PIC STATUS REGISTER The status register is an 8-bit register. It is also referred to as the flag register. Although the status register is 8 bits wide, only 5 bits of it are used by the PIC 18. The three unused bits are unimplemented and read as 0. The five flags are called conditional flags. These five flags are C (carry), DC (digital carry), Z (zero), OV (overflow), and N (negative). Each of the conditional flags can be used to perform a conditional branch (jump). o7 Do Lx Tx Tx ys Tor 2 fot < | CG ~ Cary flag DC - Digital Carry flag 2Z- Zero flag OV - Overflow flag N — Negative flag X—-D65, D6, and D7 are not implemented,PIC STATUS REGISTER C, the carry flag This flag is set whenever there is a carry out from the D7 bit. This flag bit is affected after an 8-bit addition or subtraction. DC, the digital carry flag If there is a carry from D3 to D4 during an ADD or SUB operation, this bit is set; otherwise, it is cleared. This flag bit is used by instructions that perform BCD (binary coded decimal) arithmetic. In some microprocessors this is called the AC flag (Auxiliary Carry flag).PIC STATUS REGISTER Z, the zero flag The zero flag reflects the result of an arithmetic or logic operation. If the result is zero, then Z = 1. Therefore, Z = 0 if the result is not zero. OV, the overflow flag This flag is set whenever the result of a signed number operation is too large, causing the high-order bit to overflow into the sign bit. In general, the carry flag is used to detect errors in unsigned arithmetic operations while the overflow flag is used to detect errors in signed arithmetic operations. The OV and N flag bits are used for the signed number arithmetic operations.PIC STATUS REGISTER N, the negative flag Binary representation of signed numbers uses D7 as the sign bit. The negative flag reflects the result of an arithmetic operation. If the D7 bit of the result is zero, then N = 0 and the result is positive. If the D7 bit is one, then N = 1 and the result is negative. The negative and OV flag bits are used for the signed number arithmetic operations.EXAMPLE Show the status of the C, DC, and Z flags after the addition of 3 8H and 2FH in the following instructions: MOVLW 38H ADDLW 2PH jadd 2FH to WREG Solution: 38H 0011 1000 +2FH 0010 1111 67H 0110 0111 WREG = 67H C= 0 because there is no carry beyond the D7 bit. DC = 1 because there is a carry from the D3 to the D4 bit. Z = 0 because the WREG has a value other than 0 after the addition.EXAMPLE Show the status of the C, DC, and Z flags after the addition of 9CH and 64H in the following instructions: MOVLW 9CH ADDLW 64H yadd 64H to WREG Solution: 9CH 1001 1100 +_64H Q110 0100 100H 00000000 =WREG = 00 C= 1 because there is a carry beyond the D7 bit. DC = 1 because there is a carry from the D3 to the D4 bit. Z = 1 because the WREG has a value 0 in it after the addition.EXAMPLE Show the status of the C, DC, and Z flags after the addition of 88H and 93H in the following instructions: MOVLW 88H . ADDLW 93H jadd 93H to WREG Solution: 88H 1000 1000 +93H 001 001] 11BH 0001 1011 WREG = 1BH C= 1 because there is a carry beyond the D7 bit. DC = 0 because there is no carry from the D3 to the D4 bit. Z = 0 because the WREG has a value other than 0 after the addition.Flag bits and decision making Because status flags are also called conditional flags, there are instruc- tions that will make a conditional jump (branch) based on the status of the flag bits. Instructions Using Flag Bits Instruction Action BC Branch ifC = 1 BNC Branch i BZ Branch if Z = 1 BNZ Branch if Z BN Branch if N BNC Branch if N#0 BOV Branch if OV BNOV. Branch ifOV #0PIC data type The PIC microcontroller has only one data type. It is 8 bits, and the size of each register is also 8 bits. It is the job of the programmer to break down data larger than 8 bits (00 to FFH, or Oto 255 in decimal) to be processed by the CPU. Data format representation There are four ways to represent a byte of data in the PIC assembler. The numbers can be in hex, binary, decimal, or ASCII formats.HEX numbers There are four ways to show hex numbers: 1. We can use h ( or H) right after the number like this: MOVLW 99H 2. Put Ox ( or OX) in front of the number like this: MOVLW 0x99 3. Put nothing in front or back of the number like this: MOVLW 99 4. Put h in front of the number, but with single quotes around the number like this: MOVLW h'99" Notice that some PIC assemblers might give you a warning (but no error) when you use 99H because the assembler already knows that data is in hex and there is no need to remind it. We do that simply to remind ourselves (and it is a good reminder) when we do coding in Assembly.HEX numbers MOWLW 25 ;WREG ADDLW Ox1l ;WREG 11H = 36H ADDLW 12H j WREG 12H = 48H ADDLW H'2A' ;WREG 2aH = 72H ADDLW 2CH =; WREG 2CH = SEH The following are invalid: MOVLW ESH jinvalid, it must be MOVLW OESH ADDLW Cé sinvalid, it must be ADDLW océ Notice in the last two instructions that if the value starts with the hex digits A-F, then it must be preceded with a zero. However, the following is valid: MOVLW OF valid, WREG = OFH (or 00001111 in binary)Binary numbers There is only one way to represent binary numbers in a PIC assembler. It is as follows: MOVLW B'10011001' ;WREG = 19011001 or 99 in hex The lowercase b will also work. Note that ' is the single quote key. MOVLW B'C0100101' ;WREG = 25H ADDLW B'00010001' ;WREG = 25H + 11H = 36HBinary numbers There is only one way to represent binary numbers in a PIC assembler. It is as follows: MOVLW B'10011001' ;WREG = 19011001 or 99 in hex The lowercase b will also work. Note that ' is the single quote key. MOVLW B'C0100101' ;WREG = 25H ADDLW B'00010001' ;WREG = 25H + 11H = 36HDecimal numbers There are two ways to represent decimal numbers in a PIC assembler. One way is as follows: MOVLW D‘'12° ;WREG = 00001100 or OC in hex The lowercase d will work also. Here are some examples of how to use it: MOVLW D'37' ;WREG = 25H {37 in decimal is 25 in hex) ADDLW D'17' ;WREG = 37 + 17 = 54 where 54 in dec is 36H The other way to represent decimal numbers is to use ". value" as seen in some application notes for PIC microcontrollers. This is shown as follows: MOVLW .12 #WREG = 00001100 = OCH = 12Assembler directives While instructions tell the CPU what to do, directives ( also called pseudo-instructions) give directions to the assembler. For example, the MOVLW and ADDLW instructions are commands to the CPU, but EQU, ORG, and END are directives to the assembler.EQU (equate) This is used to define a constant value or a fixed address. The EQU directive does not set aside storage for a data item, but associates a constant number with a data or an address label so that when the label appears in the program, its constant will be substituted for the label. COUNT EQU 0x25 MOVLW COUNT ;WREG = 25H What is the advantage of using EQU? Assume that a constant (a fixed value) is used throughout the program, and the programmer wants to change its value everywhere. By the use of EQU, the programmer can change it once and the assembler will change all of its occurrences throughout the program, rather than search the entire program trying to find every occurrence.SET This directive is used to define a constant value or a fixed address. In this regard, the SET and EQU directives are identical. The only difference is the value assigned by the SET directive may be reassigned later.Using EQU for fixed data assignment DATA1 EQU DATA2 EQU DATA3 EQU DATA EQU DATAS EQU DATA6 EQU DATA? EQU DATA8 EQU DATAS EQU DATALO EQU DATA11 EQU DATAL2 EQU jin hexadecimal 39 tjhex data is the default 0x39 janother way for hex 39H ;another way for hex (redundant) H'39" janother way for hex h'39! janother way for hex ;in binary b'00110101' ;binary (35 in hex) B'00110101" ;binary (35 in hex} yin decimal D'28' ;decimal numbers (1C in hex) d'2g' ;second way for decimal rin ASCIT AMD ;ASCIT characters af2" ;another way for ASCII char 2' another way for ASCII charUsing EQU for SFR address assignment COUNTER EQU 0x00 ;counter value 00 PORTB EQU OxFF6 ;SFR Port B address MOVLW COUNTER ;WREG = 00H MOVWF PORTB 7Port B now has 00 too INCF PORTR, F ;Port B has 01 INCF PORTE, F jinerement Port B (Port B = 02) INCF PORTE, F jincrement Port B (Port B = 03) The above is for the PIC 18 family. If you use a different PIC controller such as PIC16F, where Port B is a different address, then change the EQU address for Port B and re-assemble the program and run it. COUNTER EQU 0x0G ;counter value 00 PORTB EQU 0x07 Port B addr in PIC16F MOVLW COUNTER iWREG = OCH MOVWF PORTB 7Port B now has 00 too INCP PORTB, F Port B has 01 INCF PORTB, F 7Port B has 02 INCF PORTB, F 7Port B has 03Using EQU for RAM address assignment MYREG EQU 0x12 MOVLW MOVWE MOVLW ADDWE ADDWF ADDWF ADDWW 0 MYREG 22H MYREG, MYREG, MYREG, MYREG, P F F F jassign RAM loc to MYREG ;clear WREG (WREG = 0) iclear MYREG (loc 12H has 0} ;WREG = 22H GMYREG = WREG + MYREG :MYREG = WREG + MYREG ;MYREG = WREG + MYREG ;MYREG = WREG + MYREG This is especially helpful when the address needs to be changed in order to use a different PIC chip for a given project. It is much easier to refer to a name than a number when accessing RAM address locations.Using EQU for RAM address assignment The following program will move MYvAP Bop) 5 ithVAL RO EQU oO iassign RAM addresses to RO value 9 into RAM locations 0---4, m1 sq 1 yto BL then add them together and fH? place the sum in location 10H: Ra BQU 4 suUM EQU 10H MOVLW MYVAL |WREG = 9 MOVWE RO 7RAM loc 0 has 9 MOVWE R1 +RAM loc 1 has 9 MOVWF R2 7RAM loc 2 has 9 MOVWE R3 ;RAM loc 3 has 9 MOVWE R4 ;RAM loc 4 has 9 MOVLW O ;WREG = 0 ADDWF RO, W ;WREG = RO + WREG ADDWF Ri, W ;WREG = Rl + WREG ADDWF R2, W ;WREG = R2 + WREG ADDWF R3, W ;WREG = R3 + WREG ADDWF R4, W ;WREG = R4 + WREG MOVWE SUMORG (origin) The ORG directive is used to indicate the beginning of the address. It can be used for both code and data. The number that comes after ORG must be in hex. END directive Another important pseudocode is the END directive. This indicates to the assembler the end of the source (asm) file. The END directive is the last line of the PIC program, meaning that anything after the END directive in the source code is ignored by the assembler.LIST directive Unlike ORG and END, which are used by all assemblers, the LIST directive is unique to the PIC assembler. It indicates to the assembler the specific PIC chip for which the program should be assembled. It is used as follows: The above tells the PIC assembler to assemble the program specifically for the PIC 18F458 microcontroller. We use LIST to state the target chip. #include directive The #include directive tells the PIC assembler to use the libraries associated with the specific chip for which we are compiling the program._config directive The _ config directive tells the assembler the configuration bits for the targeted PIC chip. It is important to use the correct_ config directive, because incorrect use may make the chip unusable. The configuration bits are read during power-up of the PIC device and are stored at location 300000H. Microchip has defined the _config directive symbols to ease the configuration, These symbols are located in the .INC file for the device that is being used. . . . radix directive We can use the radix directive to indicate whether the numbering system is hexadecimal or decimal. The default is hex if we do not use the radix directive. If we use "radix dec", the default representation will change to decimal and any unformatted number will be interpreted as decimal rather than hex, as seen before.Rules for labels in Assembly language By choosing label names that are meaningful, a programmer can make a program much easier to read and maintain. There are several rules that names must follow. First, each label name must be unique. The names used for labels in Assembly language programming consist of alphabetic letters in both upper and lower case, the digits 0 through 9, and the special characters question mark (?), period(.), at(@), underline U, and dollar sign($). The first character of the label must be an alphabetic character. In other words, it cannot be a number. Every assembler has some reserved words that must not be used as labels in the program. Foremost among the reserved words are the mnemonics for the instructions. For example, "MOVLW" and "ADDLW" are reserved because they are instruction mnemonics. In addition to the mnemonics there are some other reserved words, Check your assembler for the list of reserved words.