CSC 222: Computer Organization

& Assembly Language

6 – Interrupt Driven IO
Outline
 Interrupts
 Input Output Instructions
 Sample Programs

References
 Chapter 3, 4, Ytha Yu and Charles Marut, “Assembly
Language Programming and Organization of IBM PC”
 Chapter 3, Assembly Language for Intel Based-Computers

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Interrupts
Interrupts – Changing Program Flow
 Mechanism by which other modules (e.g. I/O) may
interrupt normal sequence of processing
 Program
 e.g. overflow, division by zero
 Timer
 Generated by internal processor timer
 Used in pre-emptive multi-tasking
 I/O
 from I/O controller
 Hardware failure
 e.g. memory parity error

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Interrupt Cycle

 Added to instruction cycle

 Processor checks for interrupt
 Indicated by an interrupt signal
 If no interrupt, fetch next instruction
 If interrupt pending:
 Suspend execution of current program
 Save context
 Set PC to start address of interrupt handler routine
 Process interrupt
 Restore context and continue interrupted program

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Transfer of Control via Interrupts

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Instruction Cycle with Interrupts

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Instruction Cycle (with Interrupts) - State Diagram

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Multiple Interrupts

 Disable interrupts
 Processor will ignore further interrupts whilst
processing one interrupt
 Interrupts remain pending and are checked after
first interrupt has been processed
 Interrupts handled in sequence as they occur
 Define priorities
 Low priority interrupts can be interrupted by higher
priority interrupts
 When higher priority interrupt has been processed,
processor returns to previous interrupt

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Multiple Interrupts - Sequential

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Multiple Interrupts – Nested

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Input and Output Instructions
I/O Ports
 I/O Devices are connected to the computer
through I/O circuits.
 Each circuit contains several registers: I/O Ports
 Some ports used for data while others are used
for commands.
 Transfer Points between CPU and I/O device.
 Each I/O port:
 has an address “I/O Address”
 Is connected to the bus system
 I/O Address can only be used with Input / Output
instructions.

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I/O Port Addresses
 The 8086/8088 supports 64 KB of I/O Port
 Usage vary among computer models
 Some Common I/O Ports:

Port Address Description

20h-21h Interrupt Controller
60h-63h Keyboard Controller
320h-32Fh Hard Disk

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I/O Instructions
 CPU communicates with the peripherals through I/O
registers called I/O Ports.
 Two instructions to access ports directly.
 IN
 OUT
 But most application programs do not use IN and OUT:
 Port addresses vary among computer models
 Easier to program by using services routines
 Categories of I/O Service Routines
 BIOS
 Stored in ROM and interact directly with I/O ports.
 DOS
 More complex tasks like printing a character string

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The INT (Interrupt) instruction
 Syntax:
INT interrupt_number
 Where interrupt_number specifies a routine.
 Examples
INT 16h
 Invokes a BIOS routine that performs keyboard input.
INT 21h
 Invoke DOS functions depending on function number
present in AH register.
Function Routine
No.
1 Single-key input
2 Single-character output
9 Character string output
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Single-Key Input
 AH = 1
 AL = ASCII code if character key is pressed
= 0 if non-character key is pressed

MOV AH,1
INT 21h

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Single-character output
 AH = 2
 DL = ASCII code of the display character or
control character
 AL = ASCII code of the display character or control
character

MOV AH,2
MOV DL, ‘?’
INT 21h

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Control Characters
ASCII Code (Hex) Symbol Function
7 BEL Beep (sound a to e)
8 BS Backspace
9 HT Tab
A LF Line feed (new line)
D CR Carriage return (start of current
line)

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Sample Programs
Input & Output
 In 8086 assembly language, we use a software
interrupt mechanism for I/O.
 An interrupt signals the processor to suspend its
current activity (i.e. your running program) and to
pass control to an interrupt service program (i.e.
part of the operating system).
 A software interrupt is one generated by a program
(as opposed to one generated by hardware).
 The 8086 INT instruction generates a software
interrupt.
 For I/O and some other operations, the number
used is 21h.

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Character Input

To read a character from the keyboard:

MOV AH, 1
INT 21h
; character is stored in AL

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Character Output

To display the character ’a’ on the screen:

MOV DL, ‘a‘

MOV AH, 2
INT 21h

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Reading and displaying a character:

MOV AH, 1
INT 21h
MOV DL, AL
MOV AH, 2
INT 21h

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Program 1: Hello World!
title Hello World Program (hello.asm)
; This program displays “Hello, world!”
.model small
.stack 100h
.data
message db “Hello, world!”,0dh,0ah,’$’
.code
main proc
mov ax,@data
mov ds,ax
mov ah,9
mov dx,offset message
int 21h

mov ax,4C00h
int 21h
main endp
end main

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 program title (comment)

title Hello World Program (hello.asm)

; This program displays “Hello, world!”

comment line
.model small

.stack 100h memory model

set the stack size

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 starts the data segment

.data
message db “Hello, world!”,0dh,0ah,’$’

.code starts the code segment

main proc
mov ax,@data sets DS to the offset of the
mov ds,ax data segment
mov ah,9
mov dx,offset message
int 21h calls DOS display function 9

mov ax,4C00h
int 21h halts program
main endp
end main

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Program 2: Echo
TITLE MY First Program
.MODEL SMALL
.STACK 100H
.CODE
;display prompt
MOV AH, 2 ;display character function
MOV DL, '?' ;character is '?'
INT 21H ;display it
;input a character
MOV AH, 1 ;read character function
INT 21H ;character in AL
MOV BL, AL ;save it in BL

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Contd..
;go to a new line
MOV AH, 2
MOV DL, 0DH
INT 21H
MOV DL, 0AH
INT 21H
;display character
MOV DL, BL
INT 21H
;return to DOS
MOV AH, 4CH
INT 21H

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Program 3: Add
.DATA
A DW 2
B DW 5
SUM DW ?
.CODE
;add the numbers
MOV AX, A
ADD AX, B
MOV SUM, AX
;exit to DOS
MOV AX, 4C00H
INT 21H

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Program 4: Lower To Upper case
TITLE Case Conversion Program
.MODEL SMALL
.STACK 100H
.DATA
CR EQU 0DH
LF EQU 0AH
MSG1 DB 'Enter a Lowe Case Letter: $'
MSG2 DB 0DH, 0AH, 'In Upper Case It is: '
CHAR DB ?,'$‘
.CODE
;initialize DS
MOV AX, @DATA ;get data segment
MOV DS, AX ;initialize DS

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Contd..
;print user prompt
LEA DX, MSG1 ;get first message
MOV AH, 9 ;display string function
INT 21H ;display first message
;input a character and convert to upper case
MOV AH, 1 ;read character function
INT 21H ;read snall letter into AL
SUB AL, 20H ;convert it into uppercase
MOV CHAR, AL ;and store it
;display on the next line
LEA DX, MSG2 ;get second message
MOV AH, 9 ;display string function
INT 21H ;display message and upper case letter in front
;
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