What is the purpose of the CPU?
The purpose of theCentral processing unit - the brain of the computer that processes program instructions. is to processUnits of information. In computing there can be different data types, including integers, characters and Boolean. Data is often acted on by instructions.. The CPU is where processes such as calculating, sorting and searching take place. Whatever is done on our computers, such as checking emails, playing games and doing homework, the CPU has processed the data we use.
The CPU is made up of three main components, the The component of the CPU that manages instructions., the Holds the data needed straightaway by the control unit. and the A component of the CPU that performs arithmetic and logic calculations..
The control unit
The control unit controls the flow of data within the system.
The control unit controls and monitors communications between the The physical parts of a computer system, eg a graphics card, hard disk drive or CD drive. attached to the computer. It controls the Data which is inserted into a system for processing and/or storage. and Data which is sent out of a system. of data, checks that signals have been delivered successfully, and makes sure that data goes to the correct place at the correct time.
Immediate access store
The immediate access store is where the CPU holds all the data and Sequences of instructions for a computer. that it is currently using. You can think of it like the numbers typed into a calculator 鈥 they are being stored inside the calculator while it processes the calculations. The immediate access store is often referred to as the The section of high speed memory within the CPU that stores data to be processed. in the CPU.
Arithmetic and logic unit
The arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) is where the CPU performs the arithmetic and logic operations. Every task that your computer carries out is completed here. Even typing into a word processor involves adding binary digits to the file, and then calculating which pixels on the screen should change so that you can see the characters. The ALU鈥檚 operations fall into two parts:
- the arithmetic part, which deals with calculations, eg 1 + 2 = 3
- the logic part, which deals with any logical comparisons, eg 2>1