Microprocessor Works

HOW MICROPROCESSOR WORKS

The microprocessor is a digital integrated circuit that can be programmed with a series of instructions to perform various operations on data. A microprocessor is the CPU of a computer. It can do arthimetic and logic operations, move data from one place to another, and make decisions based on certain instructions.

BASIC ELEMENTS

A microprocessor consists of several units, each designed for a specific  job. The specific units, their design and organistaion, are called the architucture. The architecture  determines the instructions set and the processfor executing those instructions. Four basic units are common to all microprocessor are the arthimetic logic unit (ALU), the insructions decoder, the register array and the control unit.

Arthimetic logic unit

The ALU is the key processing element of the microprocessor. It is directed by the control unit to perform arthimetic operations (addition, subration, multiplication and division) and logic operations (NOT, AND, OR and exclusive-OR), as well as many other types of operations. Data for the ALU are obtained from the register array.

Instruction decoder

The instruction decoder can be considered as a part of the ALU, although we are treating it as a separate function in this blog because the instructions and the decoding of them are key to a microprocessor 's operation. The microprocessor acomplishes a given task as directed by program that consist of lists of instructions stored in memory. The instruction decoder takes each binary instruction in the order in which it appears in memory and decodes it.

Register array

The register array is a collection of registers that are contained within the microprocessor . During the execution of a program, data and memory adresses are temporarily stored register that make up this array. The ALU can access the registers very quickly, making the program run more efficiently. Some registers are classed as general-purpose, meaning they can be used for any purpose dictated by the general-purpose registers. Still others are called program invisible registers, used only by the microprocessor and not available to the programmer.

Control unit

The control unit is "in-charge" of the processing of instructions once they are decoded. It provides the timing and control signals for getting data into and out of the microprocessor and for sychronizing the exection of instructions.