The Central Processing Unit:

What Goes on Inside the

Computer

Chapter 4

Objectives

Identify the components of the central processing

unit and how they work together and interact with
memory
Describe how program instructions are executed
by the computer
Explain how data is represented in the computer
Describe how the computer finds instructions and
data
Describe the components of a microcomputer
system units motherboard
List the measures of computer processing speed
and explain the approaches that increase speed

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The CPU

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The CPU

Complex set of electronic circuitry

Control center
Set of electronic circuitry that executes stored
program instructions
Two parts

Control Unit (CU)

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

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Control Unit: CU

Part of the hardware that is in-charge

Directs the computer system to execute
stored program instructions
Must communicate with memory and ALU
Sends data and instructions from secondary
storage to memory as needed

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Arithmetic Logic Unit

Executes all arithmetic and logical operations

Arithmetic operations

Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division

Logical operations

Compare numbers, letters, or special characters

Tests for one of three conditions

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Equal-to condition
Less-than condition
Greater-than condition

Data Storage and the CPU

Two types of storage:

Primary storage (memory)

Stores data temporarily

CPU refers to it for both program instructions and data

Secondary storage

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Long-term storage
Stored on external medium, such as a disk

The CPU and Memory

CPU cannot process data from disk or input device

Items sent to ALU for processing

It must first reside in memory

Control unit retrieves data from disk and moves it into
memory
Control unit sends items to ALU, then sends back to
memory after processing

Data and instructions held in memory until sent to an

output or storage device or program is shut down

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Registers
Special-purpose
High-speed
Temporary storage
Located inside CPU
Instruction register

Holds instruction currently

being executed

Status Register

Holds status of ALU

operations

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Data register
Holds data waiting to be
processed
Holds results from processing

Memory

Also known as primary storage and main

memory

Often expressed as random-access memory

(RAM)
Not part of the CPU

Holds data and instructions for processing

Stores information only as long as the
program is in operation

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Memory Addresses

Each memory location has an

address

May contain only one

instruction or piece of data

A unique number, much like

a mailbox

When data is written back to

memory, previous contents of
that address are destroyed

Referred to by number

Programming languages use

a symbolic (named) address,
such as Hours or Salary

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Data Representation

Computers understand two

things: on and off
Data represented in binary form

Binary (base 2) number system

Contains only two digits, 0 and 1

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Corresponds to two states, on and off

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Representing Data

Bit
Byte
Word

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Bit

Short for binary digit

Two possible values: 0 and 1

Can never be empty

Basic unit for storing data

0 means off, 1 means on

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Byte

A group of 8 bits

For text, stores one character

Each byte has 256 (28) possible values

Can be letter, digit, or special character

Memory and storage devices measured in

number of bytes

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Word

The number of bits the CPU processes as a

unit

Typically a whole number of bytes

The larger the word, the more powerful the
computer
Personal computers typically 32 or 64 bits in
length

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Storage Sizes

Kilobyte: 1024 (210) bytes

Megabyte: roughly one million (220) bytes

Personal computer memory

Portable storage devices (diskette, CD-ROM)

Gigabyte: roughly one billion (230) bytes

Memory capacity of older personal computers

Storage devices (hard drives)

Mainframe and network server memory

Terabyte: roughly one trillion (240) bytes

Storage devices on very large systems

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Executing Programs

Fetch
CU gets an instruction
Decode
CU decodes the instruction
Execute
CU notifies the appropriate part of hardware to
take action
Control is transferred to the appropriate part of
hardware
Task is performed
Store
Control is returned to the CU

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How the CPU Executes Instructions

Four steps performed for each instruction

Machine cycle: the amount of time needed to

execute an instruction
Personal computers execute in less than one
millionth of a second
Supercomputers execute in less than one
trillionth of a second

Each CPU has its own instruction set

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those instructions that CPU can understand and

execute
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The Machine Cycle

The time required to

retrieve, execute, and
store an operation
Components

Instruction time
Execution time

System clock
synchronizes operations

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Instruction Time

Also called I-time

Control unit gets instruction from memory and
puts it into a register
Control unit decodes instruction and
determines the memory location of needed
data

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Execution Time

Control unit moves data from memory to

registers in ALU

ALU executes instruction on the data

Control unit stores result of operation in

memory or in a register

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Machine Cycle - Example

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System Clock

System clock produces pulses at a fixed rate

Each Machine Cycle is one or more clock pulses
One program instruction may actually be several
instructions to the CPU
Each CPU instruction will take one machine
cycle
CPU has an instruction set instructions that it
can understand and process
Different CPUs have unique instruction sets

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Different types non-compatible (ie, Apple vs Intel)

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Example

get instruction from address location 2110

decipher instruction Z = X + Y
mov X into register A (the accumulator)
mov Y into register B
add register B to register A

Result stays in accumulator

store result in memory location symbolically

addressed by Z

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Coding Schemes

Provide a common way of representing a

character of data

Needed so computers can exchange data

Common Schemes

ASCII
EBCDIC
Unicode

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ASCII

Stands for American Standard Code for

Information Interchange
Most widely used standard
Used on virtually all personal computers

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EBCDIC

Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange

Code

Used primarily on IBM and IBM-compatible

mainframes

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Unicode

Designed to accommodate alphabets of more

than 256 characters
Uses 16 bits to represent one character

65,536 possible values

Requires twice as much space to store data

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The System Unit

Houses the electronic components of the

computer system

Motherboard
Storage devices

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Motherboard

Flat circuit board that holds

the computer circuitry

Central processing unit

(microprocessor) is most
important component

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Storage Devices

Long-term storage of memory

Data not lost when computer shut down

Examples include hard drive, diskette, DVDROM

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Microprocessor

Central processing unit etched on

silicon chip
Contain tens of millions of tiny
transistors
Key components:

Central processing unit

Registers
System clock

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Transistors

Electronic switches that may or may not allow

electric current to pass through

If current passes through, switch is on,

representing a 1 bit
Otherwise, switch is off, representing a 0 bit

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Types of Chips

Intel makes a family of processors

Pentium III and Pentium4 processors in most PCs

Celeron processor sold for low-cost PCs
Xeon and Itanium for high-end workstations and network
servers

Other processors

Cyrix and AMD make Intel-compatible microprocessors

PowerPC chips used primarily in Macintosh computers
Compaqs Alpha microprocessor used in high-end servers

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Memory Components

Semiconductor Memory
RAM and ROM
Flash Memory

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Semiconductor Memory

Used by most modern computers

Reliable, inexpensive, and compact

Volatile: requires continuous electric current

If the current is interrupted, data is lost

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor

(CMOS)

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Retains information when power is shut down

Used to store information needed when the computer
boots

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Random Access Memory

Data can be accessed

randomly

Memory address 10 can

be accessed as quickly
as memory address
10,000,000

Types:

Packaged on circuit
boards

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Static RAM (SRAM)

Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

Single in-line memory

modules (SIMMS)
Dual in-line memory
modules (DIMMS)

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Static RAM

Retains its contents with intervention from

CPU
Faster and more expensive than DRAM
Typically used for Level 2 cache

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Dynamic RAM

Must be continuously refreshed by CPU or it

loses its contents
Used for personal computer memory

Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM): faster type of

DRAM used today
Rambus DRAM (RDRAM): faster than SDRAM,
will become more commonly used as price
declines

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Read-Only Memory

Contains programs and data permanently

recorded into memory at the factory

Cannot be changed by user

Not volatile: contents do not disappear when
power is lost

Programmable ROM (PROM) chips

Some instructions on chip can be changed

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Flash Memory

Nonvolatile RAM

Used in cellular phones, digital cameras, and

some handheld computers
Flash memory chips resemble credit cards
Smaller than disk drive and require less power

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The System Bus

Parallel electrical paths that transport data

between the CPU and memory
Bus width

The number of electrical paths to carry data

Measured in bits

Bus speed

Measured in megahertz (MHz)

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Bus Width

Typically the same as CPUs word size

With a larger bus size, CPU can:

Transfer more data at a time

Reference larger memory address numbers

Makes computer faster

Allows for more memory

Support a greater number and variety of

instructions

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Bus Speed

The faster the bus speed, the faster data

travels through the system
Personal computers have bus speeds of 400
or 533 MHz

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Expansion Buses

Add peripheral devices to system

Expansion board
Port
Common expansion buses

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Expansion Boards

Connect to expansion
slots on motherboard

Used to connect
peripheral devices

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Ports

External connectors to plug in peripherals

such as printers
Two types of ports

Serial: transmit data one bit at a time

Used for slow devices such as the mouse and

keyboard

Parallel: transmit groups of bits together side-byside

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Used for faster devices such as printers and scanners

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Common Expansion Buses and Ports

Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus

Used for slow devices such as the mouse and modem
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PSI) bus
Used for faster devices such as hard disks
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
Provides faster video performance
Universal Serial Bus (USB) port
Allows you to convert many devices in a series into the USB port
IEEE 1394 bus
A high-speed bus normally used to connect video equipment
PC Card bus
Used on laptops to plug in a credit-card sized device

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Computer Processing Speeds

Instruction speeds measured in fractions of

seconds

Millisecond: one thousandth of a second

Microsecond: one millionth of a second
Nanosecond: one billionth of a second

Modern computers have reached this speed

Picosecond: one trillionth of a second

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Microprocessor Speeds

Measure of system clock speed

How many electronic pulses the clock produces

per second
Usually expressed in gigahertz (GHz)

Billions of machine cycles per second

Some old PCs measured in megahertz (MHz)

Comparison of clock speed only meaningful

between identical microprocessors

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Other Performance Measures

Millions of Instructions per Second (MIPS)

High-speed personal computers can perform over

500 MIPS
Typically a more accurate measure of
performance than clock speed

Megaflop: one million floating-point

operations

Measures ability of computer to perform complex

mathematical operations

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Cache

A temporary storage area

Speeds up data transfer within computer

Memory cache
Processor cache

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Memory Cache

A small block of high-speed memory

Stores most frequently and most recently used data and

instructions

Microprocessor looks for what it needs in cache first

Transferred from cache much faster than from memory

If not in cache, control unit retrieves from memory

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The more cache hits the faster the system performance

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Processor Cache

Internal (Level 1) cache built into

microprocessor

Fastest access, but highest cost

External (Level 2) cache on separate chip

Incorporated into processor on some current

microprocessors

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RISC Technology

Reduced Instruction Set Computing

Uses a small subset of instructions

Fewer instructions increases speed
Drawback: complex operations have to be broken
down into a series of smaller instructions

Traditional processors use Complex

Instruction Set Computing (CISC)

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Parallel Processing and Pipelining

Pipelining

A variation of traditional serial processing

Parallel Processing

Using multiple processors at once

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Pipelining

Feeds a new instruction into CPU at each step of

the machine cycle

Instruction 2 fetched when instruction 1 is being

decoded, rather than waiting until cycle is complete

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Parallel Processing

Control processor divides problem into parts

Each part sent to separate processor

Each processor has its own memory
Control processor assembles results

Some computers using parallel processing

operate in terms of teraflops: trillions of
floating-point instructions per second

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Memory: Many Names

Primary storage
Primary memory
Main storage
Internal storage
Main memory

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