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Understanding Processor Organization

The document outlines the essential functions of a processor, including fetching and interpreting instructions, fetching and processing data, and writing data. It describes the components of a processor, such as the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) and control unit (CU), as well as the need for internal memory to temporarily store data and instructions. Additionally, it highlights the data transfer paths within the processor and the similarity between the internal structure of the computer and the processor.

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12 views2 pages

Understanding Processor Organization

The document outlines the essential functions of a processor, including fetching and interpreting instructions, fetching and processing data, and writing data. It describes the components of a processor, such as the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) and control unit (CU), as well as the need for internal memory to temporarily store data and instructions. Additionally, it highlights the data transfer paths within the processor and the similarity between the internal structure of the computer and the processor.

Uploaded by

nhanpthe182053
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

To understand the organization of the processor, let us consider the requirements

placed on the processor, the things that it must do:


• Fetch instruction: The processor reads an instruction from memory (register,
cache, main memory).
• Interpret instruction: The instruction is decoded to determine what action is
required.
• Fetch data: The execution of an instruction may require reading data from
memory or an I/O module.
• Process data: The execution of an instruction may require performing some
arithmetic or logical operation on data.
• Write data: The results of an execution may require writing data to memory or
an I/O module.

To do these things, it should be clear that the processor needs to store some
data temporarily. It must remember the location of the last instruction so that it
can know where to get the next instruction. It needs to store instructions and data
temporarily while an instruction is being executed. In other words, the processor
needs a small internal memory.

Figure 14.1 is a simplified view of a processor, indicating its connection to the


rest of the system via the system bus. A similar interface would be needed for
any of the interconnection structures described in Chapter 3. The reader will
recall that the major components of the processor are an arithmetic and logic unit
(ALU) and a control unit (CU). The ALU does the actual computation or
processing of data.
The control unit controls the movement of data and instructions into and out of
the processor and controls the operation of the ALU. In addition, the figure shows
a minimal internal memory, consisting of a set of storage locations, called
registers.

Figure 14.2 is a slightly more detailed view of the processor. The data transfer
and logic control paths are indicated, including an element labeled internal
processor bus. This element is needed to transfer data between the various
registers and the ALU because the ALU in fact operates only on data in the
internal processor memory. The figure also shows typical basic elements of the
ALU. Note the similarity between the internal structure of the computer as a
whole and the internal structure of the processor. In both cases, there is a small
collection of major elements (computer: processor, I/O, memory; processor:
control unit, ALU, registers) connected by data paths.

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