Control Flow Instructions

CSE 30: Computer Organization and Systems Programming

Diba Mirza
Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering
University of California, San Diego

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 So Far...

v All instructions have allowed us to manipulate

data
v So we’ve built a calculator
v In order to build a computer, we need ability to
change the flow of control in a program…

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 Ways to change Control flow in C
1.  goto <label>
2.  if (condition) { //do something }
3.  if-else
4.  Loops
I.  do-while
II.  for
III.  while
IV.  switch

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 Labels
v  Any instruction can be associated with a label
v  Example:
start ADD r0,r1,r2 ; a = b+c
next SUB r1,r1,#1 ; b--
v  In fact, every instruction has a label regardless if
the programmer explicitly names it
v  The label is the address of the instruction
v  A label is a pointer to the instruction in memory
v  Therefore, the text label doesn’t exist in binary code

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 ARM goto Instruction
v  The simplest control instruction is equivalent to a
C goto statement
v  goto label (in C) is the same as:
v  B label (in ARM)
v  B is shorthand for “branch”. This is called an
unconditional branch meaning that the branch is
done regardless of any conditions.
v  There are also conditional branches:

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 Conditional Branch
v  To perform a conditional branch,
1.  First set the condition bits (N,Z,V,C) in the program
status register
2.  Then check on these condition bits to branch
conditionally
v  What are the ways we have learnt to set condition
bits so far?
v  Append S to arithmetic/logical instruction
v  There is another way using a ‘Comparison
Instruction’
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 Comparison Instructions
v  CMP – Compare and set condition bits
v  subtracts a register or an immediate value from a
register value and updates condition codes
v  Unlike SUB, it doesn’t store the result anywhere

v  Examples:
v  CMP r3, #0 ; set Z flag if r3 == 0
v  CMP r3, r4 ; set Z flag if r3 == r4

All flags are set as result of this operation, not just Z

Conditional branches often preceded by CMP
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 ARM Decision Instructions
v  ARM has variants of the branch instruction that only
goto the label if a certain condition is TRUE
v  Examples:
v  BEQ label ; BRANCH EQUAL
v  BNE label ; BRANCH NOT EQUAL
v  BLE label ; BRANCH LESS THAN EQUAL
v  BLT label ; BRANCH LESS THAN
v  BGE label ; BRANCH GREATER THAN EQUAL
v  BGT label ; BRANCH GREATER THAN
v  Plus more …

v  The
condition is T/F based upon the fields in the
Program Status Register 8
 Condition Codes
v  The possible condition codes are listed below
v  Note AL is the default and does not need to be specified
Suffix Description Flags tested
EQ Equal Z=1
NE Not equal Z=0
CS/HS Unsigned higher or same C=1
CC/LO Unsigned lower C=0
MI Minus N=1
PL Positive or Zero N=0
VS Overflow V=1
VC No overflow V=0
HI Unsigned higher C=1 & Z=0
LS Unsigned lower or same C=0 or Z=1
GE Greater or equal N=V
LT Less than N!=V
GT Greater than Z=0 & N=V
LE Less than or equal Z=1 or N=!V
AL Always 9
 If(X == 0)
C Code
X = Y + Z;

Assume X, Y, and Z are integers in registers r0, r1, and r2,

respectively.
Q: Which one is the equivalent assembly code?

CMP r0, #0
A BEQ Label
ADD r0, r1, r2
Label:
CMP r0, #0
BNE Label C – Neither of these is
B
ADD r0, r1, r2 correct.
Label: 10
 If(X == 0)
C Code
X = Y + Z;

Assume X, Y, and Z are integers in registers r0, r1, and r2,

respectively.
Q: Which is the equivalent assembly code?

CMP r0, #0
A BEQ Label
ADD r0, r1, r2
Label:
CMP r0, #0
BNE Label C – Neither of these is
B
ADD r0, r1, r2 correct.
Label: 11
 C if-else
v if statements in C
v if (condition) {clause}
v if (condition) {clause1} else {clause2}

v Rearrange if-else into following:

if (condition) goto L1;
clause2;
goto End;
L1: clause1;
End:
v Not as elegant as if-else, but same meaning
v Now let’s try to write equivalent ARM code
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 Compiling C if into ARM

v Compile by hand
(true) 
 (false) 

if (i == j) f=g+h; i == j? i != j!
i == j!
else f=g-h;
v Use this mapping: f=g+h f=g-h
f: r0
g: r1
Exit!
h: r2
i: r3
j: r4

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 Compiling C if into ARM
Compile by hand (true) 
 r3 == r4? (false) 

! !
if (r3 == r4) r0=r1+r2;
else r0=r1-r2;!
r0=r1+r2 r0=r1-r2
v Final compiled ARM code:
CMP r3, r4 ; Z = 1 if i==j
Exit!
BEQ True ; goto True when i==j
SUB r0,r1,r2 ; f=g-h(false)
B Fin ; goto Fin
True ADD r0,r1,r2 ; f=g+h (true)
Fin
Note: Compiler automatically creates labels to handle decisions
(branches) appropriately. Generally not found in C code.
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 Loops in C/Assembly
v There are three types of loops in C:
v while
v do… while
v for

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 Loops in C/Assembly
v Simple loop in C;
do{
g--;
i = i + j;}
while (i != h);
v Rewrite this as:
Loop: g--;
i = i + j;
if (i != h) goto Loop;
v Use
this mapping:
g: r1, h: r2, i: r3, j: r4
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 Loops in C/Assembly

v Replace variables with equivalent registers

Loop: r1--;
r3 = r3 + r4;
if (r3 != r2) goto Loop;
v Final compiled ARM code:
Loop SUB r1,r1,#1 ; r1--
ADD r3,r3,r4 ; r3=r3+r4
CMP r3,r2 ; cmp r3,r2
BNE Loop ;goto Loop if r3!=r2

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 Inequalities in ARM
v Untilnow, we’ve only tested equalities
(== and != in C). General programs need to test < and
> as well.
v Use CMP and BLE, BLT, BGE, BGT
v Examples:
if (f < 10) goto Loop; => CMP r0,#10
BLT Loop
if (f >= i) goto Loop; => CMP r0,r3
BGE Loop
Try on your own:
for(i=0;i<20;i++) {Statements}
while(x<30) {Statements}
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 Example: The C Switch Statement

v Choose
among four alternatives depending
on whether k has the value 0, 1, 2 or 3.
Compile this C code:
switch (k) {
case 0: f=i+j; break; /* k=0*/
case 1: f=g+h; break; /* k=1*/
case 2: f=g–h; break; /* k=2*/
case 3: f=i–j; break; /* k=3*/
}

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 Example: The C Switch Statement

v Thisis complicated, so simplify.

v Rewrite it as a chain of if-else statements,
which we already know how to compile:
if(k==0) f=i+j;
else if(k==1) f=g+h;
else if(k==2) f=g–h;
else if(k==3) f=i–j;
v Use this mapping:
f: r0, g: r1, h: r2, i: r3, j:
r4, k: r5
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 Example: The C Switch Statement

! !CMP r5,#0 ! !; compare k, 0!

! !BNE L1 !; branch k!=0

"ADD r0,r3,r4 !; k==0 so f=i+j
 C code:
!B Exit ! !; end case, Exit
 If(r5==0) r0=r3+r4;
L1 !CMP r5,#1 ! !; compare k, -1
 else if(r5==1)
!BNE L2 ! r0=r1+r2;
else if(r5==2)
! !ADD r0,r1,r2 !; k==1 so f=g+h
 r0=r1–r2;
!B Exit ! !; end case, Exit
 else if(r5==3)
L2 !CMP r5,#2 ! !; compare k, 2
 r0=r3–r4;
!BNE L3 ! !; branch k!=2

"SUB r0,r1,r2 !; k==2 so f=g-h

!B Exit ! !; end case, Exit

L3 !CMP r5,#3 ! !; compare k, 3 ! ! !
!BNE Exit ! !; branch k!=3 ! ! !
! !SUB r0,r3,r4 !; k==3 so f=i-j 

Exit!
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 Summary
v A Decision allows us to decide which pieces of code to
execute at run-time rather than at compile-time.
v C Decisions are made using conditional statements
within an if, while, do while or for.
v CMP instruction sets status register bits
v ARM Decision making instructions are the conditional
branches: BNE,BEQ,BLE,BLT,BGE,BGT.

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 Conclusion
v Instructions so far:
v  Previously:
ADD, SUB, MUL, MULA, [U|S]MULL, [U|S]MLAL, RSB
AND, ORR, EOR, BIC
MOV, MVN
LSL, LSR, ASR, ROR
LDR, LDR, STR, LDRB, STRB, LDRH, STRH
v  New:
CMP, B{EQ,NE,LT,LE,GT,GE}

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