Datasheet

Opcodes and Operands
M68HC12B Family Data Sheet, Rev. 9.1
Freescale Semiconductor 65
3.7 Opcodes and Operands
The CPU12 uses 8-bit opcodes. Each opcode identifies a particular instruction and associated addressing
mode to the CPU. Several opcodes are required to provide each instruction with a range of addressing
capabilities.
Only 256 opcodes would be available if the range of values were restricted to the number that can be
represented by 8-bit binary numbers. To expand the number of opcodes, a second page is added to the
opcode map. Opcodes on the second page are preceded by an additional byte with the value $18.
To provide additional addressing flexibility, opcodes can also be followed by a postbyte or extension
bytes. Postbytes implement certain forms of indexed addressing, transfers, exchanges, and loop
primitives. Extension bytes contain additional program information such as addresses, offsets, and
immediate data.