The Purpose of the CPU Flashcards
3 main stages of the fetch execute cycle?
1 - Fetch
2 - decode
3 - execute
what is the fetch execute cycle?
the cycle the CPU follows from boot-up until the computer shuts down in order to process instructions
what does ALU stand for?
Arithmetic Logic Unit
what is the ALU?
digital electronic circuit which conducts operations on binary numbers in arithmetic and bitewise logical ways
what does CU stand for?
Control unit
what does the CU do?
1 - controls data moving through the processor
2 - controls the timing of operations
3 - controls the instructions sent to the processor and peripheral devices
what is the Cache?
a hardware or software component that stores data so that future request for that data can be served faster
what does MAR stand for?
memory address register
what is the MAR?
it holds the address of the current instruction that is to be fetched, from memory or the address in memory to which data is to be transfered.
4 events during fetch-execute cycle?
- instruction is fetched from memory
- instruction is decoded
- decoded instruction is then executed by the CPU
- process is repeated
2 characteristics of a compiler?
- compiler translates all the code in 1 go
- compiler reports all errors at the end
2 characteristics of a interpreter?
- interpreter translates 1 line at a time
- interpreter stops when it finds an error
