The Central Processing Unit

 The Central Processing Unit ( CPU)

 Often referred to as the “brain” of the computer.
 Responsible for controlling all activities of the computer system.
 The three major components of the CPU are:
1. Arithmetic Logic Unit (Computations performed)
Accumulator (Results of computations kept here)
2. Control Unit (Has two locations where numbers are kept)
Instruction Register (Instruction placed here for analysis)
Program Counter (Which instruction will be performed next?)
3. Instruction Decoding Unit (Decodes the instruction)
NB. Motherboard: The place where most of the electronics including the CPU are
mounted.
Arithmetic-logic Unit
Performs basic arithmetic operations such as addition and
subtraction
Performs logical operations such as AND, OR, and NOT
Most modern ALUs have a small amount of special storage
units called registers that can be accessed faster than main
memory
Arithmetic-logic Unit
Control unit
Control unit
Instruction Decoding unit
Instruction Decoding unit
The Components of the system unit

System Unit is a case that contains electronic

components of the computer used to process
data.
 Made of metal or plastic to protects the
internal components from damage.
 All computers have a system unit. It is
available in variety of shapes & sizes.
The Components of the system unit

System unit

Handheld controller
The Components of the system unit
The Components of the system unit

1. Processor interprets & carries out the basic instructions that operate a
computer.
2. Memory holds data waiting to be processed & instruction waiting to be
executed.
3. Processor & Memory are connected to a circuit board called the
motherboard.
4. Adapter cards (expansion slots): are circuit boards that provide
connections and functions not built into the motherboard.
5. Devices outside the system unit often attach to the ports.
6. A drive bay holds one or more disk drive.
7. The Power supply provide the computer with the electricity.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Processor, called
the central processing unit (CPU),
Microprocessor.
CPU

Control Unit Arithmetic/

Logic Unit
(ALU)

 Its contain a control unit & an arithmetic logic unit (ALU).

 These 2 components work together to perform processing operations.
CP
U
Processor
Processor

Control ALU
Unit

Instructions
Data
Information

INPUT
INPUT OUTPUT
OUTPUT
DEVICES Data MEMORY
MEMORY DEVICES
DEVICES DEVICES

Instructions
Data
Information
Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The operations typically performed by a CPU are:

1. CPUs control the reading of programs and input files.

2. CPUs process data according to instructions in a program.
3. CPUs control the creation of output.
The Components of the system unit

The Arithmetic Logic Unit performs arithmetic, comparison

and other operations.

The Control Unit

 Handles the transmission of data into and out of the CPU and
supervises its overall operations .
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Registers

The CPU contain special storage areas called registers.

Their function is to hold instructions, data values, memory
addresses of both the instructions and data.
There are 4 basic types of it:
1. Instruction register hold instruction
2. Address register hold address of( data , next instruction ).
3. Storage register store data retrieved from main memory prior
to processing.
4. Accumulator store the results of arithmetic & logic operations
Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The System Clock

 Every CPU has a clock, It’s a small quartz crystal circuit ,
which generates regular clock pulses that control the timing of
all computer operations.

 Processing actions occur at each “tick” of the electronic clock.

 The Speed of the clock determines the speed at which the CPU
can process data.
 Speed is measured in megahertz (MHz) or (GHz).