The is a fundamental design concept in computer systems. It is also referred to as a due to its ability to store both data and instructions in the same unit. At the heart of this architecture lies the (CPU), which performs the primary operations of a computer.
The CPU consists of various components, including the Memory, which stores both data and program instructions. The process of executing instructions involves several stages. The first step is , where the CPU retrieves the next instruction from memory. Subsequently, the CPU proceeds to , where it interprets the fetched instruction and determines the subsequent actions to be performed.
Following Instruction Decode, the CPU proceeds to , where the actual operations specified by the instruction are carried out. This process is coordinated by the , which plays a vital role in managing the flow of instructions and data within the CPU and between other components.
The is a crucial component of the CPU responsible for performing arithmetic and logical operations. Additionally, the mechanisms allow the CPU to communicate with external devices. These components are interconnected through different es, transferring data and control signals.
The bus is a communication pathway that enables the transfer of information between various components. There are different types of buses, including the , , and . The control bus carries control signals that coordinate the activities of different components. The data bus, as the name suggests, is responsible for transferring data between the CPU and other devices. The address bus is used to specify the location of data or instructions in memory.
s are small, fast storage units within the CPU that hold data temporarily. The is a commonly used register that performs arithmetic and logical operations. The keeps track of the address of the next instruction to be fetched from memory. The holds data that is being read from or written to memory, while the stores the address of the current instruction or data being accessed. Finally, the holds the current instruction being executed by the CPU.
Keywords
control bus | program counter | memory data register | input/output (i/o) | arithmetic logic unit (alu) | central processing unit | control unit | instruction fetch | register | data bus | von neumann architecture | stored-program computer | accumulator | memory address register | instruction decode | instruction execution | memory | bus | instruction register | address bus |
