1. The Central Processing Unit: What Goes on Inside the Computer

2. 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 unit’s motherboard
List the measures of computer processing speed and explain the approaches that increase speed

3. Contents The CPU Types of Storage Executing Programs
Finding Data in Memory
The System Unit
Microprocessor
Semiconductor Memory
Bus Line
Speed and Power

4. The CPU

5. The CPU Converts data into information Control center
Set of electronic circuitry that executes stored program instructions
Two parts
Control Unit (CU)
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

6. CPU Components

7. Actions Performed by CPU
Fetch cycle
CPU:
Fetches an instruction from primary storage
Increments a pointer to location of next instruction
Separates instruction into components (instruction code and data inputs)
Stores each component in a separate register
Execution cycle
ALU:
Retrieves instruction code from a register
Retrieves data inputs from registers
Passes data inputs through internal circuits to perform data transformation
Stores results in a register

8. Control Unit CU Part of the hardware that is in-charge
Directs the computer system to execute stored program instructions
Communicates with other parts of the hardware

9. Arithmetic / Logic Unit ALU
Performs arithmetic operations
Performs logical operations

10. Arithmetic Operations+
Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division - / *

11. Logical Operations NOT AND OR >= <= > < < > =
Evaluates conditions
Makes comparisons
Can compare
Numbers
Letters
Special characters
AND OR
>=
<=
>
<
< > =

12. Registers Special-purpose High-speed Temporary storage
Located inside CPU
Instruction register
Holds instruction currently being executed
Data register
Holds data waiting to be processed
Holds results from processing

13. CPU Registers Primary roles
Hold data for currently executing program that is needed quickly or frequently (general-purpose registers)
Store information about currently executing program and about status of CPU (special-purpose registers)

14. General-Purpose Registers
Hold intermediate results and frequently needed data items
Used only by currently executing program
Implemented within the CPU; contents can be read or written quickly
Increasing their number usually decreases program execution time to a point

15. Special-Purpose Registers
Track processor and program status
Types
Instruction register
Instruction pointer
Program status word (PSW)
Stores results of comparison operation
Controls conditional branch execution
Indicates actual or potential error conditions

16. Types of Storage Secondary Memory Registers
Data that will eventually be used
Long-term
Memory
Data that will be used in the near future
Temporary
Faster access than storage
Registers
Data immediately related to the operation being executed
Faster access than memory

17. Measuring Storage Capacity
KB – kilobyte
1024 bytes
Some diskettes
Cache memory
MB – megabyte
Million bytes
RAM
GB – gigabyte
Billion bytes
Hard disks
CDs and DVDs
TB – terabytes
Trillion bytes
Large hard disks

18. Memory Many Names Primary storage Primary memory Main storage
Internal storage
Main memory

19. Main Types of Memory
RAM
Random Access Memory
ROM
Read Only Memory

20. RAM Requires current to retain values Volatile
Data and instructions can be read and modified
Users typically refer to this type of memory

21. What’s in RAM? Operating System Program currently running
Data needed by the program
Intermediate results waiting to be output

22. ROM Non-volatile Instructions for booting the computer
Data and instructions can be read, but not modified
Instructions are typically recorded at factory

23. Executing Programs CU gets an instruction and places it in memory
CU decodes the instruction
CU notifies the appropriate part of hardware to take action
Control is transferred to the appropriate part of hardware
Task is performed
Control is returned to the CU

24. Machine Cycle
I-time
CU fetches an instruction from memory and puts it into a register
CU decodes the instruction and determines the memory location of the data required

25. Machine Cycle E-time Execution
CU moves the data from memory to registers in the ALU
ALU is given control and executes the instruction
Control returns to the CU
CU stores the result of the operation in memory or in a register

26. System Clock System clock produces pulses at a fixed rate
Each pulse is one Machine Cycle
One program instruction may actually be several instructions to the CPU
Each CPU instruction will take one pulse
CPU has an instruction set – instructions that it can understand and process

27. Finding Data in Memory Each location in memory has a unique address
Address never changes
Contents may change
Memory location can hold one instruction or piece of data
Programmers use symbolic names

28. Data Representation On/Off
Binary number system is used to represent the state of the circuit 1 ON
OFF

29. Bits, Bytes, Words BIT BYTE WORD Binary DigIT On/off circuit 1 or 0
Store one alphanumeric character
WORD
Size of the register
Number of BITS that the CPU processes as a unit

30. Coding Schemes ASCII EBCDIC Unicode Uses one 8 bit byte
28 = 256 possible combinations or characters
Virtually all PCs and many larger computers
EBCDIC
28 =256 possible combinations or characters
Used primarily on IBM-compatible mainframes
Unicode
Uses two 8 bit bytes (16 bits)
216 = 65,536 possible combinations or characters
Supports characters for all the world’s languages
Downward-compatible with ASCII

31. The System Unit The Black Box
Houses electronic components
Motherboard
Storage devices
Connections
Some Apple Macintosh models have system unit inside monitor

32. The System Unit The Black Box
Motherboard
Microprocessor chip
Memory chips
Connections to other parts of the hardware
Additional chips may be added – math coprocessor

33. The System Unit The Black Box
Storage Devices
Hard drive
Floppy drive
CD-ROM drive
DVD-ROM drive

34. Microprocessor CPU etched on a chip Chip size is ¼ x ¼ inch
Composed of silicon
Contains millions of transistors
Electronic switches that can allow current to pass through

35. Microprocessor Components
Control Unit – CU
Arithmetic / Logic Unit – ALU
Registers
System clock

36. Building a Better Microprocessor
Computers imprint circuitry onto microchips
Cheaper
Faster
Perform functions of other hardware
Math coprocessor is now part of microprocessor
Multimedia instructions are now part of microprocessor

37. Building a Better Microprocessor
The more functions that are combined on a microprocessor:
The faster the computer runs
The cheaper it is to make
The more reliable it is

38. Types of Microprocessors
Intel
Pentium
Celeron
Xeon and Itanium
Intel-compatible
Cyrix
AMD

39. Types of Microprocessors
PowerPC
Cooperative efforts of Apple, IBM, and Motorola
Used in Apple Macintosh family of PCs
Found in servers and embedded systems
Alpha
Manufactured by Compaq
High-end servers and workstations

40. Semiconductor Memory Reliable Compact Low cost Low power usage
Mass-produced economically
Volatile
Monolithic
All circuits together constitute an inseparable unit of storage

41. Semiconductor Memory CMOS
Complementary metal oxide semiconductor
Uses little electricity
Used in PC to store hardware settings that are needed to boot the computer
Retains information with current from battery

42. RAM Keeps the instructions and data for current program
Data in memory can be accessed randomly
Easy and speedy access
Volatile
Erased
Written over

43. Types of RAM SRAM Retains contents as long as power is maintained
Faster than DRAM

44. Types of RAM DRAM Must be constantly refreshed
Used for most PC memory because of size and cost
SDRAM
faster type of DRAM
Rambus DRAM
Faster than SDRAM
Expensive

45. Adding RAM Purchase memory modules that are packaged on circuit boards
SIMMS – Chips on one side
DIMMS – Chips on both sides
Maximum amount of RAM that can be installed is based upon the motherboard design

46. ROM Programs and data that are permanently recorded at the factory
Read
Use
Cannot be changed by the user
Stores boot routine that is activated when computer is turned on
Nonvolatile

47. PROM
Programmable ROM
ROM burner can change instructions on some ROM chips

48. Bus Line Paths that transport electrical signals System bus Bus width
Transports data between the CPU and memory
Bus width
Number of bits of data that can be carried at a time
Normally the same as the CPUs word size
Speed measured in MHz

49. Bus Line
Larger bus width =
More powerful computer
CPU can transfer more data at a time
Faster computer
CPU can reference larger memory addresses
More memory available
CPU can support a greater number and variety of instructions

50. Expansion Buses Connect the motherboard to expansion slots
Plug expansion boards into slots
interface cards
adapter cards
Provides for external connectors / ports
Serial
Parallel

51. Expansion Buses

52. PC Buses and Ports ISA Slow-speed devices like mouse, modem PCI
High-speed devices like hard disks and network cards
AGP
Connects memory and graphics card for faster video performance
USB
Supports “daisy-chaining” eliminating the need for multiple expansion cards; hot-swappable
IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
High-speed bus connecting video equipment to the computer
PC Card
Credit card sized PC card devices normally found on laptops

53. Speed and Power What makes a computer fast? Microprocessor speed
Bus line size
Availability of cache
Flash memory
RISC computers
Parallel processing

54. Computer Processing Speed
Time to execute an instruction
Millisecond
Microsecond
Nanosecond
Modern computers
Picosecond
In the future

55. Microprocessor Speed Clock speed Number of instructions per second
Megahertz (MHz)
Gigahertz (GHz)
Number of instructions per second
Millions of Instructions Per Second (MIPS)
Performance of complex mathematical operations
One million floating-point operations per second (Megaflop )

56. Cache Small block of very fast temporary memory Speed up data transfer
Instructions and data used most frequently or most recently

57. Cache Step 3 Transfer to main CPU and cache P R O C E S R A M Cache
Go to address in main memory and read
Step 1
Processor requests data or instructions
Next processor request
Look first at cache
Go to memory

58. Types of Cache Internal cache External cache Level 1 (L1)
Built into microprocessor
Up to 128KB
External cache
Level 2 (L2)
Separate chips
256KB or 512 KB
SRAM technology
Cheaper and slower than L1
Faster and more expensive than memory

59. Flash Memory Nonvolatile RAM Used in Cellular phones Digital cameras
Digital music recorders
PDAs

60. Instruction Sets CISC Technology RISC Technology
Complex Instruction Set Computing
Conventional computers
Many of the instructions are not used
RISC Technology
Reduced Instruction Set Computing
Small subset of instructions
Increases speed
Programs with few complex instructions
Graphics
Engineering

61. Types of Processing Serial processing Parallel Processing
Execute one instruction at a time
Fetch, decode, execute, store
Parallel Processing
Multiple processors used at the same time
Can perform trillions of floating-point instructions per second (teraflops)
Ex: network servers, supercomputers

62. Types of Processing Pipelining
Instruction’s action need not be complete before the next begins
Fetch instruction 1, begin to decode and fetch instruction 2