About Central Processing Unit (CPU)

CSC 134
COMPUTER AND INFORMATION PROCESSING

Pronounced as separate letters, CPU is the abbreviation for central processing unit. Sometimes referred to simply as the central processor, but more commonly called processor, the CPU is the brains of the computer where most calculations take place. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system. On large machines, the CPU requires one or more printed circuit boards, the CPU is housed in a single chip called a microprocessor. The CPU is inserted directly into a CPU socket, pin side down, on the motherboard.

Two typical components of a CPU are the following:

1. The arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which performs arithmetic and logical operations.
2. The control unit (CU), which extracts instructions from memory and decodes and executes them, calling         on the ALU when necessary.

Arithmetic Logic Unit

Mathematician John von Neumann proposed the ALU concept in 1945, when he wrote a report on the foundations for a new computer called the EDVAC. In computing, an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) is a digital circuit that performs integer arithmetic and logical operations. The ALU is a fundamental building block of the central processing unit of a computer, and even the simplest microprocessors contain one for purposes such as maintaining timers. The processors found inside modern CPUs and graphics processing units (GPUs) accommodate very powerful and very complex ALUs; a single component may contain a number of ALUs

Control Unit

The control unit was historically defined as one distinct part of the 1946 reference model of Von Neumann architecture. The control unit is a component of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) which directs operation of the processor. It controls communication and co-ordination between input/output devices. It reads and interprets instructions and determines the sequence for processing the data




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