Communicating with Digital's MPS Microprocessor

This document, titled 'Communicating with Digital's MPS Microprocessor' (July 1975), provides a comprehensive introduction to programming Digital Equipment Corporation's MPS microprocessor series. It is divided into ten chapters and several appendices. The content covers:

• Fundamentals: Number systems (decimal, binary, octal), byte organization, and basic instruction concepts.
• Hardware: An overview of the MPS hardware components, including the M7341 Central Processor Module, memory modules, I/O handling, interrupts, and memory addressing.
• Programming Basics: The five phases of problem-solving—problem definition, method determination, flowcharting, coding, and checkout—are detailed with examples.
• Coding & Assembly: Instruction formats, the use of mnemonic codes, and the transition from manual (hand) assembly to machine assembly, including location assignment and symbolic addressing.
• Advanced Operations: Arithmetic operations, subroutines, looping, branching, and program delays.
• I/O Coding: Detailed explanation of programmed transfer, interrupts, and UART coding for peripheral devices like the LT33 Teletype.
• Programming Examples: Practical examples, including an ASCII character routine and a temperature control program.

The guide also includes a detailed glossary and appendices for block-offset to octal conversion, flowchart symbols, ASCII codes, and pseudo-instructions.