
 Register Addressing Mode – In register addressing mode, the data to be operated is available inside the
register(s) and register(s) is(are) operands. Therefore the operation is performed within various registers of
the microprocessor.

Direct Addressing Mode – In direct addressing mode, the data to be operated is available inside a memory
location and that memory location is directly specified as an operand. The operand is directly available in
the instruction itself.

Register Indirect Addressing Mode –In register indirect addressing mode, the data to be operated is
available inside a memory location and that memory location is indirectly specified by a register pair.

Implied/Implicit Addressing Mode – In implied/implicit addressing mode the operand is hidden and the
data to be operated is available in the instruction itself.

11. What is the difference between MOV and MVI?

MOV: - This instruction is used to copy the data from one place to another.

Eg: - MOV Rd, Rs (This instruction copies the content of Rs to Rd)

MOV M,Rs (This instruction copies the content of register Rs to memory location pointed by HL
Register)

MOV Rd, M (This instruction copies the content of memory location pointed by the HL

register to the register Rd.)

MVI: - move immediate date to a register or memory location.

Eg: - MVI Rd, #30H (30h is stored in register Rd)

MVI M, #30H(30h is stored in memory location pointed by HL Reg)

12. What are the functions of RIM, SIM, IN?

Read Interrupt Mask (RIM) : RIM is a multipurpose instruction used to read the status of interrupts 7.5, 6.5,
5.5 and to read serial input data bit. RIM loads 8-bit data in the accumulator with the following
interpretation:Actually RIM does the following three tasks:

1 Read the interrupt mask (bit 2, 1, 0).

2Identify pending interrupts (bit 6, 5, 4).

3 Receive serial input data bit (bit 7).

SIM is a multipurpose interrupt used to implement the 8085 interrupts (RST 7.5, 6.5, 5.5) and serial data
output. SIM interprets the accumulator content as follows: Actually, SIM does the following three tasks:

1Mask the interrupts (bit 2, 1, 0).

2 Reset RST 7.5 (bit 4). This is mainly used to overwrite RST 7.5 without serving it.
 3To implement serial I/O (bit 7, 6). If bit 6 = 1 is used to enable serial I/O and bit 7 is used to transmit
serial output data bit.

13. What are the different flags in 8085?

Carry flag (Cy),

Auxiliary carry flag (AC),

Sign flag (S),

Parity flag (P), and

Zero flag (Z).

14. What happens during DMA transfer?
During a DMA (Direct Memory Access) transfer, the microprocessor is in an idle state. It does not perform
any operations like reading or writing data. Instead, the DMA controller transfers data directly between the
I/O module and main memory. The CPU initiates the transfer and then performs other operations while the
transfer is in progress. The processor is free to perform other operations that are independent of the
impending transfer being performedale
15. What do you mean by wait state? What is its need?
A wait state is a pause in the processor's clock cycles while it waits for data from slower devices. It is a
delay experienced by a computer processor when accessing external memory or another device that is slow
to respond. The wait state is idle cycles required by the computer's processor because it has a higher clock
speed than other components, like the computer's memory (RAM). Wait states are often idle computer
cycles, because a computer's CPU is much faster than main memory.
16. What is PSW?
The Intel 8085 microprocessor contains 5 flip-flops to serve as status flags which are indicated by five bits
and three bits are undefined. The combination of these 8 bits is known as Program Status Word. Both, PSW
and accumulator are treated as a 16-bit unit for stack operations.
17. What is ALE? Explain the functions of ALE in 8085.

it is an output status signal.it tells that when data is present and when address is present on the multiplexed

address/data lines.

when ALE=1(it means address is present)

when ALE=0(it means data is present on multiplexed A/D lines)

18. What is a program counter? What is its use? Explained in ans 8

19. What is an interrupt?
An interrupt is a condition that causes the microprocessor to temporarily work on a different task, and then
later return to its previous task. Interrupts can be internal or external. Whenever an interrupt occurs, the
processor completes the current instruction and starts the implementation of an Interrupt Service Routine
(ISR). Interrupts allow peripheral devices to access the microprocessor
20. Which line will be activated when an output device require attention from CPU?
Interrupt line
Questions with solution:
1. What is a Microprocessor?
Microprocessor is a program-controlled device, which fetches the instructions from memory, decodes and
executes the instructions. Most Micro Processor are single- chip devices.
2. What are the flags in 8086?
In 8086 Carry flag, Parity flag, Auxiliary carry flag, Zero flag, Overflow flag, Trace flag, Interrupt flag,
Direction flag, and Sign flag.
3. Why crystal is a preferred clock source?
Because of high stability, large Q (Quality Factor) & the frequency that doesn’t drift with aging. Crystal is
used as a clock source most of the times.
4. In 8085 which is called as High order / Low order Register?
Flag is called as Low order register & Accumulator is called as High order Register.
5. What is Tri-state logic?
Three Logic Levels are used and they are High, Low, High impedance state. The high and low are normal
logic levels & high impedance state is electrical open circuit conditions. Tri-state logic has a third line
called enable line.
6. What happens when HLT instruction is executed in processor?
The Micro Processor enters into Halt-State and the buses are tri-stated.
7. Which Stack is used in 8085?
LIFO (Last In First Out) stack is used in 8085.In this type of Stack the last stored information can be
retrieved first
8. What is Program counter?
Program counter holds the address of either the first byte of the next instruction to be fetched for execution
or the address of the next byte of a multi byte instruction, which has not been completely fetched. In both
the cases it gets incremented automatically one by one as the instruction bytes get fetched. Also Program
register keeps the address of the next instruction.
9. What are the various registers in 8085?
Accumulator register, Temporary register, Instruction register, Stack Pointer, Program Counter are the
various registers in 8085
10. What is 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th generation processor?
The processor made of PMOS / NMOS / HMOS / HCMOS technology is called 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th
generation processor, and it is made up of 4 / 8 / 16 / 32 bits.
11. Name the processor lines of two major manufacturers?
High-end: Intel - Pentium (II, III, 4), AMD - Athlon. Low-end: Intel - Celeron, AMD - Duron. 64-bit: Intel
- Itanium 2, AMD - Opteron.
12. What’s the speed and device maximum specs for Firewire?
IEEE 1394 (Firewire) supports the maximum of 63 connected devices with speeds up to 400 Mbps.
Where’s MBR located on the disk? Main Boot Record is located in sector 0, track 0, head 0, cylinder 0 of
the primary active partition.
13. Where does CPU Enhanced mode originate from?
Intel’s 80386 was the first 32-bit processor, and since the company had to backward-support the 8086. All
the modern Intel-based processors run in the Enhanced mode, capable of switching between Real mode
(just like the real 8086) and Protected mode, which is the current mode of operation.
14. How many bit combinations are there in a byte?
Byte contains 8 combinations of bits.
15. Have you studied buses? What types?
There are three types of buses.
Address bus: This is used to carry the Address to the memory to fetch either Instruction or Data.
 Data bus : This is used to carry the Data from the memory.
Control bus : This is used to carry the Control signals like RD/WR, Select etc.
16. What is the Maximum clock frequency in 8086?
5 Mhz is the Maximum clock frequency in 8086.
17. What is meant by Maskable interrupts?
An interrupt that can be turned off by the programmer is known as Maskable interrupt.
18. What is Non-Maskable interrupts?
An interrupt which can be never be turned off (ie. disabled) is known as Non-Maskable interrupt
19. What are the different functional units in 8086?
Bus Interface Unit and Execution unit, are the two different functional units in 8086.
20. What are the various segment registers in 8086?
Code, Data, Stack, Extra Segment registers in 8086.
21. What does EU do?
Execution Unit receives program instruction codes and data from BIU, executes these instructions and store
the result in general registers.
22. Which Stack is used in 8086? k is used in 8086?
FIFO (First In First Out) stack is used in 8086.In this type of Stack the first stored information is retrieved
first.
23. What are the flags in 8086?
In 8086 Carry flag, Parity flag, Auxiliary carry flag, Zero flag, Overflow flag, Trace flag, Interrupt flag,
Direction flag, and Sign flag.
24. What is SIM and RIM instructions?
SIM is Set Interrupt Mask. Used to mask the hardware interrupts.
RIM is Read Interrupt Mask. Used to check whether the interrupt is Masked or not.
25. What is the difference between 8086 and 8088?
The BIU in 8088 is 8-bit data bus & 16- bit in 8086.Instruction queue is 4 byte long in 8088and 6 byte in
8086.
26. Give example for Non-Maskable interrupts?
Trap is known as Non-Maskable interrupts, which is used in emergency condition.
27. Give examples for Micro controller?
Z80, Intel MSC51 &96, Motorola are the best examples of Microcontroller.
28. What is clock frequency for 8085?
3 MHz is the maximum clock frequency for 8085.
29. Give an example of one address microprocessor?
8085 is a one address microprocessor.
30. Give examples for 8 / 16 / 32 bit Microprocessor?
8-bit Processor - 8085 / Z80 / 6800; 16-bit Processor - 8086 / 68000 / Z8000; 32-bit Processor - 80386 /
80486
31. What is meant by a bus?
A bus is a group of conducting lines that carriers data, address, & control signals.
32. What are the various registers in 8085?
Accumulator register, Temporary register, Instruction register, Stack Pointer, Program Counter are the
various registers in 8085
33. Why crystal is a preferred clock source?
Because of high stability, large Q (Quality Factor) & the frequency that doesn’t drift with aging. Crystal is
used as a clock source most of the times.
34. In 8085 which is called as High order / Low order Register?
Flag is called as Low order register & Accumulator is called as High order Register.
35. Name 5 different addressing modes?
Immediate, Direct, Register, Register indirect, Implied addressing modes
36. In what way interrupts are classified in 8085?
In 8085 the interrupts are classified as Hardware and Software interrupts.
37. What is the difference between primary & secondary storage device?
In primary storage device the storage capacity is limited. It has a volatile memory. In secondary storage
device the storage capacity is larger. It is a nonvolatile memory. Primary devices are: RAM / ROM.
Secondary devices are: Floppy disc / Hard disk.
38. Which Stack is used in 8085?
LIFO (Last In First Out) stack is used in 8085.In this type of Stack the last stored information can be
retrieved first.
39. What is Program counter?
Program counter holds the address of either the first byte of the next instruction to be fetched for execution
or the address of the next byte of a multi byte instruction, which has not been completely fetched. In both
the cases it gets incremented automatically one by one as the instruction bytes get fetched. Also Program
register keeps the address of the next instruction.
40. What is the RST for the TRAP?
RST 4.5 is called as TRAP.
41. What are level-triggering interrupt?
RST 6.5 & RST 5.5 are level-triggering interrupts.
42. Which interrupt is not level-sensitive in 8085?
RST 7.5 is a raising edge-triggering interrupt.
43. What are Software interrupts?
RST0, RST1, RST2, RST3, RST4, RST5, RST6, RST7.
44. What are the various flags used in 8085?
Sign flag, Zero flag, Auxiliary flag, Parity flag, Carry flag.
45. In 8085 name the 16 bit registers?
Stack pointer and Program counter all have 16 bits.
46. What is Stack Pointer?
Stack pointer is a special purpose 16-bit register in the Microprocessor, which holds the address of the top
of the stack.
47. What happens when HLT instruction is executed in processor?
The Micro Processor enters into Halt-State and the buses are tri-stated.
48. What does Quality factor mean?
The Quality factor is also defined, as Q. So it is a number, which reflects the lossness of a circuit. Higher
the Q, the lower are the losses.
49. How many interrupts are there in 8085?
There are 12 interrupts in 8085.
50. What is Tri-state logic?
Three Logic Levels are used and they are High, Low, High impedance state. The high and low are normal
logic levels & high impedance state is electrical open circuit conditions. Tri-state logic has a third line
called enable line.
51. Which interrupt has the highest priority?
TRAP has the highest priority
52. What are Hardware interrupts?
TRAP, RST7.5, RST6.5, RST5.5, INTR
53. Can an RC circuit be used as clock source for 8085?
Yes, it can be used, if an accurate clock frequency is not required. Also, the component cost is low
compared to LC or Crystal.
54. Give examples for 8 / 16 / 32 bit Microprocessor?
8-bit Processor - 8085 / Z80 / 6800; 16-bit Processor - 8086 / 68000 / Z8000; 32-bit Processor - 80386 /
80486.
55. Why 8085 processor is called an 8 bit processor?
Because 8085 processor has 8 bit ALU (Arithmetic Logic Review). Similarly 8086 processor has 16 bit
ALU.
56. Define HCMOS?
High-density n- type Complimentary Metal Oxide Silicon field effect transistor.
57. What does microprocessor speed depend on?
The processing speed depends on DATA BUS WIDTH.
58. Is the address bus unidirectional?
The address bus is unidirectional because the address information is always given by the Micro Processor
to address a memory location of an input / output devices.

59. Is the data bus is Bi-directional?

The data bus is Bi-directional because the same bus is used for transfer of data between Micro Processor
and memory or input / output devices in both the direction.

60. What is the disadvantage of microprocessor?

It has limitations on the size of data. Most Microprocessor does not support floating-point operations.
61. What is the difference between microprocessor and microcontroller?
In Microprocessor more op-codes, few bit handling instructions. But in Microcontroller: fewer op-codes,
more bit handling Instructions, and also it is defined as a device that includes micro processor, memory, &
input / output signal lines on a single chip.

62. What is meant by LATCH?

Latch is a D- type flip-flop used as a temporary storage device controlled by a timing signal, which can
store 0 or 1. The primary function of a Latch is data storage. It is used in output devices such as LED, to
hold the data for display.
63. Why does microprocessor contain ROM chips?
Microprocessor contain ROM chip because it contain instructions to execute data.
64. What is the difference between primary & secondary storage device?
In primary storage device the storage capacity is limited. It has a volatile memory. In secondary storage
device the storage capacity is larger. It is a nonvolatile memory. Primary devices are: RAM / ROM.
Secondary devices are: Floppy disc / Hard disk.
65. Difference between static and dynamic RAM?
Static RAM: No refreshing, 6 to 8 MOS transistors are required to form one memory cell, Information
stored as voltage level in a flip flop. Dynamic RAM: Refreshed periodically, 3 to 4 transistors are required
to form one memory cell, Information is stored as a charge in the gate to substrate capacitance.
66. What is interrupt?
Interrupt is a signal send by external device to the processor so as to request the processor to perform a
particular work.
67. What is cache memory?
Cache memory is a small high-speed memory. It is used for temporary storage of data & information
between the main memory and the CPU (center processing unit). The cache memory is only in RAM.
68. What is called Scratch pad of computer.?
Cache Memory is scratch pad of computer.
69. Which transistor is used in each cell of EPROM?
Floating gate Avalanche Injection MOS (FAMOS) transistor is used in each cell of EPROM.
70. Differentiate between RAM and ROM?
RAM: Read / Write memory, High Speed, Volatile Memory. ROM: Read only memory, Low Speed, Non
Voliate Memory.
71. What is a compiler?
Compiler is used to translate the high-level language program into machine code at a time. It doesn.t
require special instruction to store in a memory, it stores automatically. The Execution time is less
compared to Interpreter.
72. Which processor structure is pipelined?
All x86 processors have pipelined structure.
73. What is flag?
Flag is a flip-flop used to store the information about the status of a processor and the status of the
instruction executed most recently
74. What is stack?
Stack is a portion of RAM used for saving the content of Program Counter and general purpose registers.
75. Can ROM be used as stack?
ROM cannot be used as stack because it is not possible to write to ROM.
76. What is NV-RAM?
Nonvolatile Read Write Memory, also called Flash memory. It is also know as shadow RAM.
77. What are the various registers in 8085?
Accumulator register, Temporary register, Instruction register, Stack Pointer, Program Counter are the
various registers in 8085 .
78. In 8085 name the 16 bit registers?
Stack pointer and Program counter all have 16 bits.
79. What are the various flags used in 8085?
Sign flag, Zero flag, Auxillary flag, Parity flag, Carry flag.
80. What is Stack Pointer?
Stack pointer is a special purpose 16-bit register in the Microprocessor, which holds the address of the top
of the stack.
81. What is Program counter?
Program counter holds the address of either the first byte of the next instruction to be fetched for execution
or the address of the next byte of a multi byte instruction, which has not been completely fetched. In both
the cases it gets incremented automatically one by one as the instruction bytes get fetched. Also Program
register keeps the address of the next instruction.
82. Which Stack is used in 8085?
LIFO (Last In First Out) stack is used in 8085.In this type of Stack the last stored information can be
retrieved first.
83. What happens when HLT instruction is executed in processor?
The Micro Processor enters into Halt-State and the buses are tri-stated.
84. What is meant by a bus?
A bus is a group of conducting lines that carriers data, address, & control signals.
85. What is Tri-state logic?
Three Logic Levels are used and they are High, Low, High impedance state. The high and low are normal
logic levels & high impedance state is electrical open circuit conditions. Tri-state logic has a third line
called enable line.
86. Give an example of one address microprocessor?
8085 is a one address microprocessor.
87. In what way interrupts are classified in 8085?
In 8085 the interrupts are classified as Hardware and Software interrupts.
88. What are Hardware interrupts?
 TRAP, RST7.5, RST6.5, RST5.5, INTR.
89. What are Software interrupts?
RST0, RST1, RST2, RST3, RST4, RST5, RST6, RST7.
90. Which interrupt has the highest priority?
TRAP has the highest priority.
91. Name 5 different addressing modes?
Immediate, Direct, Register, Register indirect, Implied addressing modes.
92. How many interrupts are there in 8085?
There are 12 interrupts in 8085.
93. What is clock frequency for 8085?
3 MHz is the maximum clock frequency for 8085.
94. What is the RST for the TRAP?
RST 4.5 is called as TRAP.
95. In 8085 which is called as High order / Low order Register?
Flag is called as Low order register & Accumulator is called as High order Register.
96. What are input & output devices?
Keyboards, Floppy disk are the examples of input devices. Printer, LED / LCD display, CRT Monitor are
the examples of output devices.
97. Can an RC circuit be used as clock source for 8085?
Yes, it can be used, if an accurate clock frequency is not required. Also, the component cost is low
compared to LC or Crystal.
98. Why crystal is a preferred clock source?
Because of high stability, large Q (Quality Factor) & the frequency that doesn’t drift with aging. Crystal is
used as a clock source most of the times.
99. Which interrupt is not level-sensitive in 8085?
RST 7.5 is a raising edge-triggering interrupt.
100. What are level-triggering interrupt?
RST 6.5 & RST 5.5 are level-triggering interrupts.

Prepared by:

Dr Sulekha Saxena
Asst Professor
ECE Department