8086 Microprocessor Review Questions and Detailed Answers

1. What are the two main components of the 8086 microprocessors?

The 8086 microprocessor is architecturally divided into two major units: the Bus Interface Unit (BIU) and the

Execution Unit (EU). The BIU is responsible for interfacing with memory and I/O devices. It handles all data

and address bus operations and instruction fetching. On the other hand, the EU executes the instructions

decoded by the Control Unit and performs arithmetic and logic operations using the Arithmetic Logic Unit

(ALU).

2. What is the purpose of the Instruction Queue in the 8086?

The instruction queue in the 8086 serves the purpose of pipelining. It is a 6-byte FIFO (First In First Out)

queue that prefetches instructions from memory even before the execution unit is free. This overlap of fetch

and execute cycles increases the speed of operation by allowing the BIU to fetch new instructions while the

EU executes the previous ones.

3. What is memory segmentation in the 8086 microprocessors?

Memory segmentation in the 8086 is a technique where memory is divided into different logical segments to

manage code, data, stack, and extra data. Each segment can be up to 64 KB in size, and the processor can

address up to 1 MB of physical memory. Segmentation allows easier program organization and efficient

memory management.

4. How is memory segmented in the 8086 microprocessors?

In the 8086 microprocessor, memory is segmented using four segment registers: Code Segment (CS), Data

Segment (DS), Stack Segment (SS), and Extra Segment (ES). Each segment register holds a 16-bit value

that points to the beginning of a 64 KB memory segment. Logical addresses consist of a segment and an

offset, and the physical address is calculated from these.

5. How does the 8086 generate a physical address from the segment address?

The 8086 generates a 20-bit physical address by left-shifting the 16-bit segment value by 4 bits (multiplying

by 16) and then adding the 16-bit offset to it. This allows it to address up to 1 MB of memory using 16-bit
registers. Formula: Physical Address = (Segment × 10H) + Offset.

6. What is the function of the ALU in the Execution Unit (EU) of the 8086?

The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) within the Execution Unit is responsible for carrying out all arithmetic

operations such as addition, subtraction, increment, and decrement, as well as logic operations like AND,

OR, XOR, and NOT. It also helps in setting the appropriate flags based on the result of these operations.

7. Explain the difference between Pointer and Index Registers and give examples.

Pointer registers are mainly used for stack operations and include the Stack Pointer (SP) and Base Pointer

(BP). SP is used to access stack data indirectly, while BP helps in accessing parameters passed through the

stack.

Index registers, namely Source Index (SI) and Destination Index (DI), are used for string manipulation and

array operations. They are mainly used with string instructions like MOVS, LODS, and STOS.

8. Explain the role of the flag register in the 8086.

The flag register in the 8086 is a 16-bit register containing 9 flags that indicate the status of the processor and

the outcome of operations. It includes status flags (like Zero, Sign, Overflow, Carry, Parity, Auxiliary Carry)

and control flags (Direction, Interrupt, Trap). These flags influence program flow and decision making in

conditional operations.

9. What is the function of the Bus Interface Unit (BIU) in the 8086?

The BIU is responsible for all external communications of the processor. It manages the system bus during

data and instruction fetch operations, handles the segment registers, instruction queue, and generates the

20-bit physical address to access memory. It enables the overlapping of instruction fetch and execution.

10. What is the maximum size of the memory that can be addressed by the 8086?

The 8086 has a 20-bit address bus, which allows it to access a maximum memory size of 2^20 = 1,048,576

bytes or 1 MB.

11. What is the difference between the 8086 and 8088 microprocessor?

The main difference lies in the data bus width and instruction queue size. The 8086 has a 16-bit data bus and
a 6-byte instruction queue, while the 8088 has an 8-bit data bus and a 4-byte queue. The 8088 is compatible

with 8-bit systems, making it more economical and suitable for simpler applications.

12. What are the different types of instruction formats in the 8086 microprocessor?

Instruction formats in 8086 include one-byte, two-byte, and multi-byte formats. These formats may consist of

opcode, addressing mode bits, displacement, and immediate data. The format used depends on the

operation and the operands involved.

13. How does the 8086 handle interrupt requests?

The 8086 handles both hardware and software interrupts. It supports maskable interrupts (INTR) and

non-maskable interrupts (NMI). When an interrupt occurs, the processor saves the current state and loads

the appropriate ISR (Interrupt Service Routine) from the Interrupt Vector Table located at the start of memory.

14. What is the role of the Control Unit in the Execution Unit of the 8086?

The Control Unit decodes the fetched instruction and generates control signals to orchestrate the execution

of the instruction using the ALU and registers. It ensures the synchronization and proper sequence of

operations within the processor.

15. What is the significance of the 16-bit flag register in the 8086?

The 16-bit flag register contains status and control flags used to reflect the outcome of operations and control

execution flow. These flags affect conditional jumps, loops, and interrupt handling, and are essential in

guiding the program logic based on computational results.

16. What are the different addressing modes supported by the 8086 microprocessor? Give 18. 19. 20.

What is the role of String Instructions in 8086? List some common string instructions.

The 8086 supports various addressing modes: Immediate, Register, Direct, Register Indirect, Based,

Indexed, Based-Indexed, and Relative. These modes allow flexibility in accessing operands.

String instructions perform operations on blocks of data and use registers SI and DI. Examples include

MOVS (move string), LODS (load string), STOS (store string), SCAS (scan string), and CMPS (compare

string).
17. Explain the arithmetic operations performed by the 8086. How does the processor handle

multiplication and division?

The 8086 performs arithmetic operations like ADD, SUB, INC, DEC, NEG, and CMP. For multiplication, it

uses MUL (unsigned) and IMUL (signed), and for division, DIV (unsigned) and IDIV (signed). The results are

stored in accumulator registers like AX, DX.