Computer Architecture - Assembly Language and CPU Architecture Quiz

Y86-64 Simulated CPU Overview

• Y86-64 has a total of 14 registers, including general-purpose registers and special registers.
• The two major types of Instruction Set Architectures (ISAs) today are Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) and Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC).
• Y86-64 features 4 condition codes (flags), which include zero, sign, overflow, and carry flags, used for decision-making in operations.

Operand and Data Handling

• The Y86 simulated CPU can work with multiple types of operands, including registers, immediate values, and memory locations.
• Y86 simulated CPU operates primarily on 8-byte data, facilitating extensive data manipulation.
• Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) defines the interface between software and hardware, detailing how instructions are processed by the CPU.

Assembly and Machine Language

• There is a direct relationship where each assembly language instruction corresponds to a machine language instruction, with one instruction typically translating to one machine language encoding.
• Different CPU architectures like Intel, ARM, and Mac M1 do not use the same assembly language, leading to unique sets of assembly instructions tailored for each architecture.

High-Level Language and Assembly Language

• The relationship between assembly language instructions and high-level language statements is not one-to-one; multiple assembly instructions may be needed to execute a single high-level statement.

Unique Aspects of Y86-64

• Y86-64 is unique due to its simplified architecture designed for educational use while still reflecting real-world CPU principles.
• The ISA of a processor is characterized by the size and type of data it can process, instruction formats, and addressing modes.

Operand Storage and Data Formats

• Y86-64’s use of signed operands allows for a broader range of integer representations, enabling calculations involving negative numbers to be accurate.
• In storing multi-byte data, big-endian systems store the most significant byte first, while little-endian systems store the least significant byte first.

Operand Size Comparison

• The primary difference in operand sizes is that Y86-64 operates on 8-byte operands, whereas many real CPUs may support a wider range of operand sizes.

Condition Codes in Y86-64

• Y86-64 has 4 condition codes (flags) used to influence the control flow of programs by indicating conditions that result from arithmetic and logical operations.