Instruction cycleThe instruction cycle (also known as the fetch–decode–execute cycle, or simply the fetch–execute cycle) is the cycle that the central processing unit (CPU) follows from boot-up until the computer has shut down in order to process instructions. It is composed of three main stages: the fetch stage, the decode stage, and the execute stage. In simpler CPUs, the instruction cycle is executed sequentially, each instruction being processed before the next one is started.
Memory addressIn computing, a memory address is a reference to a specific memory location in memory used by both software and hardware. These addresses are fixed-length sequences of digits, typically displayed and handled as unsignedintegers. This numerical representation is based on the features of CPU (such as the instruction pointer and incremental address registers). Programming language constructs often treat the memory like an array.
Central processing unitCentral computer component that executes instructionsCore i9-14900KF, a 2023 CPU made by IntelInside a central processing unit: The integrated circuit of Intel's Xeon 3060, first manufactured in 2006A central processing unit (CPU), also known as a central processor, main processor, or simply processor, is the primary processor in a given computer.Execution unitIn computer engineering, an execution unit (E-unit or EU) is a part of a processing unit that performs the operations and calculations forwarded from the instruction unit.
Computer architectureIn computer science and computer engineering, a computer architecture is the conceptual design and operational structure of a computer system that define how component parts are organized and interact to execute programs efficiently. It is often a general description that ignores precise implementation details. It covers the instruction set architecture, CPU microarchitecture, memory, and input/output systems.
OperandIn mathematics, an operand is the object of a mathematical operation, i.e., it is the object or quantity that is operated on. Unknown operands in equalities of expressions can be found by equation solving. ExampleThe following arithmetic expression shows an example of operators and operands: 3+6=9{\displaystyle 3+6=9}In the above example, '+' is the symbol for the operation called addition.
Machine codeIn computing, machine code is dataencoded and structured to control a computer's central processing unit (CPU) via its programmable interface. A computer program consists primarily of sequences of machine-code instructions. Machine code is classified as native with respect to its host CPU since it is the language that the CPU interprets directly.
Arithmetic logic unitCategoriesSee also FPU GPU AGUMechanical calculatorIn computing, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is a combinationaldigital circuit that performs arithmetic and bitwise operations on integerbinary numbers. This is in contrast to a floating-point unit (FPU), which operates on floating point numbers. It is a fundamental building block of many types of computing circuits, including the central processing unit (CPU) of computers, FPUs, and graphics processing units (GPUs).Bitwise operationIn computer programming, a bitwise operation operates on a bit string, a bit array or a binary numeral (considered as a bit string) at the level of its individual bits. It is a fast and simple action, basic to the higher-level arithmetic operations and directly supported by the processor. Most architectures provide only a few high value bitwise operations, presented as two-operand instructions where the result replaces one of the input operands.
Superscalar processorA superscalar processor (or multiple-issue processor) is a CPU that implements a form of parallelism called instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. In contrast to a scalar processor, which can execute at most one single instruction per clock cycle, a superscalar processor can execute or start executing more than one instruction during a clock cycle by simultaneously dispatching multiple instructions to different execution units on the processor.
Array (data structure)In computer science, an array is a data structure consisting of a collection of elements (values or variables), of the same memory size, each identified by at least one array index or key, the collection of which may be a tuple, known as an index tuple. In general, an array is a mutable and linear collection of elements with the same data type.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.