Program Status Word (PSW)

The Program Status Word (PSW) contains status bits that reflect the current CPU state. The 8051 variants provide one special function register called PSW with this status information. The 251 provides two additional status flags, Z and N, that are available in a second special function register called PSW1.

PSW Register (all 8051 and 251 variants)

Bit 7	Bit 6	Bit 5	Bit 4	Bit 3	Bit 2	Bit 1	Bit 0
CY	AC	FO	RS1	RS0	OV	UD	P

Additional PSW1 Register (on 251 Architecture only)

Bit 7	Bit 6	Bit 5	Bit 4	Bit 3	Bit 2	Bit 1	Bit 0
CY	AC	N	RS1	RS0	OV	Z	—

The following table describes the status bits in the PSW:

RS1 RS0 Working Register Bank and Address
0 0 Bank0 (D:0x00 - D:0x07)
0 1 Bank1 (D:0x08 - D:0x0F)
1 0 Bank2 (D:0x10 - D:0x17)
1 1 Bank3 (D:0x18H - D:0x1F)

Symbol	Function
CY	Carry flag
AC	Auxiliary Carry flag (For BCD Operations)
F0	Flag 0 (Available to the user for General Purpose)
RS1, RS0	Register bank select: RS1 RS0 Working Register Bank and Address 0 0 Bank0 (D:0x00 - D:0x07) 0 1 Bank1 (D:0x08 - D:0x0F) 1 0 Bank2 (D:0x10 - D:0x17) 1 1 Bank3 (D:0x18H - D:0x1F)
0V	Overflow flag
UD	User definable flag
P	Parity flag
—	Reserved for future use (251 Only)
Z	Zero flag (251 Only)
N	Negative flag (251 Only)