1.3 Instruction Format Overview

As shown in Figure 1–1,Alpha instructions are all 32 bits in length. There are four major instruction format classes that contain 0, 1, 2, or 3 register fields. All formats have a 6-bit opcode.

Figure 1–1: Instruction Format Overview

31

26 25

 

21 20

16 15

5

4

0

 

Opcode

 

 

 

 

 

Number

 

 

 

PALcode Format

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opcode

 

RA

 

 

 

Disp

 

 

 

Branch Format

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opcode

 

RA

 

RB

 

Disp

 

 

 

Memory Format

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opcode

 

RA

 

RB

 

Function

 

RC

 

Operate Format

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PALcode instructions specify, in the function code field, one of a few dozen complex operations to be performed.

Conditional branch instructions test register Ra and specify a signed 21-bit PC-rela- tive longword target displacement. Subroutine calls put the return address in register Ra.

Load and store instructions move bytes, words, longwords, or quadwords between register Ra and memory, using Rb plus a signed 16-bit displacement as the memory address.

Operate instructions for floating-point and integer operations are both represented in Figure 1–1by the operate format illustration and are as follows:

Word and byte sign-extension operators.

Floating-point operations use Ra and Rb as source registers and write the result in register Rc. There is an 11-bit extended opcode in the function field.

Integer operations use Ra and Rb or an 8-bit literal as the source operand, and write the result in register Rc.

Integer operate instructions can use the Rb field and part of the function field to specify an 8-bit literal. There is a 7-bit extended opcode in the function field.

1.4Instruction Overview

PALcode Instructions

As described in Section 1.1, a Privileged Architecture Library (PALcode) is a set of subrou- tines that is specific to a particular Alpha operating-system implementation. These subroutines can be invoked by hardware or by software CALL_PAL instructions, which use the function field to vector to the specified subroutine.

1–4Alpha Architecture Handbook

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Compaq ECQD2KCTE manual Instruction Format Overview, Instruction Overview, PALcode Instructions