Reverse a byte using assembly language

Question

I'm in a microprocessors class and we are using assembly language in Freescale CodeWarrior to program a 68HCS12 micro controller. Our assignment this week is to revers a byte, so if the byte was 00000001, the output would be 10000000, or 00101011 to 11010100. We have to use assembly language, and were told we could use rotates and shifts (but not limited to!) to accomplish this task. I'm really at a loss as to where I should start.

Answer 1

Consider two registers as stacks of bits. What happens if you move one bit at a time from one to another?

Answer 2

If you can spare the 256 bytes extra code size, a lookup table is probably the most efficient way to reverse a byte on a 68HCS12. But I am pretty sure this is not what your instructor is expecting.

For the "normal" solution, consider the data bits individually. Rotates and shifts allow you to move bits around. For a first solution, isolate the eight bits (with bitwise "and" operations), move them to their destination positions (shifts, rotates...), then combine them together again (with bitwise "or" operations). This will not be the most efficient or simplest implementation, but you should first concentrate on getting a correct result -- optimization can wait.