PIC16F8X
3.0
ARCHITECTURAL OVERVIEW
The high performance of the PIC16CXX family can be
attributed to a number of architectural features
commonly found in RISC microprocessors. To begin
with, the PIC16CXX uses a Harvard architecture. This
architecture has the program and data accessed from
separate memories. So the device has a program
memory bus and a data memory bus. This improves
bandwidth over traditional von Neumann architecture
where program and data are fetched from the same
memory (accesses over the same bus). Separating
program and data memory further allows instructions
to be sized differently than the 8-bit wide data word.
PIC16CXX opcodes are 14-bits wide, enabling single
word instructions. The full 14-bit wide program memory
bus fetches a 14-bit instruction in a single cycle. A two-
stage pipeline overlaps fetch and execution of instruc-
tions (Example 3-1). Consequently, all instructions exe-
cute in a single cycle except for program branches.
The PIC16F83 and PIC16CR83 address 512 x 14 of
program memory, and the PIC16F84 and PIC16CR84
address 1K x 14 program memory. All program mem-
ory is internal.
The PIC16CXX can directly or indirectly address its
register files or data memory. All special function
registers including the program counter are mapped in
the data memory. An orthogonal (symmetrical)
instruction set makes it possible to carry out any oper-
ation on any register using any addressing mode. This
symmetrical nature and lack of ‘special optimal
situations’ make programming with the PIC16CXX
simple yet efficient. In addition, the learning curve is
reduced significantly.
PIC16CXX devices contain an 8-bit ALU and working
register. The ALU is a general purpose arithmetic unit.
It performs arithmetic and Boolean functions between
data in the working register and any register file.
The ALU is 8-bits wide and capable of addition,
subtraction, shift and logical operations. Unless
otherwise mentioned, arithmetic operations are two's
complement in nature. In two-operand instructions,
typically one operand is the working register
(W register), and the other operand is a file register or
an immediate constant. In single operand instructions,
the operand is either the W register or a file register.
The W register is an 8-bit working register used for ALU
operations. It is not an addressable register.
Depending on the instruction executed, the ALU may
affect the values of the Carry (C), Digit Carry (DC), and
Zero (Z) bits in the STATUS register. The C and DC bits
operate as a borrow and digit borrow out bit,
respectively, in subtraction. See the
SUBLW
and
SUBWF
instructions for examples.
A simplified block diagram for the PIC16F8X is shown
in Figure 3-1, its corresponding pin description is
shown in Table 3-1.
©
1998 Microchip Technology Inc.
DS30430C-page 7
MICROCHIP [ MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY ]
