3.

Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

16 Marks
Syllabus:

3.1 Machine Language Instruction format, addressing modes

3.2 Instruction set, Groups of Instructions
Arithmetic Instructions, Logical Instructions, Data transfer instructions, Bit manipulation instructions,
String Operation Instructions, Program control transfer or branching Instructions, Process control
Instructions

Machine Language Instruction Format:

There are one or more fields in machine language instruction format. The first field is called
operation code (or opcode) field. It indicates the operation to be performed by microprocessor. There
are other fields known as operand fields. The microprocessor performs different operations on these
fields. The length of an instruction is determined by opcode & operand fields. The length an instruction
may vary from one byte to six bytes. There are six general formats of instructions in 8086 instruction
set. These are described below.
1. One byte instruction:
This format is one byte long. It may have the implied data or register operands. Three least
significant bits (LSB) of opcode are used to specify the register operand if any, otherwise, all 8 bits form
an opcode and operands are implied.
2. Register to Register:
This format is two byte long. The first byte of instruction gives the opcode and size of operand
(16 bit/8 bit) with help of w bit. The second byte of instruction gives the register operands and R/M
fields.

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
Opcode w 1 1 REG R/M

3. Register to Memory/Memory to Register without displacement:

This format is 2 byte long and similar to ‘register to register’ format. Here MOD field is 00.

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
Opcode w MOD=00 REG R/M

4. Register to Memory/Memory to Register with displacement:

This instruction format contains one byte (for 8 bit displacement) or two bytes (for 16 bit
displacement) additional along with the previous format.

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 First byte Second byte

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
Opcode MOD REG R/M

Third byte Fourth byte

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
Lower byte Higher byte

displacement
MOD=01 for 8 bit displacement
MOD=10 for 16 bit displacement

5. Immediate operand to Register:

In this instruction format, first byte and 3 bits from second byte (D3, D4, D5) are used as
opcode. It contains 2 bytes of immediate operand in case of 16 bit data.
First byte Second byte

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
Opcode MOD=11 Opcode R/M

Third byte Fourth byte

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
Lower byte Higher byte

Immediate data

6. Immediate operand to Memory with 16 bit displacement:

This instruction format requires 5 or 6 bytes. First two bytes contain opcode, MOD and R/M
fields. Next two bytes contain 16 bit displacement and remaining two bytes contain immediate data.
First byte Second byte
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
Opcode MOD Opcode R/M

Third byte Fourth byte

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
Lower byte Higher byte

Displacement
(see next page)

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 Fifth byte Sixth byte
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
Lower byte Higher byte

Immediate data

The opcode has indicator bits as follows:

1) w bit: In opcode, this bit indicates the size of operand. If w = 0, the operand is 0f 8 bits. If
w = 1, the operand is of 16 bits.
2) d bit: If there are two operands in an instruction, this bit indicates that one operand is in a
register. If d = 0, the REG field specifies that it is a source operand. If d = 1, the REG field
of opcode specifies that it is a destination operand.
3) s bit: This bit is called as sign extension bit. This bit along with w bit gives the type of
operation.
i) s = 0, w = 0 : 8 bit operation with 8 bit immediate operand
ii) s = 0, w = 1 : 16 bit operation with 16 bit immediate operand
iii) s = 1, w = 1 : 16 bit operation with signed 16 bit immediate operand.
4) v bit: This bit is used in shift and rotate
instructions.If v = 0, shift count is 1.
If v = 1, shift count is in CL register.
5) z bit: this bit is used by REP prefix to control the loop.

REG Codes:
Register
Code w=0 w=1

000 AL AX
001 CL CX
010 DL DX
011 BL BX
100 AH SP
101 CH BP
110 DH SI
111 BH DI
Segment Register Codes:
Code Segment register

00 ES
01 CS
10 SS
11 DS

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R/M, MOD codes:
MOD 00 01 10 11
R/M No displacement 8 bit displacement 16 bit displacement w=0 w=1

000 [BX]+[SI] [BX]+[SI]+d8 [BX]+[SI]+d16 AL AX

001 [BX]+[DI] [BX]+[DI]+d8 [BX]+[DI]+d16 CL CX
010 [BP]+[SI] [BP]+[SI]+d8 [BP]+[SI]+d16 DL DX
011 [BP]+[DI] [BP]+[DI]+d8 [BP]+[DI]+d16 BL BX
100 [SI] [SI]+d8 [SI]+d16 AH SP
101 [DI] [DI]+d8 [DI]+d16 CH BP
110 d16 Direct add. [BP]+d8 [BP]+d16 DH SI
111 [BX] [BX]+d8 [BX]+d16 BH DI

d8=8 bit displacement; d16=16 bit displacement

Examples: Converting instructions to machine code

1) MOV BL, CL
General format for MOV (Register to Register):

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
1 0 0 0 1 0 d w 1 1 REG R/M

1) w = 0 for 8 bit operands (BL and CL)

2) If d = 1 then REG gives destination. Destination in above instruction is BL register. Therefore
code of BL register will be written in REG field i.e. REG = 011
3) Since this is register to register type instruction, therefore, R/M gives source register. The
source register is CL, therefore, its code will be written in R/M field i.e. R/M = 001

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
1 0 0 0 1 0 d=1 w=0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1

Destination is a register MOD bits REG destination R/M source

w=0 : 8 bit operand
Therefore, MOV BL, CL = 8AD9H
Same instruction can be coded as follows:

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
1 0 0 0 1 0 d=0 w=0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1

Source is a register MOD bits REG source R/M destination

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 8 bit operand
Therefore, MOV BL, CL = 88CBH

2) ADD AX, BX
Opcode for ADD = 000000dw MOD REG R/M
• d will be 1 since destination is a register
• w will be 1 for 16 bit operands (AX and BX)
• REG gives destination, destination is AX, therefore REG = code of AX = 000
• R/M gives source, source is BX, therefore R/M = code of BX = 011
• Register to Register type of operation, therefore MOD = 11
• ADD AX, BX = 00000011 11000011 = 03C3H
Same instruction can be coded as follows:
• d will be 0 since source is a register
• w will be 1 for 16 bit operands (AX and BX)
• REG gives source, source is BX, therefore REG = code of BX = 011
• R/M gives destination, destination is AX, therefore R/M = code of AX = 000
• Register to Register type of operation, therefore MOD = 11
• ADD AX, BX = 00000001 11011000 = 01D8H

3) MOV [SI], DL
Opcode = 100010dw MOD REG R/M
d = 0, REG field gives source. Source is DL register and its code is 010, therefore, REG = 010
w = 0, 8 bit operands
MOD = 00, the instruction is not having any displacement
R/M gives destination. Destination is [SI] and its code is 100, therefore, R/M = 100
MOV [SI], DL = 10001000 00010100 = 8814H

Addressing modes of 8086:

Addressing mode gives a way of locating data or operand. It describes the type of operands and
the way in which these operands are accessed for executing an instruction. Instructions can be
categorized as 1) sequential control flow instructions and 2) control transfer instructions.
Sequential control flow instructions are executed sequentially one after the another e.g. data transfer,
arithmetic, logical etc. instructions. Control transfer instructions when executed, transfer the execution

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to some another location e.g. CALL, RET, JMP instructions. The addressing modes for the sequential
and control transfer instructions are as follows:
1) Immediate:
In this type of addressing mode, data is available in the instruction itself e.g.
MOV AX, 5000H
ADD BX, 1020H
2) Direct:
In this addressing mode a 16 bit offset address is directly specified in the instruction e.g.
MOV AX, [5000H]

3) Register:
In this mode, data is stored in registers and it is referred using registers e.g.
MOV AX, BX
ADD AL, CL
4) Register Indirect:
In this mode, the operand is specified indirectly using some register. The contents of register point to
some memory location in Data Segment or Extra Segment. The registers used to specify memory
location are BX, SI, DI, BP e.g.
MOV AX, [BX]
In the above instruction, the contents of register BX will be used as offset in data segment. From that
offset two bytes will be transferred to AX.
INC BYTE PTR [SI]
In the above instruction, the contents of memory location pointed by SI in data segment will be
incremented by 1.
Suppose SI = 1000H

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5) Indexed:
In this mode offset of operand is stored in either SI or DI register. This is a form of register indirect
addressing mode e.g.
MOV AX, [SI]
6) Register relative:
In this addressing mode, effective address of data is formed by adding 8 bit or 16 bit displacement
with the contents of BX, BP, SI, or DI registers e.g.
MOV AX, 50H [BX]
7) Based Indexed:
In this addressing mode, the effective address of data is formed by adding contents of base register
(BX or BP) to the contents of an index register (SI, DI) e.g.
MOV AX, [BX] [SI]
8) Relative Based Indexed:
The effective address of data, in this mode, is formed by adding an 8 bit / 16 bit displacement to the
sum of contents of any one base register(BX or BP) and any one index register (SI or DI) e.g.
MOV AX, 1000H [BX] [SI]

Instruction set of 8086:

The instructions of 8086 microprocessor are categorized into following main types:
1) Data copy/transfer instructions:
These instructions are used to transfer data from source to destination. All move, load, store,
input and output instructions belong to this category.
2) Arithmetic and logical instructions:
Instructions of this type are used to perform arithmetic, logical, increment, decrement, compare
etc. operations.
3) Branch instructions:

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 These instructions transfer execution control to specified address. Cal, jump, return and
interrupt instructions belong to this category.
4) Loop instructions:
These instructions are used to implement conditional or unconditional loops. The loop count is
stored in CX register e.g. LOOP, LOOPZ, LOOPNZ instructions.
5) Machine control instructions:
These instructions are used to control 8086 microprocessor itself e.g. NOP, HLT, WAIT and
LOCK instructions.
6) Flag manipulation instructions:
These instructions are used to set or reset flags of 8086 e.g. STC, CLC, CMC, STI, CLI, CLD,
STD instructions.
7) Shift and Rotate instructions:
These instructions are used to shift or rotate the bits of operand in either right or left direction.
CL register can be used to store the count of shift/rotate operation.
8) String instructions:
These instructions are used to perform string manipulation operations such as load, move,
store, scan, compare etc.

Data transfer / copy instructions:

1) MOV: Move
➢ General form: MOV destination, source
➢ This instruction copies a word or byte from source to destination.
➢ The destination can be a register or memory location.
➢ The source can be a register, a memory location or an immediate data.
➢ Both, source and destination can not be memory locations.
➢ If source is immediate data, destination can not be a segment register.
➢ Size of source and destination must be same.
➢ No flags are affected after execution of MOV instruction.
➢ Examples: MOV CX, 1234H ;CX=1234H after execution
MOV BL, [5000H]

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 MOV AX, BX ; AX = BX after execution
MOV DS, AX ; DS = AX after execution
MOV AX, [SI]
MOV AX, 50H [BX]
2) PUSH: Push to stack
➢ General form: PUSH source
➢ This instruction stores the contents of source on to the stack.
➢ The source can be a general purpose register, segment register or memory.
➢ When this instruction is executed, the stack pointer, which points to the top of stack, is
decremented by 2 and contents of source are copied on to the stack. The higher byte of source
is stored at higher address and lower byte is stored at lower address.
➢ No flags are affected by this instruction
➢ Examples:
PUSH AX ; Let AX = 1122H, SS = 2000H, SP = FFFFH

PUSH DS
PUSH [2000H]
PUSH AL ; Not allowed since AL is 8 bit register, ALWAYS a WORD

can be pushed on stack.

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3) POP: Pop from stack
➢ General form: POP destination
➢ This instruction copies a word from stack segment pointed by SP to destination. The destination
can be a general purpose register, a segment register or a memory location. After copying, SP is
automatically incremented by 2.
➢ No flags are affected by POP instruction
➢ Examples:
POP AX ; Let SS = 2000H and SP = FFFDH

POP DS
POP CS ; This is not allowed
POP [5000H]

4) XCHG: Exchange
➢ General form: XCHG destination, source
➢ This instruction exchanges contents of source and destination.
➢ Source and destination both cannot be memory locations.
➢ Source and destination must be of same size (i.e. both must be bytes or both must be words).
➢ Segment register cannot be used with this instruction.
➢ No flags are affected by this instruction.
➢ Examples:
XCHG AX, DX
XCHG BL, CL
XCHG [5000H], AX

5) IN: Copy data from a port

➢ General form: IN Accumulator (AX or AL), Port

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 ➢ This instruction copies data from a port to AL or AX register.
➢ If an 8 bit port is read, the data will go into AL.
➢ If a 16 bit port is read, the data will go to AX.
➢ The port can be a fixed port (having 8 bit port address) or a variable port (having 16 bit port
address). For variable type port, the port address is loaded in DX register.
➢ No flags are affected.
➢ Example: Fixed port (8 bit port address)
IN AL, 80H
IN AX, 45H
➢ Examples: Variable port (16 bit port address)
1) MOV DX, 8000H ; move port address into DX
IN AL, DX
2) MOV DX, 8080H ; move port address into DX
IN AX, DX

6) OUT: Output a byte or word to a port

➢ General form: OUT Port, Accumulator (AX or AL)

➢ This instruction copies a byte from Al to a port or a word from AX to a port.

➢ The port can be a fixed port (having 8 bit port address) or a variable port (having 16 bit port
address in DX register).
➢ For fixed port, the 8 bit address is directly given in the instruction.
➢ Examples:
OUT 81H, AL
OUT 46H, AX
➢ For variable port, the port address is first loaded in DX register.
➢ Examples:
1) MOV DX, 8001H
OUT DX, AL
2) MOV DX, 8181H
OUT DX, AX
➢ No flags are affected by this instruction.

7) XLAT: Translate a byte in AL

➢ General form: XLAT

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 ➢ This instruction is used to translate a byte from one code to another code.
➢ It replaces a byte in AL register with a byte pointed by BX in a lookup table in memory.
➢ Before using this instruction lookup table must be present in memory. Starting address of table
is loaded in BX register. The byte to be translated is loaded in AL.
AL  DS : [ BX + AL ]
➢ The value in AL is added to BX. This new value will be used as pointer in data segment.
➢ From the location, pointed by [BX+AL], data will be transferred to AL.
➢ No flags are affected by this instruction.
➢ Following example shows how to find ASCII value of a decimal digit (0 – 9) present in AL.

ASSUME CS: CODE, DS: DATA

DATA SEGMENT
ASCII_CODES DB 30H,31H,32H,33H,34H,35H,36H,37H,38H,39H
DIGIT DB 05 ; Find ASCII code of 5
RES DB ? ; To store the result i.e. ASCII code
DATA ENDS
CODE SEGMENT
MAIN:
MOV AX, DATA ; Initialize data segment
MOV DS, AX

MOV BX, OFFSET ASCII_CODES ; Find offset of table

MOV AL, DIGIT ; Move code to AL
XLAT ; Find new code
MOV RES, AL ; Store result

MOV AH, 4CH ; Terminate the program

INT 21H
CODE ENDS

END MAIN

8) LEA: Load Effective Address

➢ General form: LEA Register, source
➢ This instruction loads the effective address of destination operand into the source register.
➢ No flags are affected.
➢ Example:
LEA BX, NUM1

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9) LDS: Load Register and DS with words from memory
10) LES: Load Register and ES with words from memory
➢ General form: LDS Register, Memory address of first word
➢ This instruction copies a word from memory into register specified. It then copies a word from
next memory locations into DS/ES.
➢ No flags are affected.
➢ Example:
LDS BX, [5000H]

11) LAHF: Load AH from lower byte of flag

➢ General form: LAHF
➢ This instruction copies lower byte of flag register to AH register.
➢ No flags are affected.
➢ Example:
LAHF

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12) SAHF: Store AH register to lower byte of flag register
➢ General form: LAHF
➢ This instruction copies contents of AH register to lower byte of flag register.
➢ Depending upon the bits of AH register, the flags in the lower byte of flag register will be set
or reset.
➢ Example:
SAHF

13) PUSHF: Push flags to stack

➢ General form: PUSHF
➢ This instruction pushes the flag register contents on to the stack. Higher byte of flag is stored
first and then lower byte of the flag is stored.
➢ The SP is decremented by 2.
➢ No flags are affected.

➢ Example:
PUSHF

14) POPF: Pop flags from stack

➢ General form: PUSHF
➢ This instruction loads the flag register from stack.
➢ SP is incremented by 2.
➢ All flags will be affected by this instruction.

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 Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

➢ Example:
POPF

Arithmetic instructions:
1) ADD: Add
➢ General form: ADD destination, source
➢ This instruction adds a number from source to destination. The result is available in
destination.
➢ The source may be an immediate number, a register or a memory location.
➢ The destination may be a register or a memory location.
➢ Both source and destination cannot be memory locations.
➢ The size of source and destination must be same i.e. both must be bytes or both must be words.
➢ Segment registers cannot be used.
➢ Flags affected: All condition flags (A, C, O, P, S, Z).
➢ Examples:
ADD AL, 67H
ADD DX, BX
ADD AX, [SI]
ADD BX, [5000H]
ADD [BX], 79H

2) ADC: Add with Carry

➢ General form: ADC destination, source
➢ The operation of this instruction is same as ADD instruction except it adds carry flag bit to the
result.
➢ If CF=1 (set), 1 is added to the addition result.
➢ If CF=0 (reset), 0 is added to the addition result.
➢ All condition flags are affected by this instruction.
➢ Examples:

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 Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

ADC AX, BX
ADC AH, 67H
ADC BX, [SI]
ADC CX, [5000H]
ADC [BX], 23H

3) SUB: Subtract
4) SBB: Subtract with Borrow
➢ General form: SUB destination, source
SBB destination, source
➢ These instructions subtract a number in source from number in destination.
➢ The source may be an immediate number, a register or a memory location.
➢ The destination can be a register or a memory location.
➢ Both source and destination can not be memory locations.
➢ The size of source and destination must be same i.e. both must be bytes or both must be words.
➢ In case of SBB, borrow flag (i.e. Carry flag) and source will be subtracted from destination and
result is placed in destination.
➢ In case of SUB, only source will be subtracted from destination and result is placed in
destination.
destination = destination - source
➢ All condition flags are affected by these instructions (AF, CF, OF, PF, SF, ZF)
➢ Examples:
SUB AX, BX
SUB AH, 67H
SUB BX, [SI]
SUB CX, [5000H]
SUB [BX], 23H

5) INC: Increment
➢ General form: INC destination
➢ This instruction increments the destination by 1.
➢ The destination may be a register or a memory location.
➢ Immediate operand is not allowed.
➢ Flags affected: A, O, P, S and Z. Carry flag is not affected by this instruction.
➢ Examples:

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

INC BL
INC CX
INC BYTE PTR [BX]
INC WORD PTR [BX]

6) DEC: Decrement
➢ General form: DEC destination
➢ This instruction subtracts 1 from destination.
➢ The destination may be a register or a memory location.
➢ Immediate operand cannot be used.
➢ Flags affected: A, O, P, S and Z. Carry flag is not affected by this instruction.
➢ Examples:
DEC CL
DEC BP
DEC BYTE PTR [SI]
DEC WORD PTR [BX]
DEC COUNT ; COUNT is a variable
7) CMP: Compare

➢ General form: CMP destination, source

➢ This instruction compares destination and source.
➢ Both can be byte operands or both can be word operands.
➢ The source can be an immediate number, a register or a memory locatin.
➢ The destination can be a register or a memory location.
➢ Both operands cannot be memory operands.
➢ Comparison is done by subtracting the source from destination (destination – source). Source
and destination remain unchanged.
➢ All condition flags are affected to indicate the result of operation.
➢ For example,
CMP CX, BX
i) If CX = BX CF = 0, ZF = 1, SF = 0
ii) If CX > BX CF = 0, ZF = 0, SF = 0
iii) If CX < BX CF = 1, ZF = 0, SF = 1
CMP AL, 01H
CMP BH, CL
CMP DX, NUM1
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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

CMP [BX], 10H

8) AAA: ASCII Adjust after Addition

➢ General form: AAA
➢ This instruction is generally used after an ADD instruction. AH must be cleared before ADD
operation.
➢ This instruction converts the contents of AL to unpacked decimal digits.
➢ This instruction examines the lower 4 bits of AL whether it contains a value in the range 0 to 9.
➢ If it is between 0 – 9 and AF=0, this instruction sets 4 higher bits of AL to zero.
➢ If lower 4 bits of AL are in the range 0 – 9 and AF=1, 06H is added to AL. The upper four bits
of AL are cleared and AH is incremented by 1.
➢ If lower nibble (lower 4 bits) of AL is greater than 9, AL is incremented by 6 and AH is
incremented by 1. The upper nibble of AL is cleared and AF=CF=1.
➢ Flags affected: A, C
➢ Examples:
1) Let BL = 34H
AL = 33H
Then
ADD AL, BL ; AL = 33 + 34 = 67H
AAA ; AL = 07H
2) Let BL = 34H
AL = 36H
Then
ADD AL, BL ; AL = 33 + 34 = 6AH
AAA ; Since lower 4 bits of AL = A > 9
therefore AL = AL + 06H
= 10H
AL = 00H, AH = 01H

9) AAS: ASCII Adjust after Subtraction

➢ General form: AAA
➢ This instruction corrects the result in AL register. This instruction is used after subtraction
operation.
➢ If lower nibble of AL is greater than 9 or if AF = 1, AL is decremented by 6 and AH is
decremented by 1. The CF and AF are set to 1.

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

10) AAM: ASCII Adjust after Multiplication

➢ General form: AAM
➢ This instruction converts the product available in unpacked BCD format.
➢ This instruction is used after multiplication operation in which two unpacked BCD operands
are multiplied.
➢ Flags affected: S, Z, P
➢ Example:
MOV AL, 04
MOV BL, 09
MUL BL ; AX = 0024H
AAM ; AH = 03, AL = 06

11) AAD: ASCII Adjust before Division

➢ General form: AAM
➢ This instruction converts two unpacked BCD digits in AH and AL to equivalent binary number
and stores it in AL.
➢ Flags modified: S, Z, P
➢ This instruction is used before DIV instruction.
➢ Example:
Let AX = 0508
AAD ; AL = 3AH

12) DAA: Decimal Adjust Accumulator

➢ General form: DAA
➢ This instruction is used to convert the result of addition of two packed BCD numbers to a valid
BCD numbers.
➢ The result has to be only in AL.
➢ If lower nibble of AL is greater than 9 or if AF = 1, it will add 06 to lower nibble in AL.
➢ After adding 06, if upper nibble of AL is greater than 9 or if CF=1, this instruction adds 60 to
AL.
➢ Flags affected: S, Z, A, P, C
➢ Following examples explains this instruction.
i) Let AL = 53, CL = 29
ADD AL, CL ; AL  53 + 29 = 7C

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

DAA ;C>9
7C + 06 = 82
ii) Let AL = 73, CL = 29
ADD AL, CL ; AL  73 + 29 = 9C
DAA ;C>9
9C + 06 = A2
A>9
A2 + 60 = 02 in AL and CF = 1

13) DAS: Decimal Adjust after Subtraction

➢ General form: DAS
➢ This instruction is used after subtracting two packed BCD numbers. The result of subtraction
must be in AL.
➢ If lower nibble of AL > 9 or the AF = 1 then this instruction will subtract 6 from lower nibble
of AL.
➢ If the result in upper nibble is now greater than 9 or if carry flag was set, the instruction will
subtract 60 from AL.
➢ Examples:
1) Let AL = 75, BH = 46
SUB AL, BH ; AL = 75 – 46
= 2F
DAS ; AL = AL - 06
= 2F - 06
= 29
2) Let AL = 49, BH = 72
SUB AL, BH ; AL = 49 - 72
= D7 with CF = 1
Since D > 9
AL = AL - 60
= D7 - 60
= 77 with CF = 1

14) NEG: Negate (Find 2’s complement)

➢ General form: NEG destination
➢ This instruction finds 2’s complement of destination

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

➢ For finding 2’s complement, it subtracts the contents of destination from zero.
➢ The result is stored in destination.
➢ The destination may be a register or a memory location.
➢ If operation cannot be completed then OF=1.
➢ All conditional flags are affected.

15) MUL: Unsigned multiplication of byte or word

➢ General form: MUL source
➢ This instruction multiplies an unsigned byte by contents of AL or an unsigned word by
contents of AX.
➢ The source can be a register or memory location. Immediate data cannot be used as source.
➢ When a byte is multiplied by AL, the result is put in AX.
➢ When a word is multiplied by AX, the result can be as large as 32 bits. The most significant word
(upper 16 bits) of result is placed in DX. The least significant word (lower 16 bits) of result is
placed in AX.
➢ If the most significant byte of 16 bit result or the most significant word of 32 bit result is 0, CF
and OF will be 0. A, P, S and Z flags are undefined.
➢ Examples:
MUL BH ; AX = AL * BH
MUL CX ; DX : AX = AX * CX
MUL BYTE PTR [BX]
MUL WORD PTR [SI]

16) IMUL: Multiply signed numbers

➢ General form: IMUL source
➢ This instruction multiplies a signed byte by AL or a signed word by contents of AX.
➢ The source can be a register or memory location. Immediate data can not be used as source.
➢ When a byte is multiplied by AL, the signed result is put in AX.
➢ When a word is multiplied by AX, the signed result is put in registers DX and AX with upper
16 bits in DX and lower 16 bits in AX.
➢ If upper byte of 16 bit result or upper word of 32 bit result contains only sign bits (all 0s for
positive result and all 1s for negative result) then CF = OF = 0 (reset).
➢ If upper byte of 16 bit result or upper word of 32 bit result contains part of the product,
CF = OF = 1 (set).
➢ A, P, S, Z flags undefined.

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

➢ Examples:
IMUL BX
IMUL AX
IMUL WORD PTR [SI]

17) CBW: Convert signed Byte to signed Word.

➢ General form: CBW
➢ This instruction copies the sign bit of a byte in AL to all bits in AH.
➢ No flags are affected.

18) CWD: Convert signed Word to signed Double word

➢ General form: CWD
➢ This instruction copies the sign bit of a word in AX to all bits of DX register.
➢ No flags are affected.

19) DIV: Unsigned Divide

➢ General form: DIV source
➢ This instruction is used to divide an unsigned word by a byte or an unsigned double word by a
word.
➢ The source can be a register or memory location.
➢ When a word is divided by byte, the word must be in AX. After division, AL will contain an 8
bit result (quotient) and AH will contain an 8 bit remainder.
➢ If a number is divided by zero or if result is greater than FFH, 8086 will automatically generate
a type 0 interrupt.
➢ When a double word is divided by a word, the most significant word must be in DX and least
significant word must be in AX. After division, AX will contain the 16 bit result and DX will
contain 16 bit remainder.
➢ If a number is divided by 0 or if the result is greater than FFFFH, type 0 interrupt is generated.
➢ All flags are undefined after a DIV instruction
➢ Examples:
DIV BL ; AX / BL
DIV CX ; DX : AX / CX
DIV BYTE PTR [SI] ; AX / [SI]

20) IDIV: Signed division

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

➢ General form: IDIV source register or memory

➢ This instruction is used to divide a signed word by a signed byte or a signed double word by a
signed word.
➢ When a signed word is divided by signed byte, the word must be in AX. After division, AL
will contain signed result (quotient) and AH will contain signed remainder.
➢ If a number is divided by zero or if result is greater than 127 or result is less than -127, type 0
interrupt is generated.
➢ When a signed double word is divided by a signed word, the most significant word must be in
DX and least significant word must be in AX. After division, AX will contain the 16 bit result
and DX will contain 16 bit remainder.
➢ If a number is divided by 0, or if the result is greater than 7FFFH, or if the result is less than
8001H, type 0 interrupt is generated.
➢ All flags are undefined.
➢ Examples:
IDIV BL
IDIV BP
IDIV BYTE PTR[BX]
Logical instructions:

1) AND: Logical AND

➢ General form: AND destination, source
➢ This instruction ANDs bits of destination and source. The result is stored in destination.
➢ The source can be immediate number, a register or memory location.
➢ The destination can be a register or a memory location.
➢ Both operands cannot be memory locations.
➢ The size of operand must be same.
➢ Flags affected:
OF = CF = 0 (reset)
P, S and Z flags are modified.
A (Auxiliary Carry) flag is undefined.
➢ Examples:
AND AX, 8000H
AND BH, CL
AND DX, [BX]

2) OR: Logical OR
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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

➢ General form: OR destination, source

➢ This instruction performs OR operation on bits of source and destination. The result is stored in
destination.
➢ The source can be immediate number, a register or memory location.
➢ The destination can be a register or a memory location.
➢ Both operands cannot be memory locations.
➢ The size of operand must be same.
➢ Flags affected:
OF = CF = 0 (reset)
P, S and Z flags are modified.
A (Auxiliary Carry) flag is undefined.
➢ Examples:
OR BX, CX
OR AL, DL
OR [BX], AH
OR AL, 30H

3) XOR: Logical Exclusive OR

➢ General form: XOR destination, source
➢ This instruction performs logical exclusive OR operation on bits of source and destination. The
result is stored in destination.
➢ The source can be immediate number, a register or memory location.
➢ The destination can be a register or a memory location.
➢ Both operands cannot be memory locations.
➢ The size of operand must be same.
➢ Flags affected:
OF = CF = 0 (reset)
P, S and Z flags are modified.
A (Auxiliary Carry) flag is undefined.
➢ Examples:
XOR AL, BL
XOR CX, DX
XOR BX, 5000H
XOR [SI], FFH
XOR DX, DX

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

4) NOT: Invert each bit of operand

➢ General form: XOR destination
➢ This instruction complements the contents of destination.
➢ The destination can be register or memory location.
➢ No flags are affected.
➢ Examples:
NOT BX
NOT BYTE PTR[BX]
NOT WORD PTR[SI]
NOT CL

5) TEST: AND operands to update flags.

➢ General form: TEST destination, source
➢ This instruction logically ANDs the bits of source and destination.
➢ No operand will change, only flags are updated.
➢ Flags affected:
OF = CF = 0 (reset)
P, S and Z flags are modified.
A (Auxiliary Carry) flag is undefined
➢ Examples:
TEST AX, BX
TEST [0500H], 06H
TEST AL, CL

Shift / Rotate instructions:

1) SHL: SHift operand bits Left
2) SAL: Shift Arithmetic Left operand bits
➢ General form: SHL destination, count
SAL destination, count
➢ These instructions shift the destination bits to the left.
➢ Zero is inserted at the least significant bit position (i.e. bit 0). Most Significant Bit is
transferred to Carry flag.
➢ Destination can be a register or a memory location.
➢ The count can be 1 or specified by register CL.

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

➢ Flags affected A flag is undefined.

O, S, Z, P and C flags are modified.

➢ For example, 1) Let AL = 79H = 0111 1001B

SHL AL, 1
SAL AL, 1
AL before execution:

AL after execution:

2) SAL BP, CL ; CL contains shift count

3) SHR: SHift Right

➢ General form: SHR destination, count
➢ This instructions shift the destination bits to the right.
➢ Zero is filled in the most significant bit position. Least Significant Bit is transferred to Carry
flag.
➢ Destination can be a register or a memory location.
➢ The count can be 1 or specified by register CL.
➢ Flags affected: A flag is undefined.
O, S, Z, P and C flags are modified.

➢ For example, 1) Let AL = 79H = 0111 1001B

SHR AL, 1

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

AL before execution:

AL after execution:

2) SHR DX, CL

4) SAR: Shift Arithmetic Right

➢ General form: SHR destination, count
➢ This instructions shift the destination bits to the right.
➢ It inserts the most significant bit of operand in new position.
➢ Destination can be a register or a memory location.
➢ The count can be 1 or specified by register CL.
➢ Flags affected: A flag is undefined
O, S, Z, P and C flags are modified.

➢ For example, 1) Let AL = 1DH = 0001 1101B

SAR AL, 1 ; AL = 0000 1110B and Carry flag =1
2) BH = F3H = 1111 0011B
CL=02h
SAR BH, CL ; BH = 1111 1100B and Carry flag = 1

5) ROR: ROtate Right without carry

➢ General form: ROR destination, count
➢ This instruction rotates the bits of destination to the right.
➢ The LSB is transferred to MSB as well as to carry flag.
➢ The destination can be a register or a memory location.

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

➢ The count can be 1 or specified by CL register.

➢ Flags affected: O and C flags are modified.

6) ROL: ROtate Left without carry

➢ General form: ROL destination, count
➢ This instruction rotates the bits of destination to the left.
➢ The MSB is transferred to LSB as well as to carry flag.
➢ The destination can be a register or a memory location.
➢ The count can be 1 or specified by CL register.
➢ Flags affected: O and C flags are modified.

7) RCR: Rotate Right through Carry flag:

➢ General form: RCR destination, count
➢ This instruction rotates the bits of destination to the right through Carry Flag (CF).
➢ The CF bit is transferred to MSB of destination.
➢ The LSB is transferred to carry flag.

➢ The destination can be a register or a memory location.

➢ The count can be 1 or specified by CL register.
➢ Flags affected: O and C flags are modified.
➢ Examples:
1) RCR BX, 1
2) MOV CL, 04H
RCR DX, CL

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

3) RCR BYTE PTR [SI], 1

8) RCL: Rotate Left through Carry flag

➢ General form: RCL destination, count
➢ This instruction rotates the bits of destination to left through Carry Flag (CF).
➢ The MSB of destination is transferred to carry flag.
➢ The CF bit is transferred to LSB of destination.

➢ The destination can be a register or a memory location.

➢ The count can be 1 or specified by CL register.
➢ Flags affected: O and C flags are modified.
➢ Examples:
1) RCR BX, 1
2) MOV CL, 03H
RCR AX, CL
3) RCR WORD PTR [BX], 1

String manipulation instructions:

1) REP: Repeat instruction prefix
➢ This is used as a prefix to other instructions. The instruction to which REP prefix is used, is
executed CX times. At each iteration CX is automatically decremented by 1.there are two more
repeat instruction prefix: REPE / REPZ i.e. Repeat if equal/zero and REPNE / REPNZ i.e. Repeat
if not equal/not zero.

2) MOVSB / MOVSW: Move String Byte or String Word

➢ General form: MOVSB or REP MOVSB
MOVSW or REP MOVSW
➢ This instruction copies a byte or a word from a location in the data segment to a location in the
extra segment.
➢ The offset of source byte/word in data segment must be in SI register.
➢ The offset of destination in extra segment must be in DI register.

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

➢ For multiple byte/multiple word moves, the number of elements to be moved is put in CX
register. It acts as counter.
➢ After a byte/word move, SI and DI are automatically adjusted to point to next source and
destination byte/word.
➢ If Direction Flag (DF) = 0, SI and DI will be automatically incremented by 1 for byte move
(MOVSB) and incremented by 2 for word move (MOVSW).
➢ If DF = 1, then SI and DI will be automatically decremented.
➢ No flags are affected.
DS : SI ES : DI

3) CMPSB / CMPSW: Compare String Byte or Word

➢ General form: CMPSB or REPE CMPSB
CMPSW or REPE CMPSW
➢ This instruction is used to compare two strings of byte or word.
➢ The length of string is stored in CX register.
➢ One string is stored in data segment and its offset is stored in SI.
➢ Second string is stored in extra segment and its offset is stored in DI.
➢ Comparison is done by subtracting the byte/word of destination from the byte/word of source.
Neither source nor destination is changed.
➢ All condition flags are affected.
➢ If DF = 0, after comparison SI and DI are automatically incremented by 1 or 2 (for CMPSB 1,
for CMPSW 2).
➢ If DF = 1, after comparison SI and DI are automatically decremented by 1 or 2 (for CMPSB 1,
for CMPSW 2).

4) SCANSB / SCANSW: Scan a String Byte or String Word.

➢ General form: SCASB or REPNE SCASB
SCASW or REPNE SCASW
➢ This instruction compares a byte in AL or word in AX with a byte or word pointed to by DI in
extra segment.
➢ If DF = 0, then DI will be incremented.
➢ If DF = 1, then DI will be decremented.
➢ If a match is found in the string Zero flag is set.
➢ Flags affected: All condition flags.

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

5) LODSB / LODSW: Load String Byte into AL or Load String Word in AX

➢ General form: LODSB or LODSW
➢ This instruction loads a byte/word into AL/AX from contents of a string pointed to by DS : SI.
➢ SI is modified depending upon DF. If DF = 0, SI is incremented and if DF=1, SI is
decremented.
➢ No flags are affected.

6) STOSB / STOSW: Store a Byte or Word in String

➢ General form: STOSB or STOSW
➢ This instruction stores AL/AX contents to a location in string pointed by ES : DI.
➢
➢ DI is modified depending upon DF. If DF = 0, DI is incremented by 1 for STOSB and
incremented by 2 for STOSW instruction.
➢ No flags are affected by this instruction.

Branch and control transfer instructions:

Unconditional branch instructions:
1) CALL: Call a procedure
➢ This instruction is used to transfer execution to a subprogram or procedure (subroutine).
➢ There are two types of CALL: near and far
➢ A near CALL is a call to a procedure which is in the same code segment. The value of IP
register is stored on stack when call is executed.
➢ A far call is a call to a procedure which is in different code segment. When call is executed,
value of CS and IP registers is stored on stack.
➢ Examples:
CALL ascending ; ascending is the name of procedure
CALL BX ; BX is copied into IP
CALL WORD PTR[BX] ; [BX] and [BX+1] contents copied into IP.
CALL DWORD PTR[BX] ; [BX], [BX+1] → CS
[BX+2], [BX+3] → IP

2) RET: Return from the procedure

➢ This instruction returns execution from a procedure to the next instruction after call instruction.
➢ If procedure is near procedure then value of IP is restored from stack.
➢ If procedure is far procedure then value of IP as well as CS is restored from stack.

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

3) INT N: Interrupt type N

➢ General form: INT N
➢ N can be a value between 00H to FFH.
➢ When INT N is executed, N is multiplied by 4. the result will be used as offset and value
0000H will be used as code segment value.
➢ The address 0000 : N*4 will be used to find new values of IP and CS in order to execute an
Interrupt Service Routine (ISR).
➢ Example:
INT 21H
21H * 4 = 84H
0084H is an offset in CS = 0000H.

4) INTO: Interrupt on Overflow

➢ General form: INTO
➢ This instruction is executed when OF=1. the address of ISR is found (i.e. value of CS and IP)
from memory location 0000 : 0016. this is equivalent to INT 04H.

5) JMP: Unconditional jump

➢ This instruction unconditionally transfers the control of execution to specified address.
➢ If control is transferred within same code segment it is called near jump or intra segment jump.
➢ If control is transferred to another code segment, it is called far jump or inter segment jump.
➢ No flags are affected.
➢ Examples:
JMP continue ; transfer execution to instruction having a label continue
JMP BX ; [BX], [BX+1] → IP
JMP WORD PTR[BX] ; [BX], [BX+1] → IP
JMP DWORD PTR[BX] ; [BX+2], [BX+3] → CS

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

6) IRET: Return from ISR

➢ This instruction is used as last instruction in an ISR.
➢ When an ISR is called, before transferring control to it, the flag, CS and IP registers are stored
on the stack. At the end of each ISR, when IRET is executed the values of IP, CS and flag
registers are retrieved from the stack.

7) LOOP: Loop unconditionally

➢ General form: LOOP label
➢ This instruction executes instruction from thelabel upto LOOP instruction CX times.
➢ At each iteration, CX is automatically decremented.
➢ No flags are affected.
➢ Examples:
MOV AL, 00H
MOV CX, 0010
next: ADD AL, CL
LOOP next

8) LOOPE / LOOPZ: Loop while CX ≠ 0 and ZF = 1 (set)

➢ This instruction executes the loop when CX ≠ 0 and ZF = 1.
➢ If ZF becomes 0 or CX = 0, the loop is terminated.

9) LOOPNE / LOOPNZ: Loop while CX ≠ 0 and ZF = 0 (reset)

➢ This instruction executes the loop when CX ≠ 0 and ZF = 0.
➢ If ZF becomes 1 or CX = 0, the loop is terminated.

Conditional branch instructions:

➢ These instructions transfer the execution control to given label if some condition is satisfied.
➢ The target address must be in the range -80H to 7FH (or -128 to 127) bytes from branch
instruction.
➢ No flags are affected.

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

S. No. Instruction Operation

1 JZ / JE label Jump to label if ZF = 1
2 JNZ / JNE label Jump to label if ZF = 0
3 JS label Jump to label if SF = 1
4 JNS label Jump to label if SF = 0
5 JO label Jump to label if OF = 1
6 JNO label Jump to label if OF = 0
7 JP / JPE label Jump to label if PF = 1
8 JNP label Jump to label if PF = 0
9 JB / JNAE /JC label Jump to label if CF = 1
10 JNB / JAE / JNC label Jump to label if CF = 0
11 JBE / JNA label Jump to label if CF = 1 or ZF = 1
12 JNBE / JA label Jump to label if CF = 0 or ZF = 0
13 JL / JNGE label Jump if neither SF = 1 nor OF = 1
14 JNL / JGE label Jump if neither SF = 0 nor OF = 0
15 JLE / JNG label Jump to label if ZF = 1 or neither SF = 1 nor OF = 1
16 JNLE / JG label Jump to label if ZF = 0 or at least any of SF & OF is 1
17 JCXZ label Jump to label if CX = 0

Flag manipulation instructions:

These instructions are used to set or reset flags. Only that flag will be affected on which this
instruction will operate.
1) CLC: Clear Carry flag, after execution CF = 0.
2) CMC: Complement Carry flag, after execution CF will be complemented.
3) STC: Set Carry Flag, after execution CF = 1.
4) CLD: Clear Direction flag, after execution DF = 0.
5) STD: Set Direction flag, after execution DF = 1.
6) CLI: Clear Interrupt flag, after execution IF = 0. If IF is reset, INTR will be masked.
7) STI: Set Interrupt flag, after execution IF =1.

Processor / Machine control instructions:

These instructions are used to control the microprocessor.
1) WAIT: When this instruction is executed, microprocessor goes into wait state until TEST pin goes
low.

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Microprocessor and Programming Instruction Set of 8086 Microprocessor

2) HLT: Halt the processor. To make it come out of halt, state reset it or interrupt it.
3) NOP: No operation, microprocessor will not perform any operation for 4 clock cycles. IP will be
incremented by 1. This instruction can be used in delay loops.
4) ESC: Escape to external device like 8087
5) LOCK: Lock the bus
➢ It is a prefix, when used with some instruction, the buses are locked till the instruction is
executed completely. No other bus master can gain the access of buses.

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