Question Bank

Microprocessor and Interfacing

Subject Code – BITL-504

Unit 1
1 Marks Question
1. 1. In order to implement complex instructions, CISC architectures use
a)macroprogramming
b)hardwire
c)microprogramming
d)none
2. 2. In 8086 microprocessor , the address bus is ________ bit wide
A. 12 bit B. 10 bit C. 16 bit D. 20 bit
3. Which of the following is a mnemonic?
a) ADD
b) ADC
c) AAA
d) ADD & ADC
4. 4. The instruction, “INC” increases the contents of the specified register or memory location by
a)2
b)0
c)1
d)3

5. In 8085 name the 16 bit registers?

a) Stack pointer b) Program counter c) a & b
6. Which instruction cannot force the 8086 processor out of ‘halt’ state?
a) Interrupt request
b) Reset
c) both interrupt request and reset
d) Hold
7. Which of the following is not a machine controlled instruction?
a) HLT
b) CLC
c) LOCK
d) ESC
 8. This set of Microprocessor Multiple Choice Questions & Answers (MCQs) focuses on “Internal
Architecture of 80286”.
9. The CPU of 80286 contains
a) 16-bit general purpose registers
b) 16-bit segment registers
c) status and control register
d) all of the mentioned
10. The device that interface and control the internal data bus with the system bus is
a) data interface
b) controller interface
c) data and control interface
d) data transreceiver
11. The instruction that comes into action, if the trap flag is set is
a) maskable interrupt
b) non-maskable interrupt
c) single step interrupt
d) breakpoint interrupt

2 marks questions
1. What is the purpose of segment registers in 8086?
2. Define pipelining?
3. Discuss the function of instruction queue in 8086?
4. What is the maximum memory size that can be addressed by 8086?
5. What is the function of the signal in 8086?
6. What are the predefined interrupts in 8086?
7. What are the different flag available in status register of 8086?
8. List the various addressing modes present in 8086?
9. How single stepping can be done in 8086?
10. State the significance of LOCK signal in 8086?
11. What are the functions of bus interface unit (BIU) in 8086?
12. What is the clock frequency of 8086?
13. What are the two modes of operations present in 8086?
14. Explain the process control instructions
15. Explain REPEAT-UNTIL statements
16. What is multiprogramming?
17. Differentiate between absolute and linear select decoding?
18. What are the three classifications of 8086 interrupts?
19. What are the functions of status pins in 8086?
20. Write briefly on LOCK and WAIT for 8086 processor?
21. Explain the function of Execution unit in 8086?
22. What do you mean by pipelining in 8086?
23. How the 20 bit effective address is calculated in 8086 processor?
 24. What are the different flags in 8086?

3 marks questions
Q1. Differentiate between microprocessor and microcontroller?

Q2. What is an instruction queue? Explain?

Q3. What is REP prefix? How it functions for string instructions?

Q4. Explain the instructions (i) LDS (ii) PUSHF (iii) TEST (iv) CLD

Q5. What is stack? Explain the use and operation of stack and stack pointer?

Q6. What are the flags in 8086?

Q7. What are the various interrupts in 8086? Explain.

Q8. Which interrupts are generally used for critical events?

Q9. Explain the difference between data processor and IO processor.

Q10. What happens when 8086 is operated in Maximum mode? List the signals that are unique in this
mode?

Q11. Discuss about the multiprocessor configurations of 8086?

7 Marks Question
Q1. What is the effect of executing the instruction?
MOV CX, [SOURCE_MEM]
Where SOURCE_MEM equal to 2016 is a memory location offset relative to the current data
segment starting at address 1A00016
Q2. The original contents of AX, BL, word-sized memory location SUM, and carry flag

CF are 1234H, ABH, 00CDH, and 0H, respectively. Describe the results of

executing the following sequence of instructions:

ADD AX, [SUM]

ADC BL, 05H

INC WORD PTR [SUM]

Q3. The 2’s complement signed data contents of AL equal -1 and the contents of CL are

-2. What result is produced in AX by executing the following instructions:

i) MUL CL ii) IMUL CL

Q4. Explain different types of registers in 8086 microprocessor architecture.
Q5. Explain the 80186 microprocessor evolution.

Q6. Assume that a loosly coupled multiply system consists of an 8086 with local memory in one module
and in another module two 8089 with local input/output bus. Determine the major bus interface required
each module.

Q7. Explain MIN/MAX mode operation of an 8086 processor?

Unit 2
1 Marks Question

1. Programmable peripheral input-output port is other name for

a) serial input-output port
b) parallel input-output port
c) serial input port
d) parallel output port
2. The function, ‘data bus tristated’ is performed when
a) CS(active low) =1
b) CS(active low) =0
c) CS(active low) =0, RD(active low) =1, WR(active low) =1
d) CS(active low) =1 OR CS(active low) =0, RD(active low) =1, WR(active low) =1

3. The pin that clears the control word register of 8255 when enabled is
a) CLEAR
b) SET
c) RESET
d) CLK

4.The latch or IC 74LS373 acts as

a) good input port
b) bad input port
c) good output port
d) bad output port

5. To avoid loading during read operation, the device used is

a) latch
 b) flipflop
c) buffer
d) tristate buffer
6.Which of the following is not an interrupt generated by 80286?
a) software interrupts
b) hardware or external interrupts
c) INT instruction
d) none of the mentioned
7. An interrupt breaks the execution of instructions and diverts its execution to
a) Interrupt service routine
b) Counter word register
c) Execution unit
d) control unit

8. NMI stands for

a) nonmaskable interrupt
b) nonmultiple interrupt
c) nonmovable interrupt
d) none
9. Which is the commonly used programmable interface and particular used to provide
handshaking:
a. 8251
b. 8254
c. 8259
d. 8255

10. In which the processor uses a protection of the memory address to represent I/O ports:

a. Memory mapped I/O

b. I/O memory mapped
c. Both a and b
d. None of these

2 Marks Question
1. Define peripherals.
2. What is interfacing?
3. What is the use of 8255?
4. Mention the ports placed in group a and group b of 8255.
5. Specify some important LCD modules.
6. What is the use of stepper motor?
7. What is the use of RTC?

3 Marks Question
1. What are the basic modes of operation of 8255?
2. Write the features of mode 0 in 8255?
3. What are the features used mode 1 in 8255?
4. What are the signals used in input control signal & output control signal?
5. What are the features used mode 2 in 8255?
6. List the operation modes of 8255
7. What is a control word?
8. What is the purpose of control word written to control register in 8255?
9. What is the size of ports in 8255? 30. What is interfacing?
10. What is memory mapping? 32. What is I/O mapping?
11. List the major co mponents of the keyboard/Display interface
12. What is Key bouncing?
13. Define HRQ? 38. What is the use of stepper motor?
14. What is TXD? 40. What is RXD?
15. Draw the status word format for 8254.
16. What is meant by key bouncing?
17. Write the function of crossbar switch?
18. Define PPI?
19. Specify the bit that differentiates between the BSR mode and IO mode in 8255?

7 Marks Question
1. With the diagram explain how 8051 interfaced to external memory.
2. With the interfacing diagram, explain the operation of delay.
3. Draw the functional diagram of 8255 and explain each block.
4. Draw and explain the interfacing diagram of opto isolater with 8051.
5. Explain the control word format for i/o mode of 8255.
6. Draw the interfacing diagram of LM35 with microcontroller and explain its operation.
7. With a neat block diagram, explain in detail the internal architecture of 8255 and its registers
8. Discuss how memory chips and I/O devices are interfaced to a microprocessor.
9. Explain the block diagram of the 8279 Keyboard/Display interface and its operations.

Unit 3
1 Marks Question
1. In direct memory access mode, the data transfer takes place
a) directly
b) indirectly
c) directly and indirectly
d) none of the mentioned

2. The pin that strobes the higher byte of the memory address, generated by the DMA controller
into the latches is
a) AEN
b) ADSTB
c) TC
d) none of the mentioned

3. In control word format, if RL1=1, RL0=1 then the operation performed is

a) read/load least significant byte only
b) read/load most significant byte only
c) read/load LSB first and then MSB
d) read/load MSB first and then LSB

4. Once the ICW1 is loaded, then the initialisation procedure involves

a) edge sense circuit is reset
b) IMR is cleared
c) slave mode address is set to 7
d) all of the mentioned

5. When the PS(active low)/EN(active low) pin of 8259A used in buffered mode, then it can be
used as a:
a) input to designate chip is master or slave
b) buffer enable
c) buffer disable
d) none

6. When non-specific EOI command is issued to 8259A it will automatically

a) set the ISR
b) reset the ISR
c) set the INTR
d) reset the INTR
7. In the application where all the interrupting devices are of equal priority, the mode used is
a) automatic rotation
b) automatic EOI mode
c) specific rotation
d) EOI
8. 8086 is interfaced to two 8259s (Programmable interrupt controllers). If 8259s are in master
slave configuration the number of interrupts available to the 8086 microprocessor is a:
a) 8 b) 16 c) 15 d) 64

9. The register that stores the bits required to mask the interrupt inputs is
a) In-service register
b) Priority resolver
c) Interrupt Mask register
d) none

10. The interrupt control logic

a) manages interrupts
b) manages interrupt acknowledge signals
c) accepts interrupt acknowledge signal
d) all of the mentioned
2 Marks Question
1. What are the modes of operations used in 8253?
2. Give the different types of command words used in 8259a?
3. Give the operating modes of 8259a?
4. Define scan counter?
5. What is the output modes used in 8279?
3 Marks Question
1. What are the modes used in keyboard modes?
2. Give the register organization of 8257?
3. Discuss the architecture and working of 8253 timer?
4. What are the different types of write operations used in 8253?
5. What is the function of DMA address register?

7 Marks Question
1. Explain mode 0 and mode 1 of 8253. What is the use of terminal count register?
2. What is the function of mode set register in 8257?
3. Distinguish between the memories mapped I/O peripheral I/O?
 4. What are the features of 8259 PIC?
5. What are the methods available for error correction during serial data transmission?
6. What is the difference between two key lockout and N-key rollover modes in 8279?

Unit 4
1 Marks Question
1. Which lines are utilized during the enable state of hardware flow control in DTE and DCE
devices of RS232 ?
a. CD & IR
b. DSR & DTR
c. RTS & CTS
d. None of the above
2. Which among the below stated lines represent the handshaking variant usually and only
controlled by the software in the handshaking process?
a. XON/ XOFF
b. DCD & GND
c. TxD & RxD
d.All of the above
3._____ BUS arbitration appproach uses the involvement of the processor
a) Centralised arbitration
b) Distributed arbitration
c) Random arbitration
d) All of the above
4. The PCI follows a set of standards primarily used in _____ PC’s.
a) Intel
b) Motorola
c) IBM
d) SUN
5. When transfering data over the PCI BUS, the master as to hold the address till the completion
of transfer to the slave.
a) True
b) False
6. Which is not the control bus signal:
a. READ b. WRITE c. RESET d. None of these
7. Which causes the microprocessor to immediately terminate its present activity:
a. RESET signal b. INTERUPT signal c. Both d. None of these
8. The network of wires or electronic path ways on mother board back side:
a. PCB
b. BUS
c. BOTH A and B
d. None of these

9. The processor uses the stack to keep track of where the items are stored on it this by using the:
a. Stack pointer register b. Queue pointer register c. Both a & b d. None of these
10 Which interrupt has the highest priority?
a) INTR b) TRAP c) RST6.5 d) none of these

2 Marks Question
1. What is Baud rate?
2. What is USART?
3. What is RS 232C?
4. What is handshake port?
5. Why are drivers bused in between RS232 and microcontroller?
6. What is the use of 8251 chip?
3 Marks Question
1. What are the different types of methods used for data transmission?
2. What are the various programmed data transfer methods?
3. What is synchronous data transfer?
4. What is asynchronous data transfer?
5. What are the functional types used in control words of 8251
7 Marks Question
1. What are the modes used in display modes?
2. What is the use of modem control unit in 8251?
3. What is an USART?
4. What is the use of 8251 chip?
5. What are the functions performed by 8251?
6. Explain the block diagram and the functions of each block of the 8251 USART (Programmable
Communication Interface).
7. Differentiate between half duplex and full duplex transmission?

Unit 5
1 Marks Question

1. If EA(active low) signal =1, then the execution starts from

a) internal EPROM
b) flash RAM
c) internal EPROM or flash RAM
d) none
2. The maximum current that can be sinked totally by all the ports of 8051 is
a) 61 mA
b) 81 mA
c) 91 mA
d) 71 mA

3. To convert its current output into voltage, the DAC 0808 is connected with
a) transistor(BJT) externally
b) FET externally
c) OPAMP externally
d) OPAMP internally

4. Which is true in interfacing 7 segment code display?

a) transmitted by second port
b) display is selected by third port
c) display is selected by second port
d) none of the mentioned

5. To reduce side lobes, in which region of the filter the frequency specifications has to be
optimized?
a) Stop band
b) Pass band
c) Transition band
d) None of the mentioned

6. Why is it desirable to optimize frequency response in the transition band of the filter?
a) Increase side lobe
b) Reduce side lobe
c) Increase main lobe
d) None of the mentioned
7. Which of the following is not a valid size of a Floppy Disk?
A. 8" B. 5 1/4"
C. 3 1/2" D. 5 1/2"
8. The pin that is grounded for interfacing external EPROM is
a) EA(active low)
b) PSEN(active low)
c) OE(active low)
d) all of the mentioned

9. The device that is used for deriving chip select signals is

a) logic gates
b) multiplexers
c) PLAs and EPROMs
d) all of the mentioned
10. The bits that control the external interrupts are
a) ET0 and ET1
b) ET1 and ET2
c) EX0 and EX1
d) EX1 and EX2
2 Marks Question
1. What is microcontroller?
2. How many I/O ports are placed in microcontroller 8051?
3. Define DPTR.
4. What is the purpose of PSW register?
5. What is use of EA pin?
6. How many bit addressable location are placed in internal RAM?
7. What is interrupts signal?
8. Name the types of 8051 interrupts signals.
9. Define clock cycle.
10. Define machine cycle.
11. What is mean by microcontroller?
12. Explain DJNZ instructions of intel 8051 microcontroller?
13. State the function of RS1 and RS0 bits in the flag register of intel 8051
microcontroller?
14. Give the alternate functions for the port pins of port3?
15. Specify the single instruction, which clears the most significant bit of B
16. Explain the function of the pins PSEN and EA of 8051
17. Explain the 16-bit registers DPTR and SP of 8051
18. Name the special functions registers available in 8051.
19. Explain the register IE format of 8051
20. Compare Microprocessor and Microcontroller
21. Name the five interrupt sources of 8051?

3 Marks Questions
1. What is assembler?
2. Mention the different fields in assembly language instructions?
 3. What is operand field?
4. What are fields used in assembly language instructions as optional?
5. Mention two assembler directives?
6. Mention any four addressing modes of 8051?
7. Mention any two examples of direct addressing instructions?
8. What are the instructions used to access external RAM?
9. How can you perform multiplication using 8051 microcontroller?
10. What is the operation carried out when 8051 executes the instruction MOVC
A,@A+DPTR?
11. List the features of 8051 microcontroller.
12. 14. Name any four additional hardware features available in microcontrollers when
compared to microprocessors.
13. 15. List out the Hardware Resources available in 8051.
14. When 8051 is reset, all interrupts are disabled. How to enable these interrupts?
15. What is nested interrupts?
16. How will you double the baud rate in 8051?
17. Explain software and hardware methods to start and stop timers in 8051.
18. Give steps to program 8051 for serial data transfer.
19. Write short notes on interrupt priority.
20. Write the vector address and priority sequence of 8051 interrupts
21. Write a delay routine for 1 millisecond using timer 0 of 8051 for 12 MHz crystal
frequency.
22. Compare microprocessors and microcontrollers?
23. List the addressing modes of 8051?
24. Differentiate RRA and RRCA instruction in 8051 microcontroller.
25. How will you double the baud rate in 8051?
26. What is the function of SMOD in PCON register?
27. How many timers are in 8051? Specify their names.
28. Mention the four modes of timer operation.
29. Mention are the registers used for timer/counter operation.
30. Define timer operation.
31. Define counter operation.
32. What are registers used for serial communication in 8051?
7 Marks Questions
1. Explain the Architecture of 8051.What are the blocks in Microcontroller.
2. Explain the Pin Diagram of 8051.
3. Explain the Instruction set with examples.
4. Explain the block diagram of 8051 Microcontroller.

5. Mention the timers of 8051?

6. Mention the bit addresses of ports p0 and p1?
7. How many bit addressable locations are placed in internal RAM of 8051?
8. Mention the SFR registers used in timer operation?
9. Mention the operating modes of 8051?
10. What is the function of C/T bit in TMOD register?
11. Find the timers clock frequency for the crystal frequency of 11.0592MHz?
12. State the function of M1 and M0 bits in TMOD register?
13. What is the function of TF0 bit in TCON register?
14. State the use of T0 pin of 8051?
15. Write a program using 8051 assembly language to change the date 55H stored in the
lower byte of the data pointer register to AAH using rotate instruction.
16. Explain the baud rates of serial communication in 8051.
17. Explain the interrupts of 8051.
18. Explain about the serial port programming.
19. Draw the interfacing diagram of RS232 with 8051 and explain its operation.
20. Explain the functions of each bit of SCON and PCON registers.
21. Explain IP and IE registers.
22. Explain the bit addresses for I/O of 8051.
23. Explain TMOD and TCON registers.
24. Explain bit addresses for RAM.
25. Explain the steps to program the timer 1 in mode 2.
26. Explain in detail about the programming of 8051 timer.
27. Explain the various modes of timer operation with diagram.
28. Describe the architecture of 8051 with neat diagram. (16)
29. Discuss the peripheral interface of 8051.
30. Explain the interrupt structure of 8051 microcontroller
31. Explain how interrupts are prioritized.
32. What is the difference between the Microprocessors and Microcontrollers?
33. Explain the I/O port structure of 8051.
34. Explain the different serial communication modes in 8051.
35. Explain the memory structure of 8051.
36. States various modes available for timer in 8051.
37. Explain the functional pin diagram of 8051 Microcontroller.
38. With the help of a functional block diagram explain any one application of 8051 microcontroller.
39. Give the PIN detail of an 8051 microcontroller and explain
40. Discuss in detail about 8501 based stepper motor control along with necessary hardware and
software
41. Discuss the register set of 8051 and also discuss how memory a input / output addressing is done
in 8085?