Interview Questions on Microprocessor
Interview Questions on Microprocessor
Ans. 8085 has Von Neumann architecture. It is named after the mathematician John
Von Neumann. It is based on the concept of stored program control. In this architecture
both the data and the program is stored in the same memory.
Ans. Accumulator is an 8 bit register which stores data and performs arithmetic and
logical operations. The result of the operation is stored in the accumulator. It is
designated by the letter ‘A’.
Ans. There are 5 different flags in 8085 microprocessor. Though the flag register is of 8
bit but 3 bits are not in use. Only 5 bits are used for the different flags. They are:-
a) Sign flag(s)– This is designated by the letter ‘S’. If sign bit is 1 then the sign flag is set
to 1 and if the sign bit is zero then sign flag is reset to zero.
b) Zero flag(z)– This is designated by the letter ‘z’. If the result of any arithmetic or
logical operation is zero i.e. all the bits are zero then zero flag is set to 1 else it is set to
zero.
c) Auxiliary carry– (AC) This flag is set to 1 only when any intermediate carry is
produced. Else it is reset to 0.
d) Parity flag (P) – when the result of any operation has odd number of ones then parity
flag is set to 1 else if it has even number of ones then it is reset to 0.
e) Carry flag(C) – this flag is set to 1 only when a carry is produced in the result i.e. the
carry bit is 1 else if the carry bit is zero then the flag is reset to zero.
Ans. There are 6 general purpose registers in 8085 microprocessor. They are designated
by the letters – B, C, D, E, H, and L. These are 8 bit registers and are used to store data
temporarily during the execution of any program. These registers can also be used to
store 16 bit data by using them in pairs i.e. BC, DE and HL. These pairs cannot be
changed as B cannot pair with any other register other than C.
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5) What is the length of stack pointer in 8085 microprocessor? And what is its use?
Interview Sample paper question answer on 8085 Microprocessor.
Ans. stack pointer is of 16 bits length and is used to point to the value at top of the stack
for the currently executed instruction.
Ans. 8085 has 8 data lines and 16 address lines. The memory size of any microprocessor
depends on the number of address lines. The general formula is 2^n, where n= number of
address lines. For 8085 there are 2^16= 64 Kbytes memory size.
Ans. Microprocessor is named on the basis of number of data lines in it. 8085 is a bit
microprocessor as it has 8 bit data lines.
8) What are the various interrupts in 8085 microprocessor? Which is the highest
priority interrupt? Important questions on Microprocessor 8085
a) TRAP
b) RST 7.5
c) RST 6.5
d) RST 5.5
e) INTR
9) Which type of cycle is used for fetch and execute instruction? Sample Paper
Interview question answer
Ans. Instruction cycle is used for the fetch and execute instruction.
In this cycle the instruction is fetched, decoded and executed to produce the required
output.
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10) How many address lines are there in 8085 microprocessor? Sample Paper
Interview question answer
Ans. There are 16 address lines in 8085. They are multiplexed address and data lines.
Address bus of 8085 is of 16 bits. During the first machine cycle these address lines are
used as data lines and in the next machine cycle all the 16 lines act as address lines.
The multiplexed 8 address and data lines refer to lower order address bit and the rest 8 for
higher order address bits.
Ans:- Reasons-high stability, large Q (Quality Factor) & the frequency that doesn’t drift
with aging. so crystal is used as a clock source most of the times.
Ans:-Flag is called Low order register & Accumulator is called High order Register in
8085 microprocessor.
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Interview Questions on Microprocessor
with Answers and pdf
admin 12:20 pm
Introduction
Candidates preparing for any recruitment or interview and have added microprocessor in
to their resumes and looking for a good set of interview questions on microprocessor as
initial preparation. In this section, we have provided a set of important frequently asked
interview questions on microprocessor. It contains all the basic questions that is generally
asked during the interview covering all the topics. I have faced these questions during my
interviews for various companies. Just go through these questions will surely boost up
you for the interview. Questions are taken after consulting from successful candidates
who are placed in top multi national companies and opted microprocessor as their subject
of interest. Still if it contains any error please do let us know we will surely work on it.
Any type of suggestions will be highly appreciated.
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1) What type of architecture used in 8085 microprocessor?Interview Questions on
Microprocessor 8085
Ans. 8085 has Von Neumann architecture. It is named after the mathematician John
Von Neumann. It is based on the concept of stored program control. In this architecture
both the data and the program is stored in the same memory.
Ans. Accumulator is an 8 bit register which stores data and performs arithmetic and
logical operations. The result of the operation is stored in the accumulator. It is
designated by the letter ‘A’.
Ans. There are 5 different flags in 8085 microprocessor. Though the flag register is of 8
bit but 3 bits are not in use. Only 5 bits are used for the different flags. They are:-
a) Sign flag(s)– This is designated by the letter ‘S’. If sign bit is 1 then the sign flag is set
to 1 and if the sign bit is zero then sign flag is reset to zero.
b) Zero flag(z)– This is designated by the letter ‘z’. If the result of any arithmetic or
logical operation is zero i.e. all the bits are zero then zero flag is set to 1 else it is set to
zero.
c) Auxiliary carry– (AC) This flag is set to 1 only when any intermediate carry is
produced. Else it is reset to 0.
d) Parity flag (P) – when the result of any operation has odd number of ones then parity
flag is set to 1 else if it has even number of ones then it is reset to 0.
e) Carry flag(C) – this flag is set to 1 only when a carry is produced in the result i.e. the
carry bit is 1 else if the carry bit is zero then the flag is reset to zero.
Ans. There are 6 general purpose registers in 8085 microprocessor. They are designated
by the letters – B, C, D, E, H, and L. These are 8 bit registers and are used to store data
temporarily during the execution of any program. These registers can also be used to
store 16 bit data by using them in pairs i.e. BC, DE and HL. These pairs cannot be
changed as B cannot pair with any other register other than C.
5) What is the length of stack pointer in 8085 microprocessor? And what is its use?
Interview Sample paper question answer on 8085 Microprocessor.
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Ans. stack pointer is of 16 bits length and is used to point to the value at top of the stack
for the currently executed instruction.
Ans. 8085 has 8 data lines and 16 address lines. The memory size of any microprocessor
depends on the number of address lines. The general formula is 2^n, where n= number of
address lines. For 8085 there are 2^16= 64 Kbytes memory size.
Ans. Microprocessor is named on the basis of number of data lines in it. 8085 is a bit
microprocessor as it has 8 bit data lines.
8) What are the various interrupts in 8085 microprocessor? Which is the highest
priority interrupt? Important questions on Microprocessor 8085
a) TRAP
b) RST 7.5
c) RST 6.5
d) RST 5.5
e) INTR
9) Which type of cycle is used for fetch and execute instruction? Sample Paper
Interview question answer
Ans. Instruction cycle is used for the fetch and execute instruction.
In this cycle the instruction is fetched, decoded and executed to produce the required
output.
10) How many address lines are there in 8085 microprocessor? Sample Paper
Interview question answer
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Ans. There are 16 address lines in 8085. They are multiplexed address and data lines.
Address bus of 8085 is of 16 bits. During the first machine cycle these address lines are
used as data lines and in the next machine cycle all the 16 lines act as address lines.
The multiplexed 8 address and data lines refer to lower order address bit and the rest 8 for
higher order address bits.
Ans:- Reasons-high stability, large Q (Quality Factor) & the frequency that doesn’t drift
with aging. so crystal is used as a clock source most of the times.
Ans:-Flag is called Low order register & Accumulator is called High order Register in
8085 microprocessor.
Ans:- Three Logic Levels are used and they are known as High, Low, High impedance
state. The high and low are said to be normal logic levels where as high impedance state
is electrical open circuit conditions. Tri-state logic has a enable line as third line
Ans:- The Micro Processor will enter into Halt-State and the buses will be tri-stated.
Ans:- LIFO (Last In First Out) stack is used in 8085.In this type of Stack the information
which is stored last will be taken out or retrieved first.
Ans:- Program counter does either of the two things that is it holds the address of either
the first byte of the next instruction to be fetched for execution or the address of the next
byte of a multi byte instruction, which was not completely fetched. In both the cases it is
incremented automatically one by one as the instruction bytes will be fetched. Program
register also keeps the next instruction address.
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18) Name the 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th generation processor?
Ans:-The processor are made of PMOS / NMOS / HMOS / HCMOS technology which
is called 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th generation processor, and that is made up of 4 / 8 / 16 / 32
bits respectively.
Ans:- The Processor lines names of two major manufacturers are as follows:- At High-
end: Intel – Pentium (II, III, IV), AMD – Athlon. At Low-end: Intel – Celeron, AMD –
Duron. 64-bit: Intel – Itanium 2, AMD – Opteron
20) Mention the speed and device maximum specs for Firewire?
Ans:-IEEE 1394 (Firewire) with speeds up to 400 Mbps can support the maximum of 63
connected devices
Ans:- The place where MBR is situated is in sector 0, track 0, head 0, cylinder 0 of the
primary active partition.
Ans:- Intel’s 80386 was the first 32-bit processor, and so the company had to backward-
support the 8086. All the modern Intel-based processors run in the enhanced mode which
are capable to switch in between real mode and protected mode, which is the current
mode of operation.
Address bus: It carries the Address to the memory to fetch either instruction..
Data bus : It carries data from the memory.
Control bus : It carries the control signals like RD/WR, Select etc.
Ans:- Execution Unit receives both program instruction codes & data from Bus Interface
Unit and then executes these instructions and the result is being stored in registers.
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26) Can an RC circuit be used as clock source for 8085?
Ans:-Yes,RC circuit can be used as clock source if in case an accurate clock frequency is
not required. The cost of RC is low as compared to LC.
Ans:- In 8086 there are 9 types of flags which are as follows Carry flag, Parity flag,
Auxiliary carry flag, Zero flag, Overflow flag, Trace flag, Interrupt flag, Direction flag,
and Sign flag.
28) What are the various interrupts in 8086?
Ans:- An interrupt that can be turned off by the programmer is known as Maskable
interrupts are those interrupts which can be turned off by the programmer or can be
ignored by the programmer.
30) What is Non-Maskable interrupts?
Ans:- A processor interrupt which can be never be turned off (i.e.disabled) or cannot be
ignored by the programmer is known as Non-Maskable interrupt.
31) Which interrupts are generally used for critical events?
Ans:- Non-Maskable interrupts are generally used in critical events. For example- Power
failure, Emergency, Shut off etc.
32) Give some examples for Maskable interrupts?
Ans:- Some examples for maskable interrupts are as follows:- RST 7.5, RST6.5, RST5.5
33) Give some example for Non-Maskable interrupts?
Ans:- 5 Mhz
35) Name the various segment registers in 8086?
Ans:- The various segment registers in 8085 are- Code, Data, Stack, Extra Segment
registers.
36) Which Stack is used in 8086?
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Ans:- FIFO (First In First Out) stack is used in 8086.In this type of Stack the information
which is stored first is taken out or retrieved first.
37) What is SIM and RIM instructions?
Ans:- SIM is Set Interrupt Mask. which is used to mask the hardware interrupts. RIM is
Read Interrupt Mask which is used to check whether the interrupt is masked or not.
38) Which is the tool which is used to connect the user and the computer?
Ans:- Interpreter
39) What is the position of the Stack Pointer after the PUSH instruction?
These are some of the interview questions and answers on Microprocessor. If you want to
add some more, please mention in the comment section of the post.
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