COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND DESIGN 6th

Edition
The Hardware/Software Interface

Chapter 2 – L1
Instructions: Language
of the Computer
 §2.1 Introduction
Instruction Set
◼ The repertoire of instructions of a
computer
◼ Different computers have different
instruction sets
◼ But with many aspects in common
◼ Early computers had very simple
instruction sets
◼ Simplified implementation
◼ Many modern computers also have simple
instruction sets

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 2

The MIPS Instruction Set
◼ Used as the example throughout the book
◼ Stanford MIPS commercialized by MIPS
Technologies (www.mips.com)
◼ Typical of many modern ISAs
◼ See MIPS Reference Data tear-out card, and
Appendixes B and E
◼ Similar ISAs have a large share of embedded
core market
◼ Applications in consumer electronics, network/storage
equipment, cameras, printers, …

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 3

 §2.2 Operations of the Computer Hardware
Arithmetic Operations
◼ Add and subtract, three operands
◼ Two sources and one destination
add a, b, c # a gets b + c
◼ All arithmetic operations have this form
◼ Design Principle 1: Simplicity favors
regularity
◼ Regularity makes implementation simpler
◼ Simplicity enables higher performance at
lower cost

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 4

Arithmetic Example
◼ C code:
f = (g + h) - (i + j);

◼ Compiled MIPS code:

add t0, g, h # temp t0 = g + h
add t1, i, j # temp t1 = i + j
sub f, t0, t1 # f = t0 - t1

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 5

 §2.3 Operands of the Computer Hardware
Register Operands
◼ Arithmetic instructions use register
operands
◼ MIPS has a 32 × 32-bit register file
◼ Use for frequently accessed data
◼ Numbered 0 to 31
◼ 32-bit data called a “word”
◼ Assembler names
◼ $t0, $t1, …, $t9 for temporary values
◼ $s0, $s1, …, $s7 for saved variables
◼ Design Principle 2: Smaller is faster
◼ c.f. main memory: millions of locations

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 6

Register Operand Example
◼ C code:
f = (g + h) - (i + j);
◼ f, …, j in $s0, …, $s4

◼ Compiled MIPS code:

add $t0, $s1, $s2
add $t1, $s3, $s4
sub $s0, $t0, $t1

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 7

Memory Operands
◼ Main memory used for composite data
◼ Arrays, structures, dynamic data
◼ To apply arithmetic operations
◼ Load values from memory into registers
◼ Store result from register to memory
◼ Memory is byte addressed
◼ Each address identifies an 8-bit byte
◼ Words are aligned in memory
◼ Address must be a multiple of 4
◼ MIPS is Big Endian
◼ Most-significant byte at most address of a word
◼ c.f. Little Endian: least-significant byte at least address

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 8

Memory Operand Example 1
◼ C code:
g = h + A[8];
◼ g in $s1, h in $s2, base address of A in $s3

◼ Compiled MIPS code:

◼ Index 8 requires offset of 32
◼ 4 bytes per word
lw $t0, 32($s3) # load word
add $s1, $s2, $t0
offset base register

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 9

Memory Operand Example 2
◼ C code:
A[12] = h + A[8];
◼ h in $s2, base address of A in $s3

◼ Compiled MIPS code:

◼ Index 8 requires offset of 32
lw $t0, 32($s3) # load word
add $t0, $s2, $t0
sw $t0, 48($s3) # store word

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 10

Registers vs. Memory
◼ Registers are faster to access than
memory
◼ Operating on memory data requires loads
and stores
◼ More instructions to be executed
◼ Compiler must use registers for variables
as much as possible
◼ Only spill to memory for less frequently used
variables
◼ Register optimization is important!

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 11

Immediate Operands
◼ Constant data specified in an instruction
addi $s3, $s3, 4
◼ No subtract immediate instruction
◼ Just use a negative constant
addi $s2, $s1, -1
◼ Design Principle 3: Make the common
case fast
◼ Small constants are common
◼ Immediate operand avoids a load instruction

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 12

The Constant Zero
◼ MIPS register 0 ($zero) is the constant 0
◼ Cannot be overwritten
◼ Useful for common operations
◼ E.g., move between registers
add $t2, $s1, $zero

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 13

 §2.4 Signed and Unsigned Numbers
Unsigned Binary Integers
◼ Given an n-bit number
n −1 n−2
x = x n−1 2 + x n−2 2 +  + x1 2 + x 0 2
1 0

◼ Range: 0 to +2n – 1
◼ Example
◼ 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 10112
= 0 + … + 1×23 + 0×22 +1×21 +1×20
= 0 + … + 8 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 1110
◼ Using 32 bits
◼ 0 to +4,294,967,295

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 14

2s-Complement Signed Integers
◼ Given an n-bit number
n −1 n−2
x = − x n−1 2 + x n−2 2 +  + x1 2 + x 0 2
1 0

◼ Range: –2n – 1 to +2n – 1 – 1

◼ Example
◼ 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 11002
= –1×231 + 1×230 + … + 1×22 +0×21 +0×20
= –2,147,483,648 + 2,147,483,644 = –410
◼ Using 32 bits
◼ –2,147,483,648 to +2,147,483,647

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 15

2s-Complement Signed Integers
◼ Bit 31 is sign bit
◼ 1 for negative numbers
◼ 0 for non-negative numbers
◼ –(–2n – 1) can’t be represented
◼ Non-negative numbers have the same unsigned
and 2s-complement representation
◼ Some specific numbers
◼ 0: 0000 0000 … 0000
◼ –1: 1111 1111 … 1111
◼ Most-negative: 1000 0000 … 0000
◼ Most-positive: 0111 1111 … 1111

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 16

Signed Negation
◼ Complement and add 1
◼ Complement means 1 → 0, 0 → 1

x + x = 1111...1112 = −1

x + 1 = −x

◼ Example: negate +2
◼ +2 = 0000 0000 … 00102
◼ –2 = 1111 1111 … 11012 + 1
= 1111 1111 … 11102

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 17

Sign Extension
◼ Representing a number using more bits
◼ Preserve the numeric value
◼ In MIPS instruction set
◼ addi: extend immediate value
◼ lb, lh: extend loaded byte/halfword
◼ beq, bne: extend the displacement
◼ Replicate the sign bit to the left
◼ c.f. unsigned values: extend with 0s
◼ Examples: 8-bit to 16-bit
◼ +2: 0000 0010 => 0000 0000 0000 0010
◼ –2: 1111 1110 => 1111 1111 1111 1110

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 18

 §2.5 Representing Instructions in the Computer
Representing Instructions
◼ Instructions are encoded in binary
◼ Called machine code
◼ MIPS instructions
◼ Encoded as 32-bit instruction words
◼ Small number of formats encoding operation code
(opcode), register numbers, …
◼ Regularity!
◼ Register numbers
◼ $t0 – $t7 are reg’s 8 – 15
◼ $t8 – $t9 are reg’s 24 – 25
◼ $s0 – $s7 are reg’s 16 – 23

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 19

Hexadecimal
◼ Base 16
◼ Compact representation of bit strings
◼ 4 bits per hex digit

0 0000 4 0100 8 1000 c 1100

1 0001 5 0101 9 1001 d 1101
2 0010 6 0110 a 1010 e 1110
3 0011 7 0111 b 1011 f 1111

◼ Example: eca8 6420

◼ 1110 1100 1010 1000 0110 0100 0010 0000

Chapter 2 — Instructions: Language of the Computer — 20