2009 Microchip Technology Inc.
DS39689F-page 75
PIC18F2221/2321/4221/4321 FAMILY
The PLUSW register can be used to implement a form
of indexed addressing in the data memory space. By
manipulating the value in the W register, users can
reach addresses that are fixed offsets from pointer
addresses. In some applications, this can be used to
implement some powerful program control structure,
such as software stacks, inside of data memory.
6.4.3.3
Operations by FSRs on FSRs
Indirect addressing operations that target other FSRs or
virtual registers represent special cases. For example,
using an FSR to point to one of the virtual registers will
not result in successful operations. As a specific case,
assume that FSR0H:FSR0L contains FE7h, the address
of INDF1. Attempts to read the value of the INDF1 using
INDF0 as an operand will return 00h. Attempts to write
to INDF1 using INDF0 as the operand will result in a NOP.
On the other hand, using the virtual registers to write to
an FSR pair may not occur as planned. In these cases,
the value will be written to the FSR pair but without any
incrementing or decrementing. Thus, writing to INDF2
or POSTDEC2 will write the same value to the
FSR2H:FSR2L.
Since the FSRs are physical registers mapped in the
SFR space, they can be manipulated through all direct
operations. Users should proceed cautiously when
working on these registers, particularly if their code
uses indirect addressing.
Similarly, operations by indirect addressing are generally
permitted on all other SFRs. Users should exercise the
appropriate caution that they do not inadvertently
change settings that might affect the operation of the
device.
6.5
Data Memory and the Extended
Instruction Set
Enabling the PIC18 extended instruction set (XINST
Configuration bit = 1) significantly changes certain
aspects of data memory and its addressing. Specifically,
the use of the Access Bank for many of the core PIC18
instructions is different. This is due to the introduction of
a new addressing mode for the data memory space.
What does not change is just as important. The size of
the data memory space is unchanged, as well as its
linear addressing. The SFR map remains the same.
Core PIC18 instructions can still operate in both Direct
and Indirect Addressing mode; inherent and literal
instructions do not change at all. Indirect addressing
with FSR0 and FSR1 also remain unchanged.
6.5.1
INDEXED ADDRESSING WITH
LITERAL OFFSET
Enabling the PIC18 extended instruction set changes
the behavior of indirect addressing using the FSR2
register pair within Access RAM. Under the proper
conditions, instructions that use the Access Bank – that
is, most bit-oriented and byte-oriented instructions – can
invoke a form of indexed addressing using an offset
specified in the instruction. This special addressing
mode is known as Indexed Addressing with Literal
Offset, or Indexed Literal Offset mode.
When using the extended instruction set, this
addressing mode requires the following:
The use of the Access Bank is forced (‘a(chǎn)’ = 0);
and
The file address argument is less than or equal to
5Fh.
Under these conditions, the file address of the instruc-
tion is not interpreted as the lower byte of an address
(used with the BSR in direct addressing), or as an 8-bit
address in the Access Bank. Instead, the value is
interpreted as an offset value to an Address Pointer,
specified by FSR2. The offset and the contents of
FSR2 are added to obtain the target address of the
operation.
6.5.2
INSTRUCTIONS AFFECTED BY
INDEXED LITERAL OFFSET MODE
Any of the core PIC18 instructions that can use direct
addressing are potentially affected by the Indexed
Literal Offset Addressing mode. This includes all
byte-oriented and bit-oriented instructions, or almost
one-half of the standard PIC18 instruction set.
Instructions that only use Inherent or Literal Addressing
modes are unaffected.
Additionally, byte-oriented and bit-oriented instructions
are not affected if they do not use the Access Bank
(Access RAM bit is ‘1’), or include a file address of 60h
or above. Instructions meeting these criteria will
continue to execute as before. A comparison of the dif-
ferent possible addressing modes when the extended
Those who desire to use bit-oriented or byte-oriented
instructions in the Indexed Literal Offset mode should
note the changes to assembler syntax for this mode.