1.4 Processor Fundamentales

1.4.
1 CPU Architecture
Control unit: The Control Unit makes

decisions and sends the appropriate
signal down its lines to other parts of the
computer. It controls the timing of
operations in the computer and controls
the instructions sent to the processor and
the peripheral devices.
Von Neumann model
Von Neumann introduced the idea of the stored

program. Previously data and programs were stored
in separate memories.von Neumann realized that
data and programs are indistinguishable and can
therefore use the same memory.
Von Neumann architecture uses a single processor. It follows a linear sequence of fetchdecode-execute operations for sequence of instructions which makeup the program. In
order to do this a processor has to use some special registers.
A register is simply a location that can store extremely limited amount of instruction or
data only immediately before or after processing. The registers are outside the immediate
access store and consequently allow faster access to the data they store.
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Processor uses a group of special purpose registers to execute a program
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Program counter (PC): Program counter is sometimes called sequence control

register. It stores the address of the next instruction to be fetched.
Memory address register (MAR): When the next instruction is needed, its address is
copied from the PC and placed in the memory address register.
Memory data registers (MDR): It is sometime called the memory buffer register
(MBR) because it acts like a buffer, temporarily storing a data value before passing it
on to e.g. CIR.
Index register (IR): An index register in a computer's CPU is a processor
register used for modifying operand addresses during the run of a program, typically
for doing vector/array operations. If the address is an indexed address, add the
address to the contents of the index register to form the address of actual data.
Current instruction register (CIR): Holds the instruction that is about to be executed.
Status register: A status register, flag register, or condition code register is a
collection of status flag bits for a processor. The status register is a hardware
register which contains information about the state of the processor.
Role of arithmetic logic unit (ALU), control unit (CU) and system clock
Arithmetic logic unit
In digital
electronics,
an arithmetic
logic
unit (ALU)
is
a digital
circuit that
performs arithmetic and bitwise logical operations on integer binary numbers. It is a
fundamental building block of the central processing unit (CPU) found in many computers.
An ALU performs basic arithmetic and logic operations. Examples of arithmetic operations
are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Examples of logic operations are
comparisons of values such as NOT, AND, and OR.
Control unit
The control unit is a component of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) that directs
operation of the processor. It tells the computer's memory, arithmetic/logic unit and input
and output devices how to respond to a program's instructions.
It directs the operation of the other units by providing timing and control signals. All
computer resources are managed by the CU (Control Unit).It directs the flow of data
between the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and the other devices.
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System clock
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Every computer contains an internal clock that regulates the rate at which instructions are
executed and synchronizes all the various computer components. The CPU requires a fixed
number of clock ticks (or clock cycles) to execute each instruction. The faster the clock, the
more instructions the CPU can execute per second.
Clock speeds are expressed in mega hertz (MHz) or giga hertz ((GHz).
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Clock rate, the speed at which a microprocessor executes instructions.

Address bus
An address bus is a computer bus (a series of lines connecting two or more devices) that is
used to specify the address from/to which the CPU wishes to read or write. The number of
bits of address bus determines the maximum size of memory which the processor can
access. For example, a system with a 32-bit address bus can address 232 (4,294,967,296)
memory locations. If each memory address holds one byte, the addressable memory space
is 4 GB.
Data bus
Data bus is used to carry the data that needs to be transferred from one hardware
component to another. The memory data register (MDR) is at one end of the data bus. The
data bus is bi-directional because same bus is used for data transmission from
microprocessor to memory location or input/output device and vice versa.
Control bus
Control bus is used to send control signals from the control unit to the other components of
the system. A separate wire is dedicated to a particular control signal e.g.
A completed data transfer(read/write)operation
Reset button pressed
Interrupt request
Interrupt acknowledgement
How bus width and clock speed affect the performance of the computer system
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Increasing the data bus will increase the quantity of data the bus can carry at one
time so speeds up the performance/processing of the computer
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The clock speed (or clock rate) is stated in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz), and
refers to the speed at which the processor can execute instructions. The faster the
clock, the more instructions the processor can complete per second.
The number of wires in data bus determines the quantity of data that the bus can
carry at any one time.
A compute with a data bus of 32 lines is called a 32 bit computer and word length is
32.
Ports:
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In computer hardware, a port serves as an interface between the computer and

other computers or peripheral devices. Computer ports have many uses, to connect
a monitor, webcam, speakers, or other peripheral devices. On the physical layer, a
computer port is a specialized outlet on a piece of equipment to which
a plug or cable connects. Electronically it provides a method to transfer signals
between devices.
Hardware ports can be divided into two groups based on the signal transfer:
Serial ports send and receive one bit at a time via a single wire.
Parallel ports send multiple bits at the same time over several sets of wires.
After ports are connected, they typically require handshaking, where transfer type,
transfer rate, and other necessary information is shared before data are sent.
Plug-and-play ports are designed so that the connected devices automatically start
handshaking as soon as they are connected. USB ports and FireWire ports are plugand-play.
1.4.2 The fetch-execute cycle

An instruction cycle (sometimes called fetch-and-execute cycle, fetch-decodeexecute cycle, or FDX) is the basic operation cycle of a computer. It is the process by
which a computer retrieves a program instruction from its memory, determines what
actions the instruction requires, and carries out those actions. This cycle is repeated
continuously by the central processing unit (CPU), from bootup to when the
computer is shut down.
Program counter (PC) - an incrementing counter that keeps track of the memory
address of the instruction that is to be executed next.
Memory address register (MAR) - holds the address of a memory block to be read
from or written to.
Memory data register (MDR) - a two-way register that holds data fetched from
memory (and ready for the CPU to process) or data waiting to be stored in memory.
Current Instruction register (IR) - a temporary holding ground for the instruction
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that has just been fetched from memory.
Control unit (CU) - decodes the program instruction in the IR, selecting machine
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coordinates activation of those resources.
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Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) - performs mathematical and logical operations.
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resources such as a data source register and a particular arithmetic operation, and
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Description in the form of flowchart
Register transfer notation
1. [MAR] [PC]
2. PC [PC] + 1
3. MDR [[MAR]]
4. CIR [MDR]
5. DECODE
6. EXECUTE
7. GO TO STEP 1
Step by step description of fetch-execute-cycle
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1. Copy the address that is in program counter(pc)into the memory address

register (MAR)
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2. Increment the PC (ready for next fetch)

3. Load the instruction that is in the memory address given by the MAR into the
memory data register (MDR)
After increment
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4. The MBR loads the Current Instruction Register with the instruction to be executed.
1.4.3 The processors instruction set

An instruction set is a group of commands for a CPU in machine language. The instruction
set consists of multiple pieces, including addressing modes, instructions, native data types,
registers, memory architecture, interrupt, exception handling and external I/O.
Classification of instruction sets
Complex instruction set computer (CISC) has many specialized instructions, some of
which may only be rarely used in practical programs.
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A reduced instruction set computer (RISC) simplifies the processor by only

implementing instructions that are frequently used in programs
Instruction has two main parts
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Op code (abbreviated from operation code) is the portion of a machine language instruction
that specifies the operation to be performed
Operand address or data on which the operation is to be performed.
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Immediate
Direct
Indirect
Indexed
Relative
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Addressing modes
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Immediate addressing
Immediate addressing means that the data to be used is hard-coded into the instruction
itself.This is the fastest method of addressing as it does not involve main memory at all.
For example, you want to add 2 to the content of the accumulator
The instruction is:
ADD #2
Nothing has been fetched from memory; the instruction simply adds 2 to the accumulator
immediately. Immediate Addressing is very useful to carry out instructions involving
constants (as opposed to variables). For example you might want to use 'PI' as a constant
3.14 within your code.
Direct addressing
This is a very simple way of addressing memory - direct addressing means the code refers
directly to a location in memory
For example SUB (3001)
In this instance the value held at the absolute location 3001 in RAM is subtracted from the
accumulator. The good thing about direct addressing is that it is fast (but not as fast as
immediate addressing) the bad thing about direct addressing is that the code depends on
the correct data always being present at same location.
It is generally a good idea to avoid referring to absolute memory addresses in order to have
'relocatable code' i.e. code that does not depend on specific locations in memory.
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You could use direct addressing on computers that are only running a single program. For
example an engine management computer only ever runs the code the car engineers
programmed into it, and so direct memory addressing is excellent for fast memory access.
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Indirect addressing
Indexed addressing
The address is formed by the operand plus the number in the index register.
CIR
ADI
10
IR(index register)
10
.
.
150
.
160
.
.
200
accumulator
120
200
120
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Index addressing is fast and is excellent for manipulating data structures such as arrays as
all you need to do is set up a base address (e.g. 10 in CIR) then use the index in your code
to access individual elements. Another advantage of indexed addressing is that if the array
is re-located in memory at any point then only the base address needs to be changed. The
code making use of the index can remain exactly the same.
Relative addressing
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DEFINITION:
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Quite often a program only needs to jump a little bit in order to jump to the next
instruction. Maybe just a few memory locations away from the current instruction. A very
efficient way of doing this is to just add a small offset to the current address in the program
counter. (Remember that the program counter always points to the next instruction to be
executed).This is called 'relative addressing'
Relative addressing means that the next instruction to be carried out is an offset number of
locations away, relative to the address of the current instruction.
Consider this bit of pseudo-code:
jmp +3 if accumulator == 2
Code executed if accumulator is NOT = 2
jmp +5 (unconditional relative jump to avoid the next line of code)
acc:
Code executed if accumulator is = 2)
Carry on:
In the code snippet above, the first line of code is checking to see if the accumulator has the
value of 2 in it. If it is has, then the next instruction is 3 lines away. This is called a
conditional jump and it is making use of relative addressing.
Another example of relative addressing can be seen in the jmp +5 instructions. This is
telling the CPU to effectively avoid the next instruction and go straight to the 'carryon' point.
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Summary of addressing modes
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Application of all addressing modes
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Assembly language

1.4 Processor Fundamentales

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1.4 Processor Fundamentales

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1.4.

Control unit: The Control Unit makes

Von Neumann model

Von Neumann introduced the idea of the stored

Processor uses a group of special purpose registers to execute a program

Program counter (PC): Program counter is sometimes called sequence control

Clock rate, the speed at which a microprocessor executes instructions.

Contact the teacher: 03215275281

Contact the teacher: 03215275281

In computer hardware, a port serves as an interface between the computer and

Contact the teacher: 03215275281

1.4.2 The fetch-execute cycle

that has just been fetched from memory.

coordinates activation of those resources.

Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) - performs mathematical and logical operations.

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Description in the form of flowchart

Register transfer notation

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Step by step description of fetch-execute-cycle

1. Copy the address that is in program counter(pc)into the memory address

2. Increment the PC (ready for next fetch)

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1.4.3 The processors instruction set

A reduced instruction set computer (RISC) simplifies the processor by only

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Instruction has two main parts

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Summary of addressing modes

Application of all addressing modes

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Contact the teacher: 03215275281

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