Lecture 3:

Addressing Modes
Introduction
• Efficient software development for the
microprocessor requires a complete familiarity
with the addressing modes employed by each
instruction.
• This chapter explains the operation of the
stack memory so that the PUSH and POP
instructions and other stack operations will
be understood.
Chapter Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

• Explain the operation of each data-addressing

mode.
• Use the data-addressing modes to form
assembly language statements.
• Explain the operation of each program
memory-addressing mode.
• Use the program memory-addressing modes
to form assembly and machine language
statements.
Chapter Objectives (cont.)
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

• Select the appropriate addressing mode to

accomplish a given task.
• Detail the difference between addressing
memory data using real mode and pro-tected
mode operation.
• Describe sequence of events that place data
onto the stack or remove data from the stack.
• Explain how a data structure is placed in
memory and used with software.
3–1 DATA ADDRESSING MODES
• MOV instruction is a common and flexible
instruction.
– provides a basis for explanation of data-
addressing modes
• Figure 3–1 illustrates the MOV instruction and
defines the direction of data flow.
• Source is to the right and destination the left,
next to the opcode MOV.
– an opcode, or operation code, tells the
microprocessor which operation to perform
Figure 3–1 The MOV instruction showing the source, destination, and direction of
data flow.
• Figure 3–2 shows all possible variations of the
data-addressing modes using MOV.
• These data-addressing modes are found with
all versions of the Intel microprocessor.
– except for the scaled-index-addressing mode,
found only in 80386 through Core2
• RIP relative addressing mode is not
illustrated.
– only available on the Pentium 4 and Core2
in the 64-bit mode
Figure 3–2 8086–Core2 data-addressing modes.
Register Addressing
• The most common form of data addressing.
– once register names learned, easiest to apply.
• The microprocessor contains these 8-bit
register names used with register addressing:
AH, AL, BH, BL, CH, CL, DH, and DL.
• 16-bit register names: AX, BX, CX, DX, SP,
BP, SI, and DI.
• In 80386 & above, extended 32-bit register
names are: EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX, ESP,
EBP, EDI, and ESI.
• 64-bit mode register names are: RAX, RBX,
RCX, RDX, RSP, RBP, RDI, RSI, and R8
through R15.
• Important for instructions to use registers that
are the same size.
– never mix an 8-bit \with a 16-bit register, an 8- or
a 16-bit register with a 32-bit register
– this is not allowed by the microprocessor and
results in an error when assembled
Figure 3–3 The effect of executing the MOV BX, CX instruction at the point just
before the BX register changes. Note that only the rightmost 16 bits of register EBX
change.
• Figure 3–3 shows the operation of the MOV
BX, CX instruction.
• The source register’s contents do not change.
– the destination register’s contents do change
• The contents of the destination register or
destination memory location change for all
instructions except the CMP and TEST
instructions.
• The MOV BX, CX instruction does not affect
the leftmost 16 bits of register EBX.
Immediate Addressing
• Term immediate implies that data immediately
follow the hexadecimal opcode in the memory.
– immediate data are constant data
– data transferred from a register or memory
location are variable data
• Immediate addressing operates upon a byte or
word of data.
• Figure 3–4 shows the operation of a MOV
EAX,13456H instruction.
Figure 3–4 The operation of the MOV EAX,3456H instruction. This instruction copies
the immediate data (13456H) into EAX.

• As with the MOV instruction illustrated in

Figure 3–3, the source data overwrites the
destination data.
• In symbolic assembly language, the symbol #
precedes immediate data in some
assemblers.
– MOV AX,#3456H instruction is an example
• Most assemblers do not use the # symbol,
but represent immediate data as in the MOV
AX,3456H instruction.
– an older assembler used with some Hewlett-
Packard logic development does, as may others
– in this text, the # is not used for immediate data
• The symbolic assembler portrays immediate
data in many ways.
• The letter H appends hexadecimal data.
• If hexadecimal data begin with a letter, the
assembler requires the data start with a 0.
– to represent a hexadecimal F2, 0F2H is used
in assembly language
• Decimal data are represented as is and
require no special codes or adjustments.
– an example is the 100 decimal in the
MOV AL,100 instruction
• An ASCII-coded character or characters may
be depicted in the immediate form if the ASCII
data are enclosed in apostrophes.
– be careful to use the apostrophe (‘) for ASCII
data and not the single quotation mark (‘)
• Binary data are represented if the binary
number is followed by the letter B.
– in some assemblers, the letter Y
• Each statement in an assembly language
program consists of four parts or fields.
• The leftmost field is called the label.
– used to store a symbolic name for the memory
location it represents
• All labels must begin with a letter or one of the
following special characters: @, $, -, or ?.
– a label may any length from 1 to 35 characters
• The label appears in a program to identify the
name of a memory location for storing data
and for other purposes.
• The next field to the right is the opcode field.
– designed to hold the instruction, or opcode
– the MOV part of the move data instruction is an
example of an opcode
• Right of the opcode field is the operand field.
– contains information used by the opcode
– the MOV AL,BL instruction has the opcode MOV
and operands AL and BL
• The comment field, the final field, contains a
comment about the instruction(s).
– comments always begin with a semicolon (;)
Direct Data Addressing
• Applied to many instructions in a typical
program.
• Two basic forms of direct data addressing:
– direct addressing, which applies to a MOV
between a memory location and AL, AX, or EAX
– displacement addressing, which applies to almost
any instruction in the instruction set
• Address is formed by adding the displacement
to the default data segment address or an
alternate segment address.
Direct Addressing
• Direct addressing with a MOV instruction
transfers data between a memory location,
located within the data segment, and the AL
(8-bit), AX (16-bit), or EAX (32-bit) register.
– usually a 3-byte long instruction
• MOV AL,DATA loads AL from the data
segment memory location DATA (1234H).
– DATA is a symbolic memory location, while
1234H is the actual hexadecimal location
Figure 3–5 The operation of the MOV AL,[1234H] instruction when DS=1000H .

• This instruction transfers a copy contents of

memory location 11234H into AL.
– the effective address is formed by adding
1234H (the offset address) and 10000H
(the data segment address of 1000H times
10H) in a system operating in the real mode
Displacement Addressing
• Almost identical to direct addressing, except
the instruction is 4 bytes wide instead of 3.
• In 80386 through Pentium 4, this instruction
can be up to 7 bytes wide if a 32-bit register
and a 32-bit displacement are specified.
• This type of direct data addressing is much
more flexible because most instructions use it.
Register Indirect Addressing
• Allows data to be addressed at any memory
location through an offset address held in any
of the following registers: BP, BX, DI, and SI.
• In addition, 80386 and above allow register
indirect addressing with any extended register
except ESP.
• In the 64-bit mode, the segment registers
serve no purpose in addressing a location
in the flat model.
Figure 3–6 The operation of the MOV AX,[BX] instruction when BX = 1000H and DS
= 0100H. Note that this instruction is shown after the contents of memory are
transferred to AX.
• The data segment is used by default with
register indirect addressing or any other mode
that uses BX, DI, or SI to address memory.
• If the BP register addresses memory, the
stack segment is used by default.
– these settings are considered the default for
these four index and base registers
• For the 80386 and above, EBP addresses
memory in the stack segment by default.
• EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX, EDI, and ESI address
memory in the data segment by fault.
• When using a 32-bit register to address
memory in the real mode, contents of the
register must never exceed 0000FFFFH.
• In the protected mode, any value can be used
in a 32-bit register that is used to indirectly
address memory.
– as long as it does not access a location outside
the segment, dictated by the access rights byte
• In the 64-bit mode, segment registers are
not used in address calculation; the register
contains the actual linear memory address.
• In some cases, indirect addressing requires
specifying the size of the data by the special
assembler directive BYTE PTR, WORD
PTR, DWORD PTR, or QWORD PTR.
– these directives indicate the size of the memory
data addressed by the memory pointer (PTR)
• The directives are with instructions that
address a memory location through a
pointer or index register with immediate data.
• With SIMD instructions, the octal OWORD
PTR, represents a 128-bit-wide number.
• Indirect addressing often allows a program to
refer to tabular data located in memory.
• Figure 3–7 shows the table and the BX
register used to sequentially address each
location in the table.
• To accomplish this task, load the starting
location of the table into the BX register
with a MOV immediate instruction.
• After initializing the starting address of the
table, use register indirect addressing to
store the 50 samples sequentially.
Figure 3–7 An array (TABLE) containing 50 bytes that are indirectly addressed
through register BX.
Base-Plus-Index Addressing
• Similar to indirect addressing because it
indirectly addresses memory data.
• The base register often holds the beginning
location of a memory array.
– the index register holds the relative position
of an element in the array
– whenever BP addresses memory data, both the
stack segment register and BP generate the
effective address
Locating Data with Base-Plus-Index
Addressing
• Figure 3–8 shows how data are addressed by
the MOV DX,[BX + DI] instruction when the
microprocessor operates in the real mode.
• The Intel assembler requires this addressing
mode appear as [BX][DI] instead of [BX + DI].
• The MOV DX,[BX + DI] instruction is MOV
DX,[BX][DI] for a program written for the Intel
ASM assembler.
Figure 3–8 An example showing how the base-plus-index addressing mode functions
for the MOV DX,[BX + DI] instruction. Notice that memory address 02010H is
accessed because DS=0100H, BX=100H and DI=0010H.
Locating Array Data Using Base-
Plus-Index Addressing
• A major use is to address elements in a
memory array.
• To accomplish this, load the BX register
(base) with the beginning address of the array
and the DI register (index) with the element
number to be accessed.
• Figure 3–9 shows the use of BX and DI to
access an element in an array of data.
Figure 3–9 An example of the base-plus-index addressing mode. Here an element
(DI) of an ARRAY (BX) is addressed.
Register Relative Addressing
• Similar to base-plus-index addressing and
displacement addressing.
– data in a segment of memory are addressed by
adding the displacement to the contents of a base
or an index register (BP, BX, DI, or SI)
• Figure 3–10 shows the operation of the MOV
AX,[BX+1000H] instruction.
• A real mode segment is 64K bytes long.
Figure 3–10 The operation of the MOV AX, [BX=1000H] instructon, when BX=1000H
and DS=0200H .
Addressing Array Data with
Register Relative
• It is possible to address array data with
register relative addressing.
– such as with base-plus-index addressing
• In Figure 3–11, register relative addressing is
illustrated with the same example as for base-
plus-index addressing.
– this shows how the displacement ARRAY adds
to index register DI to generate a reference to
an array element
Figure 3–11 Register relative addressing used to address an element of ARRAY.
The displacement addresses the start of ARRAY, and DI accesses an element.
Base Relative-Plus-Index
Addressing
• Similar to base-plus-index addressing.
– adds a displacement
– uses a base register and an index register to
form the memory address
• This type of addressing mode often addresses
a two-dimensional array of memory data.
Addressing Data with Base
Relative-Plus-Index
• Least-used addressing mode.
• Figure 3–12 shows how data are referenced if
the instruction executed by the microprocessor
is MOV AX,[BX + SI + 100H].
– displacement of 100H adds to BX and SI to form
the offset address within the data segment
• This addressing mode is too complex for
frequent use in programming.
Figure 3–12 An example of base relative-plus-index addressing using a MOV
AX,[BX+SI=1000H] instruction. Note: DS=1000H
Addressing Arrays with Base
Relative-Plus-Index
• Suppose a file of many records exists in
memory, each record with many elements.
– displacement addresses the file, base register
addresses a record, the index register addresses
an element of a record
• Figure 3–13 illustrates this very complex form
of addressing.
Figure 3–13 Base relative-plus-index addressing used to access a FILE that contains
multiple records (REC).
Scaled-Index Addressing
• Unique to 80386 - Core2 microprocessors.
– uses two 32-bit registers (a base register and
an index register) to access the memory
• The second register (index) is multiplied by a
scaling factor.
– the scaling factor can be 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x
• A scaling factor of is implied and need not be
included in the assembly language instruction
(MOV AL,[EBX + ECX]).
RIP Relative Addressing
• Uses the 64-bit instruction pointer register in
the 64-bit mode to address a linear location
in the flat memory model.
• Inline assembler program available to Visual
does not contain any way of using this mode
or any other 64-bit addressing mode.
• The Microsoft Visual does not at present
support developing 64-bit assembly code.
Data Structures
• Used to specify how information is stored in a
memory array.
– a template for data
• The start of a structure is identified with the
STRUC assembly language directive and the
end with the ENDS statement.
3–2 PROGRAM MEMORY-
ADDRESSING MODES
• Used with the JMP (jump) and CALL
instructions.
• Consist of three distinct forms:
– direct, relative, and indirect
Direct Program Memory Addressing
• Used for all jumps and calls by early
microprocessor; also used in high-level
languages, such as BASIC.
– GOTO and GOSUB instructions
• The microprocessor uses this form, but not as
often as relative and indirect program memory
addressing.
• The instructions for direct program memory
addressing store the address with the opcode.
Figure 3–14 The 5-byte machine language version of a JMP [10000H] instruction.
• This JMP instruction loads CS with 1000H
and IP with 0000H to jump to memory location
10000H for the next instruction.
– an intersegment jump is a jump to any memory
location within the entire memory system
• Often called a far jump because it can jump to
any memory location for the next instruction.
– in real mode, any location within the first 1M byte
– In protected mode operation, the far jump can
jump to any location in the 4G-byte address
range in the 80386 - Core2 microprocessors
• The only other instruction using direct
program addressing is the intersegment or far
CALL instruction.
• Usually, the name of a memory address,
called a label, refers to the location that is
called or jumped to instead of the actual
numeric address.
• When using a label with the CALL or JMP
instruction, most assemblers select the best
form of program addressing.
Relative Program Memory
Addressing
• Not available in all early microprocessors, but
it is available to this family of microprocessors.
• The term relative means “relative to the
instruction pointer (IP)”.
• The JMP instruction is a 1-byte instruction,
with a 1-byte or a 2-byte displacement that
adds to the instruction pointer.
• An example is shown in Figure 3–15.
Figure 3–15 A JMP [2] instruction. This instruction skips over the 2 bytes of memory
that follow the JMP instruction.
Indirect Program Memory
Addressing
• The microprocessor allows several forms of
program indirect memory addressing for the
JMP and CALL instructions.
• In 80386 and above, an extended register can
be used to hold the address or indirect
address of a relative JMP or CALL.
– for example, the JMP EAX jumps to the
location address by register EAX
• If a relative register holds the address, the
jump is considered to be an indirect jump.
• For example, JMP [BX] refers to the memory
location within the data segment at the offset
address contained in BX.
– at this offset address is a 16-bit number used as
the offset address in the intrasegment jump
– this type of jump is sometimes called an indirect-
indirect or double-indirect jump
• Figure 3–16 shows a jump table that is stored,
beginning at memory location TABLE.
Figure 3–16 A jump table that stores addresses of various programs. The exact
address chosen from the TABLE is determined by an index stored with the jump
instruction.
3–3 STACK MEMORY-ADDRESSING
MODES
• The stack plays an important role in all
microprocessors.
– holds data temporarily and stores return
addresses used by procedures
• Stack memory is LIFO (last-in, first-out)
memory
– describes the way data are stored and removed
from the stack
• Data are placed on the stack with a PUSH
instruction; removed with a POP instruction.
• Stack memory is maintained by two registers:
– the stack pointer (SP or ESP)
– the stack segment register (SS)
• Whenever a word of data is pushed onto the
stack, the high-order 8 bits are placed in the
location addressed by SP – 1.
– low-order 8 bits are placed in the location
addressed by SP – 2
• The SP is decremented by 2 so the next word
is stored in the next available stack location.
– the SP/ESP register always points to an area of
memory located within the stack segment.
• In protected mode operation, the SS register
holds a selector that accesses a descriptor for
the base address of the stack segment.
• When data are popped from the stack, the low-
order 8 bits are removed from the location
addressed by SP.
– high-order 8 bits are removed; the SP register is
incremented by 2
Figure 3–17 The PUSH and POP instructions: (a) PUSH BX places the contents of
BX onto the stack; (b) POP CX removes data from the stack and places them into CX.
Both instructions are shown after execution.
• Note that PUSH and POP store or retrieve
words of data—never bytes—in 8086 - 80286.
• 80386 and above allow words or doublewords
to be transferred to and from the stack.
• Data may be pushed onto the stack from any
16-bit register or segment register.
– in 80386 and above, from any 32-bit extended
register
• Data may be popped off the stack into any
register or any segment register except CS.
• PUSHA and POPA instructions push or pop
all except segment registers, on the stack.
• Not available on early 8086/8088 processors.
• 80386 and above allow extended registers to
be pushed or popped.
– 64-bit mode for Pentium and Core2 does not
contain a PUSHA or POPA instruction
SUMMARY
• The MOV instruction copies the contents of
the source operand into the destination
operand.
• The source never changes for any
instruction.
• Register addressing specifies any 8-bit
register (AH, AL, BH, BL, CH, CL, DH, or
DL) or any 16-bit register (AX, BX, CX, DX,
SP, BP, SI, or DI).
SUMMARY (cont.)
• The segment registers (CS, DS, ES, or SS)
are also addressable for moving data
between a segment register and a 16-bit
register/memory location or for PUSH and
POP.
• In the 80386 through the Core2
microprocessors, the extended registers
also are used for register addressing; they
consist of EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX, ESP, EBP,
EDI, and ESI.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• In the 64-bit mode, the registers are RAX,
RBX, RCX, RDX, RSP, RBP, RDI, RSI, and
R8 through R15.
• The MOV immediate instruction transfers
the byte or word that immediately follows
the opcode into a register or a memory
location.
• Immediate addressing manipulates
constant data in a program.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• In the 80386 and above, doubleword
immediate data may also be loaded into
a 32-bit register or memory location.
• The .MODEL statement is used with
assembly language to identify the start of a
file and the type of memory model used
with the file.
• If the size is TINY, the program exists in
the code segment, and assembled as a
command (.COM) program.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• If the SMALL model is used, the program
uses a code and data segment and
assembles as an execute (.EXE) program.
• Direct addressing occurs in two forms in the
microprocessor: direct addressing and
displacement addressing.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• Both forms of addressing are identical
except that direct addressing is used to
transfer data between EAX, AX, or AL and
memory; displacement addressing is used
with any register-memory transfer.
• Direct addressing requires 3 bytes of
memory, whereas displacement addressing
requires 4 bytes.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• Register indirect addressing allows data to
be addressed at the memory loca-tion
pointed to by either a base (BP and BX) or
index register (DI and SI).
• In the 80386 and above, extended registers
EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX, EBP, EDI, and ESI
are used to address memory data.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• Base-plus-index addressing often
addresses data in an array.
• The memory address for this mode is
formed by adding a base register, index
register, and the contents of a segment
register times 10H.
• In the 80386 and above, the base and
index registers may be any 32-bit register
except EIP and ESP.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• Register relative addressing uses a base or
index register, plus a displacement to
access memory data.
• Base relative-plus-index addressing is
useful for addressing a two-dimensional
memory array.
• The address is formed by adding a base
register, an index register, displacement,
and the contents of a segment register
times 10H.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• Scaled-index addressing is unique to the
80386 through the Core2.
• The second of two registers (index) is
scaled by a factor of to access words,
doublewords, or quadwords in memory
arrays.
• The MOV AX,[ EBX + 2*ECX] and the MOV
[4 * ECX ],EDX are examples of scaled-
index instructions.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• Data structures are templates for storing
arrays of data and are addressed by array
name and field.
• Direct program memory addressing is
allowed with the JMP and CALL instructions
to any location in the memory system.
• With this addressing mode, the off-set
address and segment address are stored
with the instruction.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• Relative program addressing allows a JMP
or CALL instruction to branch for-ward or
backward in the current code segment by
bytes.
• In the 80386 and above, the 32-bit
displacement allows a branch to any
location in the cur-rent code segment by
using a displacement value of bytes.
• The 32-bit displacement can be used only
in protected mode.
SUMMARY (cont.)
• Indirect program addressing allows the JMP
or CALL instructions to address another
portion of the program or subroutine
indirectly through a register or memory
location.
• The PUSH and POP instructions transfer a
word between the stack and a register or
memory location.
• A PUSH immediate instruction is available
to place immediate data on the stack.
SUMMARY
• The PUSHA and POPA instructions transfer
AX, CX, DX, BX, BP, SP, SI, and DI
between the stack and these registers.
• In 80386 and above, the extended register
and extended flags can also be transferred
between registers and the stack.
• A PUSHFD stores the EFLAGS, whereas a
PUSHF stores the FLAGS. POPA and
PUSHA are not available in 64-bit mode.