Chapter 2: The Microprocessor and its Architecture

Introduction
This chapter presents the microprocessor as a
programmable device by first looking at its
internal programming model and then how its
memory space is addressed.
The architecture of Intel microprocessors is
presented, as are the ways that the family
members address the memory system.
Addressing modes for this powerful family of
microprocessors are described for the real,
protected, and flat modes of operation.
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

Chapter Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

Describe function and purpose of each

program-visible register in the 8086-Core2
microprocessors, including 64-bit extensions.
Detail the flag register and the purpose of
each flag bit.
Describe how memory is accessed using real
mode memory-addressing techniques.

ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

Chapter Objectives

(cont.)

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

Describe how memory is accessed using

protected mode memory-addressing
techniques.
Describe how memory is accessed using the
64-bit flat memory model.
Describe program-invisible registers found in
the 80286 through Core2 microprocessors.
Detail the operation of the memory-paging
mechanism.
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

21 INTERNAL MICROPROCESSOR
ARCHITECTURE
Before a program is written or instruction
investigated, internal configuration of the
microprocessor must be known.
In a multiple core microprocessor each core
contains the same programming model.
Each core runs a separate task or thread
simultaneously.

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The Programming Model

8086 through Core2 considered program
visible.
registers are used during programming and are
specified by the instructions

Other registers considered to be program

invisible.
not addressable directly during applications
programming

ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 80286 and above contain program-invisible

registers to control and operate protected
memory.
and other features of the microprocessor

80386 through Core2 microprocessors

contain full 32-bit internal architectures.
8086 through the 80286 are fully upwardcompatible to the 80386 through Core2.
Figure 21 illustrates the programming model
8086 through Core2 microprocessor.
including the 64-bit extensions
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Figure 21 The programming model of the 8086 through the Core2 microprocessor
including the 64-bit extensions.

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Multipurpose Registers
RAX - a 64-bit register (RAX), a 32-bit register
(accumulator) (EAX), a 16-bit register (AX),
or as either of two 8-bit registers (AH and AL).
The accumulator is used for instructions such
as multiplication, division, and some of the
adjustment instructions.
Intel plans to expand the address bus to 52
bits to address 4P (peta) bytes of memory.
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 RBX, addressable as RBX, EBX, BX, BH, BL.

BX register (base index) sometimes holds offset
address of a location in the memory system in all
versions of the microprocessor

RCX, as RCX, ECX, CX, CH, or CL.

a (count) general-purpose register that also holds
the count for various instructions

RDX, as RDX, EDX, DX, DH, or DL.

a (data) general-purpose register
holds a part of the result from a multiplication
or part of dividend before a division
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 RBP, as RBP, EBP, or BP.

points to a memory (base pointer) location
for memory data transfers

RDI addressable as RDI, EDI, or DI.

often addresses (destination index) string
destination data for the string instructions

RSI used as RSI, ESI, or SI.

the (source index) register addresses source
string data for the string instructions
like RDI, RSI also functions as a generalpurpose register
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 R8 - R15 found in the Pentium 4 and Core2 if

64-bit extensions are enabled.
data are addressed as 64-, 32-, 16-, or 8-bit
sizes and are of general purpose

Most applications will not use these registers

until 64-bit processors are common.
the 8-bit portion is the rightmost 8-bit only
bits 8 to 15 are not directly addressable as
a byte

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Special-Purpose Registers
Include RIP, RSP, and RFLAGS
segment registers include CS, DS, ES, SS, FS,
and GS

RIP addresses the next instruction in a section

of memory.
defined as (instruction pointer) a code segment

RSP addresses an area of memory called

the stack.
the (stack pointer) stores data through this
pointer
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 RFLAGS indicate the condition of the

microprocessor and control its operation.
Figure 22 shows the flag registers of all
versions of the microprocessor.
Flags are upward-compatible from the
8086/8088 through Core2 .
The rightmost five and the overflow flag are
changed by most arithmetic and logic
operations.
although data transfers do not affect them
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

Figure 22 The EFLAG and FLAG register counts for the entire 8086 and Pentium
microprocessor family.

Flags never change for any data transfer or

program control operation.
Some of the flags are also used to control
features found in the microprocessor.
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 Flag bits, with a brief description of function.

C (carry) holds the carry after addition or
borrow after subtraction.
also indicates error conditions

P (parity) is the count of ones in a number

expressed as even or odd. Logic 0 for odd
parity; logic 1 for even parity.
if a number contains three binary one bits, it has
odd parity
if a number contains no one bits, it has even
parity
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List of Each Flag bit, with a brief

description of function.
C (carry) holds the carry after addition or
borrow after subtraction.
also indicates error conditions

P (parity) is the count of ones in a number

expressed as even or odd. Logic 0 for odd
parity; logic 1 for even parity.
if a number contains three binary one bits, it has
odd parity; If a number contains no one bits, it
has even parity
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 A (auxiliary carry) holds the carry (half-carry)

after addition or the borrow after subtraction
between bit positions 3 and 4 of the result.
Z (zero) shows that the result of an arithmetic
or logic operation is zero.
S (sign) flag holds the arithmetic sign of the
result after an arithmetic or logic instruction
executes.
T (trap) The trap flag enables trapping
through an on-chip debugging feature.
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 I (interrupt) controls operation of the INTR

(interrupt request) input pin.
D (direction) selects increment or decrement
mode for the DI and/or SI registers.
O (overflow) occurs when signed numbers
are added or subtracted.
an overflow indicates the result has exceeded
the capacity of the machine

ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 IOPL used in protected mode operation

to select the privilege level for I/O devices.
NT (nested task) flag indicates the current
task is nested within another task in protected
mode operation.
RF (resume) used with debugging to control
resumption of execution after the next
instruction.
VM (virtual mode) flag bit selects virtual
mode operation in a protected mode system.
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 AC, (alignment check) flag bit activates if a

word or doubleword is addressed on a nonword or non-doubleword boundary.
VIF is a copy of the interrupt flag bit available
to the Pentium 4(virtual interrupt)
VIP (virtual) provides information about a
virtual mode interrupt for (interrupt pending)
Pentium.
used in multitasking environments to provide
virtual interrupt flags

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 ID (identification) flag indicates that the

Pentium microprocessors support the CPUID
instruction.
CPUID instruction provides the system with
information about the Pentium microprocessor

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Segment Registers
Generate memory addresses when combined
with other registers in the microprocessor.
Four or six segment registers in various
versions of the microprocessor.
A segment register functions differently in real
mode than in protected mode.
Following is a list of each segment register,
along with its function in the system.

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 CS (code) segment holds code (programs

and procedures) used by the microprocessor.
DS (data) contains most data used by a
program.
Data are accessed by an offset address or
contents of other registers that hold the offset
address

ES (extra) an additional data segment used

by some instructions to hold destination data.

ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 SS (stack) defines the area of memory used

for the stack.
stack entry point is determined by the stack
segment and stack pointer registers
the BP register also addresses data within
the stack segment

ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 FS and GS segments are supplemental

segment registers available in 80386Core2
microprocessors.
allow two additional memory segments for
access by programs

Windows uses these segments for internal

operations, but no definition of their usage
is available.

ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

22 REAL MODE MEMORY

ADDRESSING
80286 and above operate in either the real or
protected mode.
Real mode operation allows addressing of
only the first 1M byte of memory spaceeven
in Pentium 4 or Core2 microprocessor.
the first 1M byte of memory is called the real
memory, conventional memory, or DOS
memory system
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Segments and Offsets

All real mode memory addresses must consist
of a segment address plus an offset address.
segment address defines the beginning address
of any 64K-byte memory segment
offset address selects any location within the
64K byte memory segment

Figure 23 shows how the segment plus

offset addressing scheme selects a memory
location.
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Figure 23 The real mode memory-addressing scheme, using a segment address

plus an offset.

this shows a memory

segment beginning at
10000H, ending at
location IFFFFH
64K bytes in length

also shows how an

offset address, called a
displacement, of
F000H selects location
1F000H in the memory
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 Once the beginning address is known, the

ending address is found by adding FFFFH.
because a real mode segment of memory is64K
in length

The offset address is always added to the

segment starting address to locate the data.
Segment and offset address is sometimes
written as 1000:2000.
a segment address of 1000H; an offset of 2000H

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Default Segment and Offset

Registers
The microprocessor has rules that apply to
segments whenever memory is addressed.
these define the segment and offset register
combination

The code segment register defines the start

of the code segment.
The instruction pointer locates the next
instruction within the code segment.
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 Another of the default combinations is the

stack.
stack data are referenced through the stack
segment at the memory location addressed by
either the stack pointer (SP/ESP) or the pointer
(BP/EBP)

Figure 24 shows a system that contains four

memory segments.
a memory segment can touch or overlap if 64K
bytes of memory are not required for a segment

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Figure 24 A memory system showing the placement of four memory segments.

think of segments as
windows that can be
moved over any area
of memory to access
data or code
a program can have
more than four or six
segments,
but only access four or
six segments at a time

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Figure 25 An application program containing a code, data, and stack segment

loaded into a DOS system memory.

a program placed in
memory by DOS is loaded
in the TPA at the first
available area of memory
above drivers and other
TPA programs
area is indicated by a freepointer maintained by DOS
program loading is handled
automatically by the
program loader within DOS
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Segment and Offset Addressing

Scheme Allows Relocation
Segment plus offset addressing allows DOS
programs to be relocated in memory.
A relocatable program is one that can be
placed into any area of memory and executed
without change.
Relocatable data are data that can be placed
in any area of memory and used without any
change to the program.
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 Because memory is addressed within a

segment by an offset address, the memory
segment can be moved to any place in the
memory system without changing any of the
offset addresses.
Only the contents of the segment register
must be changed to address the program
in the new area of memory.
Windows programs are written assuming that
the first 2G of memory are available for code
and data.
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23 INTRO TO PROTECTED MODE

MEMORY ADDRESSING
Allows access to data and programs located
within & above the first 1M byte of memory.
Protected mode is where Windows operates.
In place of a segment address, the segment
register contains a selector that selects a
descriptor from a descriptor table.
The descriptor describes the memory
segments location, length, and access rights.
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Selectors and Descriptors

The descriptor is located in the segment
register & describes the location, length, and
access rights of the segment of memory.
it selects one of 8192 descriptors from one
of two tables of descriptors

In protected mode, this segment number can

address any memory location in the system
for the code segment.
Indirectly, the register still selects a memory
segment, but not directly as in real mode.
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 Global descriptors contain segment

definitions that apply to all programs.
Local descriptors are usually unique to an
application.
a global descriptor might be called a system
descriptor, and local descriptor an application
descriptor

Figure 26 shows the format of a descriptor

for the 80286 through the Core2.
each descriptor is 8 bytes in length
global and local descriptor tables are a
maximum of 64K bytes in length
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Figure 26 The 80286 through Core2 64-bit descriptors.

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 The base address of the descriptor indicates

the starting location of the memory segment.
the paragraph boundary limitation is removed in
protected mode
segments may begin at any address

The G, or granularity bit allows a segment

length of 4K to 4G bytes in steps of 4K bytes.
32-bit offset address allows segment lengths of
4G bytes
16-bit offset address allows segment lengths of
64K bytes.
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 Operating systems operate in a 16- or 32-bit

environment.
DOS uses a 16-bit environment.
Most Windows applications use a 32-bit
environment called WIN32.
MSDOS/PCDOS & Windows 3.1 operating
systems require 16-bit instruction mode.
Instruction mode is accessible only in a
protected mode system such as Windows
Vista.
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 The access rights byte controls access to

the protected mode segment.
describes segment function in the system and
allows complete control over the segment
if the segment is a data segment, the direction of
growth is specified

If the segment grows beyond its limit, the

operating system is interrupted, indicating
a general protection fault.
You can specify whether a data segment
can be written or is write-protected.
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Figure 27 The access rights byte for the 80286 through Core2 descriptor.

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 Descriptors are chosen from the descriptor

table by the segment register.
register contains a 13-bit selector field, a table
selector bit, and requested privilege level field

The TI bit selects either the global or the local

descriptor table.
Requested Privilege Level (RPL) requests
the access privilege level of a memory
segment.
If privilege levels are violated, system normally
indicates an application or privilege level violation
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Figure 28 The contents of a segment register during protected mode operation of

the 80286 through Core2 microprocessors.

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 Figure 29 shows how the segment register,

containing a selector, chooses a descriptor
from the global descriptor table.
The entry in the global descriptor table selects
a segment in the memory system.
Descriptor zero is called the null descriptor,
must contain all zeros, and may not be used
for accessing memory.

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Figure 29 Using the DS register to select a description from the global descriptor
table. In this example, the DS register accesses memory locations 00100000H
001000FFH as a data segment.

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Program-Invisible Registers
Global and local descriptor tables are found
in the memory system.
To access & specify the table addresses,
80286Core2 contain program-invisible
registers.
not directly addressed by software

Each segment register contains a programinvisible portion used in the protected mode.
often called cache memory because cache is
any memory that stores information
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Figure 210 The program-invisible register within the 80286Core2 microprocessors.

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 When a new segment number is placed in a

segment register, the microprocessor
accesses a descriptor table and loads the
descriptor into the program-invisible portion of
the segment register.
held there and used to access the memory
segment until the segment number is changed

This allows the microprocessor to repeatedly

access a memory segment without referring
to the descriptor table.
hence the term cache
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 The GDTR (global descriptor table register)

and IDTR (interrupt descriptor table
register) contain the base address of the
descriptor table and its limit.
when protected mode operation desired, address
of the global descriptor table and its limit are
loaded into the GDTR

The location of the local descriptor table is

selected from the global descriptor table.
one of the global descriptors is set up to
address the local descriptor table
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 To access the local descriptor table, the

LDTR (local descriptor table register) is
loaded with a selector.
selector accesses global descriptor table, & loads
local descriptor table address, limit, & access
rights into the cache portion of the LDTR

The TR (task register) holds a selector, which

accesses a descriptor that defines a task.
a task is most often a procedure or application

Allows multitasking systems to switch tasks

to another in a simple and orderly fashion.
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24 MEMORY PAGING
The memory paging mechanism allows any
physical memory location to be assigned to
any linear address.
Iinear address is defined as the address
generated by a program.
Physical address is the actual memory
location accessed by a program.
With memory paging, the linear address is
invisibly translated to any physical address.
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Paging Registers
The paging unit is controlled by the contents
of the microprocessors control registers.
Beginning with Pentium, an additional control
register labeled CR4 controls extensions to
the basic architecture.
See Figure 211 for the contents of control
registers CR0 through CR4.

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Figure 211 The control register structure of the microprocessor.

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 The linear address, as generated by software,

is broken into three sections that are used to
access the page directory entry, page table
entry, and memory page offset address.
Figure 212 shows the linear address and its
makeup for paging.
When the program accesses a location
between 00000000H and 00000FFFH, the
microprocessor physically addresses location
00100000H00100FFFH.
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Figure 212 The format for the linear address (a) and a page directory or page table
entry (b).

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 Intel has incorporated a special type of cache

called TLB (translation look-aside buffer).
because repaging a 4K-byte section of memory
requires access to the page directory and a page
table, both located in memory

The 80486 cache holds the 32 most recent

page translation addresses.
if the same area of memory is accessed, the
address is already present in the TLB
This speeds program execution

Pentium contains separate TLBs for each

of their instruction and data caches.
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The Page Directory and Page Table

Only one page directory in the system.
The page directory contains 1024 doubleword
addresses that locate up to 1024 page tables.
Page directory and each page table are 4K
bytes in length.
Figure 213 shows the page directory, a few
page tables, and some memory pages.

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Figure 213 The paging mechanism in the 80386 through Core2 microprocessors.

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 DOS and EMM386.EXE use page tables to

redefine memory between locations C8000H
EFFFFH as upper memory blocks.
done by repaging extended memory to backfill
conventional memory system to allow DOS
access to additional memory

Each entry in the page directory corresponds

to 4M bytes of physical memory.
Each entry in the page table repages 4K
bytes of physical memory.
Windows also repages the memory system.
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

Figure 214 The page directory, page table 0, and two memory pages. Note how the
address of page 000C8000000C9000 has been moved to 0011000000110FFF.

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25 Flat Mode Memory

A flat mode memory system is one in which
there is no segmentation.
does not use a segment register to address a
location in the memory

First byte address is at 00 0000 0000H; the

last location is at FF FFFF FFFFH.
address is 40-bits

The segment register still selects the privilege

level of the software.
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

 Real mode system is not available if the

processor operates in the 64-bit mode.
Protection and paging are allowed in the 64bit mode.
The CS register is still used in the protected
mode operation in the 64-bit mode.
Most programs today are operated in the IA32
compatible mode.
current software operates properly, but this will
change in a few years as memory becomes
larger and most people have 64-bit computers
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Figure 215 The 64-bit flat mode memory model.

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SUMMARY
The programming model of the 8086
through 80286 contains 8- and 16-bit
registers.
The programming model of the 80386 and
above contains 8-, 16-, and 32-bit extended
registers as well as two additional 16-bit
segment registers: FS and GS.

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SUMMARY

(cont.)

8-bit registers are AH, AL, BH, BL, CH, CL,

DH, and DL.
16-bit registers are AX, BX, CX, DX, SP,
BP, DI, and SI.
The segment registers are CS, DS, ES, SS,
FS, and GS.
32-bit extended registers are EAX, EBX,
ECX, EDX, ESP, EBP, EDI, and ESI.

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SUMMARY

(cont.)

The 64-bit registers in a Pentium 4 with 64bit extensions are RAX, RBX, RCX, RDX,
RSP, RBP, RDI, RSI, and R8 through R15.
In addition, the microprocessor contains an
instruction pointer (IP/EIP/RIP) and flag
register (FLAGS, EFLAGS, or RFLAGS).
All real mode memory addresses are a
combination of a segment address plus an
offset address.
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SUMMARY

(cont.)

The starting location of a segment is

defined by the 16-bit number in the
segment register that is appended with a
hexadecimal zero at its rightmost end.
The offset address is a 16-bit number
added to the 20-bit seg-ment address to
form the real mode memory address.
All instructions (code) are accessed by the
combination of CS (segment ad-dress) plus
IP or EIP (offset address).
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SUMMARY

(cont.)

Data are normally referenced through a

combination of the DS (data segment) and
either an offset address or the contents of a
register that contains the offset address.
The 8086-Core2 use BX, DI, and SI as
default offset registers for data if 16-bit
registers are selected.
The 80386 and above can use the 32-bit
registers EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX, EDI, and
ESI as default offset registers for data.
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SUMMARY

(cont.)

Protected mode operation allows memory

above the first 1M byte to be accessed by
the 80286 through the Core2
microprocessors.
This extended memory system (XMS) is
accessed via a segment address plus an
offset address, just as in the real mode.
In the protected mode, the segment starting
address is stored in a descriptor that is
selected by the segment register.
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SUMMARY

(cont.)

A protected mode descriptor contains a

base address, limit, and access rights byte.
The base address locates the starting
address of the memory segment; the limit
defines the last location of the segment.
The access rights byte defines how the
memory segment is accessed via a
program.

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SUMMARY

(cont.)

The 80286 microprocessor allows a

memory segment to start at any of its 16M
bytes of memory using a 24-bit base
address.
The 80386 and above allow a memory
segment to begin at any of its 4G bytes of
memory using a 32-bit base address.
This allows an 80286 memory segment limit
of 64K bytes, and an 80386 and above
mem-ory segment limit of either 1M bytes.
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SUMMARY

(cont.)

The segment register contains three fields

of information in the protected mode.
The leftmost 13 bits of the segment register
address one of 8192 descriptors from a
descriptor table.
The program-invisible registers are used by
the 80286 and above to access the
descriptor tables.

ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

SUMMARY

(cont.)

Each segment register contains a cache

portion that is used in protected mode to
hold the base address, limit, and access
rights acquired from a descriptor.
The cache allows the microprocessor to
access the memory segment without again
referring to the descriptor table until the
segment register's contents are changed.

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SUMMARY

(cont.)

A memory page is 4K bytes in length. The

linear address, as generated by a program,
can be mapped to any physical address
through the paging mechanism found within
the 80386 through the Pentium 4.
Memory paging is accomplished through
control registers CR0 and CR3.
The PG bit of CR0 enables paging, and the
contents of CR3 addresses the page
directory.
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SUMMARY

(cont.)

The page directory contains up to 1024

page table addresses that are used to
access paging tables.
The page table contains 1024 entries that
locate the physical address of a 4K-byte
memory page.
The TLB (translation look-aside buffer)
caches the 32 most recent page table
translations.
ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.

SUMMARY
The flat mode memory contains 1T byte of
memory using a 40-bit address.
In the future, Intel plans to increase the
address width to 52 bits to access 4P bytes
of memory.
The flat mode is only available in the
Pentium 4 and Core2 that have their 64-bit
extensions enabled.

ELX215: Microprocessor systems. SEGi University College, 2008.