Project ForgeComputer Organization & Architecture
Pipelining & Instruction Sets
GATE 2016
Medium
A processor has 40 distinct instructions and 24 general purpose registers. A 32-bit instruction word has an opcode, two register operands and an immediate operand. The number of bits available for the immediate operand field is ____.
16
Explanation
Opcode needs ⌈log₂40⌉=6 bits. Each of the 2 register operands needs ⌈log₂24⌉=5 bits, totaling 10 bits. Immediate field = 32 − 6 − 10 = 16 bits.
Source: GATE CS 2016 (Session 2 / Set B) (2016)
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