Thread: PC relative addressing mode

  1. #1
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    PC relative addressing mode

    Take for example
    Code:
    LDR R1, =Sample
    Does R1 point to the the program counter plus the location of Sample OR the value of Sample?

  2. #2
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    Are we supposed to guess which processor/assembler you're using, or are we to guess you're using ARM like last time?
    If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
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    ARM. I thought it would be the same in all assembly languages?

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    Quote Originally Posted by c_weed View Post
    ARM. I thought it would be the same in all assembly languages?
    Of course not.

    Every processor type has it's own instruction set and nope they're not all the same.

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    In this case I think it also depends on the particular assembler. LDR Rd, =... is a pseudo instruction in at least the ARM and GNU assembler. The behaviour depends on what "Sample" is.

    If "Sample" is an expression, e.g. a constant, then the value of Sample will be loaded. Sample might not even have an address if it is small enough.

    Code:
     .equ SmallSample,5
     .equ BigSample,0xdeadbeef
    
    
     LDR r1, =SmallSample
    #  ---> this will assemble to "MOV r1, 5". 
     LDR r1,=BigSample
    #  ---> the assembler will generate a literal pool containing 0xdeadbeef and load from it using LDR r1, [pc,#offset]
    If Sample is a symbol, e.g. a label, the assembler will load the address of Sample.

    Code:
    Sample .word 0xf00df00d
    
     LDR r0, =Sample
    #--> In this case the assembler will probably generate a literal pool containing the address of "Sample".
    Likewise if "Sample" is a function name, it'll load the address of the symbol
    Last edited by smokeyangel; 10-21-2011 at 05:08 PM.

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