Question

[5] <§2.7> Suppose the program counter (PC) is set to 0x2000 0000. Is it possible to use the jump (j) MIPS assembly instruction to set the PC to the address as 0x4000 0000? Is it possible to use the branch-on-equal (beq) MIPS assembly instruction to set the PC to this same address?

Short answer

No, it is not possible to set the pc address as 0x4000 0000 by using the MIPS assembly instruction “jump(j)” from the PC address 0x2000 0000.

No, it is not possible to set the PC to this same address by using the branch-on-equal (beq) MIPS assembly instruction.

Step-by-step solution

Define the concept of “jump(j)” and “branch-on-equal(beq)”.

The “jump(j)” is the MIPS assembly instructions. This instruction is used for transferring the sequence of the program to the specified memory address. The purpose of using this MIPS assembly instruction -“j 2400”is to jump to the specified memory address “2400”.

The “branch-on-equal (beq)” is a decision-making instruction in MIPS assembly language. The purpose of using this MIPS assembly instruction “beq reg1, reg2 Label” is going to the statement “Label” if the value of “reg1” is equal to the “reg2”.

Determine the possibility of the mentioned condition.

The “jump(j)” can able to transfer the program sequence to the full 32-bit address. But by using a single instruction, it is not possible to transfer the program sequence to the specified address where the address is greater than 28 bits.

The “branch-on-equal(beq)” is I type instruction in MIPS assembly language. Therefore, it is not possible to use the branch-on-equal (beq) MIPS assembly instruction to set the PC to this same address as the specified memory address is greater than the 16 bits.