How Microprocessors

Work
Daryl Ngan
Travis Beardslee
Chris Morgan
 Overview
Inside a Microprocessor – How it thinks

Computer Memory – How it stores data

Program Instructions – Tell it what to do

 Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
Addition OPERAND A
Subtraction
Multiplication
RESULT
Division
Comparison
Logic Operations

OPERAND B

CONTROL
 Pipelining
“Assembly Line”
Specialization
Don’t Waste Resources
 Pipelining – Fetch Stage
Get Instruction From Memory
Store In Instruction Register

FETCH DECODE EXECUTE

Instruction #1
 Pipelining – Decode Stage
Determine Instruction Type
Get Necessary Data
Setup ALU

FETCH DECODE EXECUTE

Instruction #2 Instruction #1
 Pipelining – Execute Stage
Perform Required Operation
Store Result In Result Register

FETCH DECODE EXECUTE

Instruction #3 Instruction #2 Instruction #1

 Memory
Stores Data and
Instructions MICRO-
PROCESSOR
Communicates With
Microprocessor
 System Bus

SYSTEM BUS

MEMORY CHIPS
 Random-Access Memory
(RAM)
“Scratch Pad”

Stores Data and

Programs During
Execution

Only Retains Data

While Powered On
 Read-Only Memory (ROM)
“Instruction Manual”

Data Doesn’t Change

Used When System

Starts
 Instructions
“Drill Sergeants”

Written By
Programmers

Relatively Simple
 Instructions - Decoding
01 (213) 740-9136 x111
Composed of Fields
CALL NETWORK ADMIN IN EEB B10

Like Telephone
Numbers

ADD REG16, REG1, REG8

REG16 = REG1 + REG8

 A Simple Program
Calculate Sales Tax
- Reg1 has 7.75%
- Reg2 has Subtotal
- Reg4 will have Grand Total

MULT $3, $2, $1

ADD $4, $2, $3
OUT $4, $MONITOR
 Conclusion
How it Thinks
How it Stores Data
Tell it What to Do
Questions