8-Bit Division
In this tutorial, we will look at 8-bit division routines in AVR Assembly. AVR does not have the ability to do hardware division (i.e., there are no division instructions), so subroutines must be written using other instructions to accomplish this task.
The Atmel AVR200 Application Note provides a complete list of divide subroutines - rather than reinvent the wheel, we will take a look at how they work.
8-Bit Unsigned Division
An 8-bit unsigned division subroutine from Atmel is shown below
;***************************************************************************
;*
;* "div8u" - 8/8 Bit Unsigned Division
;*
;* This subroutine divides the two register variables "dd8u" (dividend) and
;* "dv8u" (divisor). The result is placed in "dres8u" and the remainder in
;* "drem8u".
;*
;* Number of words :14
;* Number of cycles :97
;* Low registers used :1 (drem8u)
;* High registers used :3 (dres8u/dd8u,dv8u,dcnt8u)
;*
;***************************************************************************
;***** Subroutine Register Variables
.def drem8u =r15 ;remainder
.def dres8u =r16 ;result
.def dd8u =r16 ;dividend
.def dv8u =r17 ;divisor
.def dcnt8u =r18 ;loop counter
;***** Code
div8u: sub drem8u,drem8u ;clear remainder and carry
ldi dcnt8u,9 ;init loop counter
d8u_1: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
dec dcnt8u ;decrement counter
brne d8u_2 ;if done
ret ; return
d8u_2: rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_3 ;if result negative
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_1 ;else
d8u_3: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_1In this subroutine, the divisor is input in the register dd8u (r16) and the divisor is placed in the register dv8u (r17). When it is finished, the result will be stored in dd8u (r16) and the remainder will be in drem8u (r15).
The subroutine starts by clearing the register that will hold the division's remainder, drem8u using the instruction sub.
div8u: sub drem8u,drem8u ;clear remainder and carryYou might wonder, why not just use the instruction clr instead? Well, this subroutine needs the Carry Flag cleared before it executes and clr will leave it unmodified. If clr was used instead, clc would need to follow it, e.g.
div8u: clr drem8u ;clear remainder
clc ; clear carry
Instead, using sub clears the register and the Carry Flag in one instruction. Pretty crafty!
Next, dcnt8u is initialized as a loop count with the value 9.
ldi dcnt8u,9 ;init loop counterA For Loop is setup at the label
d8u_1: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
dec dcnt8u ;decrement counter
brne d8u_2 ;if done
ret ; returnIn each loop, dcnt8u will be decremented, giving 8 iterations, one for each bit in the dividend. The subroutine will return when it reaches zero.
Next, the most significant bit of the divisor is shifted into the least significant bit of the remainder. We check if the divisor goes into the remainder using the sub instruction. We subtract the divisor from this value, and if it is negative (checked by the brcc instruction), we know that the divisor goes into the remainder less than one time. Otherwise, we know it goes in at least once.
d8u_2: rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_3 ;if result negativeIf the divisor does not go into the remainder, we need to restore it (since it was modified with the sub instruction) and shift a zero into our result.
drem8u is restored by adding dv8u back to it, the Carry Flag is cleared with the clc instruction, and rol is used to shift a zero (value of the Carry Flag) into the result. This flow is shown below with alternate branches removed.
d8u_2: rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
...
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
↓
d8u_1: rol dd8u ;shift zero into dividendNote that dd8u is both the input dividend and the result, which is why the Carry Flag is shifted into it instead of another register.
Alternatively, if the divisor does go into the remainder, we do not need to restore it. Instead, we need to shift a one into the result by setting the Carry Flag.
d8u_2: rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_3 ;if result negative
...
d8u_3: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
↓
d8u_1: rol dd8u ;shift one into dividendFor either result, an rjmp is used to return to the beginning of the loop where another bit will be shifted out of the dividend and the cycle will repeat for all 8-bits.
d8u_1: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
...
rjmp d8u_1Using this subroutine is simple. A dividend just needs to be loaded into r16 and a divisor into r17 before it is called.
ldi r16,101 ; load 101 into r16
ldi r17,10 ; load 10 into r17
rcall div8u ; compute 101/10In the example above, r16 will contain the value 10 when the subroutine is finished - the result of the division, and r15 will contain 1, the remainder.
Execution Time vs. Code Size
In Assembly, you will often be faced with a tradeoff between execution time and code size. The above example is fairly compact due to the use of branches, but this introduces a few extra cycles of overhead in each loop iteration. Instead, branching could be reduced by having a separate block of code for each loop cycle - speeding things up but increasing the size of the code.
The above is "size optimized", but consider instead this "speed optimized" version of the subroutine.
;***************************************************************************
;*
;* "div8u" - 8/8 Bit Unsigned Division
;*
;* This subroutine divides the two register variables "dd8u" (dividend) and
;* "dv8u" (divisor). The result is placed in "dres8u" and the remainder in
;* "drem8u".
;*
;* Number of words :66 + return
;* Number of cycles :50/58/66 (Min/Avg/Max) + return
;* Low registers used :1 (drem8u)
;* High registers used :2 (dres8u/dd8u,dv8u)
;*
;***************************************************************************
;***** Subroutine Register Variables
.def drem8u =r15 ;remainder
.def dres8u =r16 ;result
.def dd8u =r16 ;dividend
.def dv8u =r17 ;divisor
;***** Code
div8u: sub drem8u,drem8u ;clear remainder and carry
rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_1 ;if result negative
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_2 ;else
d8u_1: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
d8u_2: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_3 ;if result negative
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_4 ;else
d8u_3: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
d8u_4: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_5 ;if result negative
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_6 ;else
d8u_5: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
d8u_6: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_7 ;if result negative
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_8 ;else
d8u_7: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
d8u_8: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_9 ;if result negative
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_10 ;else
d8u_9: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
d8u_10: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_11 ;if result negative
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_12 ;else
d8u_11: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
d8u_12: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_13 ;if result negative
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_14 ;else
d8u_13: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
d8u_14: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
rol drem8u ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8u,dv8u ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8u_15 ;if result negative
add drem8u,dv8u ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8u_16 ;else
d8u_15: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
d8u_16: rol dd8u ;shift left dividend
ret
The "speed optimized" version is significantly longer - 66 words instead of 14. However, it can execute in 58 cycles compared to 97 for the "size optimized" version.
You will have to make a decision based on the tradeoff between speed and code size for your specific application. But the amazing thing about assembly is that now, you have a choice!
Signed 8-bit division
Signed 8-bit division is actually quite simple if you know how to do unsigned division. You simply need to check if the divisor and dividend are negative, convert their Two's Complement value to a magnitude if they are, and proceed with unsigned division, just like before. At the end, if one or the other was negative (but not both!), you need to convert the result back to a signed value. This is shown below
;***************************************************************************
;*
;* "div8s" - 8/8 Bit Signed Division
;*
;* This subroutine divides the two register variables "dd8s" (dividend) and
;* "dv8s" (divisor). The result is placed in "dres8s" and the remainder in
;* "drem8s".
;*
;* Number of words :22
;* Number of cycles :103
;* Low registers used :2 (d8s,drem8s)
;* High registers used :3 (dres8s/dd8s,dv8s,dcnt8s)
;*
;***************************************************************************
;***** Subroutine Register Variables
.def d8s =r14 ;sign register
.def drem8s =r15 ;remainder
.def dres8s =r16 ;result
.def dd8s =r16 ;dividend
.def dv8s =r17 ;divisor
.def dcnt8s =r18 ;loop counter
;***** Code
div8s: mov d8s,dd8s ;move dividend to sign register
eor d8s,dv8s ;xor sign with divisor
sbrc dv8s,7 ;if MSB of divisor set
neg dv8s ; change sign of divisor
sbrc dd8s,7 ;if MSB of dividend set
neg dd8s ; change sign of divisor
sub drem8s,drem8s ;clear remainder and carry
ldi dcnt8s,9 ;init loop counter
d8s_1: rol dd8s ;shift left dividend
dec dcnt8s ;decrement counter
brne d8s_2 ;if done
sbrc d8s,7 ; if MSB of sign register set
neg dres8s ; change sign of result
ret ; return
d8s_2: rol drem8s ;shift dividend into remainder
sub drem8s,dv8s ;remainder = remainder - divisor
brcc d8s_3 ;if result negative
add drem8s,dv8s ; restore remainder
clc ; clear carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8s_1 ;else
d8s_3: sec ; set carry to be shifted into result
rjmp d8s_1This signed division routine needs one more register than before - d8s (r14). d8s is used to keep track of the signs of the operands and the result.
The subroutine begins by copying the dividend dd8s into the sign register d8s and performing an exclusive OR between it and the divisor dv8s. If the dividend or divisor is negative, bit 7 of the sign register will be set - otherwise it will be cleared.
div8s: mov d8s,dd8s ;move dividend to sign register
eor d8s,dv8s ;xor sign with divisorNext, the sign of the dividend and divisor are individually checked. If they are negative, they are converted to an unsigned magnitude using the neg instruction.
sbrc dv8s,7 ;if MSB of divisor set
neg dv8s ; change sign of divisor
sbrc dd8s,7 ;if MSB of dividend set
neg dd8s ; change sign of divisorThe division routine can then continue exactly as it did before since we know we are using two unsigned values. The only difference is that before returning, we check the sign register d8s. If its most significant bit is set, one of the operands was negative, so we know the result must be negative and converted back to a signed value using neg
div8s: ...
sbrc d8s,7 ; if MSB of sign register set
neg dres8s ; change sign of result
ret ; return
...Of course, if you prefer speed over code size, this subroutine can be modified exactly like the one above to reduce branching. See if you can manage to write it on your own!
Conclusion
And there you have it. 8-bit division in AVR Assembly. Not so bad right? Hopefully you see though how much more costly it is than hardware routines. Avoid it if you can, but if you must... now you know how to do it.