3.

Addressing Modes
Background
The CPU accesses data in various ways. The modes for addressing the data are determined during the
processor design and cannot be changed by the user.
Objective
Know how to use and recognize different addressing modes.
Pre-Lab
Read section 4.1 in the textbook. Given the following four instructions:
a) mov [1000h], bx
b) mov bx, 1000h
c) mov bx, [bx]
d) add bx, 1000h
Which of these will load register bx with the data value 1000h? Which of these will load register bx with
the contents of memory specified by the address in ds:bx?
Lab
Be sure to add breakpoints to the examples when you enter them into the computer.
A. Register addressing mode
The register addressing mode does not involve the transfer of data from memory; therefore, this mode is
relatively fast.
The source and destination registers must match in size. Assemble the following instructions and examine
the content of the internal registers
MOV BX, DX ;copy contents of DX into BX
MOV ES, AX ;copy contents of AX int ES
ADD AL, BH ;add the contents of BH to the contents of AL and store in AL
What are the contents of the registers after the instructions above?
B. Immediate addressing mode
In the immediate addressing mode, the source operand is a constant. With this address mode, the operand
(a constant) is specified as an operand following the instruction mnemonic.
This mode cannot be used for segment registers or the flag register.
Type the following instructions and dump the contents of memory in the present code segment. Do the
above exercise using DEBUG.
MOV AX 3F50H ;move 3F50H into AX
MOV CX, 425 ;load decimal value 425 into CX
MOV BL, 40H ;load 40H into BL
Do both programs offer options in decimal?
What is the op code and the operand produced from the 2nd instruction?
How does it differ from the others? Is it stored in decimal?
If we want to load an immediate value into either a flag register or a segment register, we must first
store it in a general purpose register.
For example,
MOV AX, 3F60
MOV DS, AX
The two addressing modes that we have just examined do not require access to any external memory
locations, however, the remaining modes will require such accesses.
C. Direct addressing mode
The direct addressing mode requires the memory location of the data as part of the instruction. The address
of the data immediately follows the instruction. Notice the brackets present in the instructions below. , The
brackets signify that the number is a memory offset value and not an immediate operand.
What are the differences between MOV AX, [0010] and MOV AX, 10H? What is stored in AL after
each instruction is executed?
D. Register Indirect addressing
For register indirect addressing, the address of the memory location is held in a register. The registers
reserved for this are SI, DI, and BX. The logical address is usually stored in the register pair formed by DS
and an offset in either SI, DI or BX. As an example, MOV AL, [BX] copies the contents of the
memory location pointed to by DS:BX into AL. The brackets indicate that BX contains a memory
location.
If the above instruction does NOT have brackets included, the assembler produces an error. What is
the cause of the error?
E. Based relative addressing mode
In the based relative addressing mode, base registers BX and BP plus a displacement value determine the
effective address. The default segments for the logical address are DS for BX ad SS for BP.
Assemble:
MOV CX, [BX] + 20; move DS: BX + 20 into CX
; physical address = DS (shifted left) + BX + 20
The effective address is the offset register + the displacement (BX + 20) for this example.
What are the contents of BX?
What are the contents of CX?
Do the contents of CX change with MOV CX, [BX +20] or MOV CX, 20 [BX]?
F. Indexed Relative Addressing modes
This addressing mode works the same as the based relative addressing mode, except the index registers are
DI and SI. The default segment for each is DS.
Assemble:
MOV [SI + 10], AX
What is the memory location where AX is stored? (give both the physical and logical address)
G. Based Indexed Addressing Mode
The based indexed addressing mode is a combination of the based relative addressing mode and the
indexed relative addressing mode.
In this mode each instruction requires one base and one index register.
MOV CL, [BX][DI + 8] ; physical address DS (shifted left) + BX + DI + 8
Do the contents of CL change if we use MOV CL, [BX][DI]+8 versus MOV CL,[BX + DI + 8]?
Many instructions can use the addressing modes described above. For example, ADD DL, [BX]
would add the contents of memory pointed to by DS:BX to DL and store the result in DL.
Lab Report
Applying what you learned
Give the addressing mode for the following instructions. And comment the instructions:
a) MOV AX, DS
b) MOV CX, [3000]
c) MOV [BP + 6], AL
d) MOV BX, 3675H
e) MOV AH, [BX + SI + 50]
f) MOV CX, DS
What are the contents of memory location DS: 1210 after execution of each of the following sets of
instructions?
a) MOV BX, 129FH MOV [1210], BX
b) MOV DX, 8C68H MOV [1210], DX