PRESENTATION ON

MICRO-
PROGRAMMED
CONTROL UNIT

Group 5
 TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Introduction on Control Unit

2. Basic Terminologies
3. What is Micro-programmed Control Unit ?
4. Characteristics of Micro-programmed Control Unit
5. Conclusion on Micro-programmed Control Unit
 Introduction on Control Unit
The main components of the CPU include the Control unit and the arithmetic logic unit. Now, we will be discussing only about
the control unit. 
 
The main function of the control unit is to inform ALU, input/output device and computer’s memory about how to respond or
answer the given set of instructions.

The Control unit itself does not involve any processing tasks. It only controls and directs the task.
 
It acts as the supervisor of the computer controlling all activities of the computer, including fetching instructions from the main
memory and then executing them.

The Control Unit in a digital computer is responsible for initiating a sequence of micro-operations.
Control unit can be implemented using two ways:-

1.) Hardwired control

2.) Microprogrammed control
 Introduction on Control Unit

o The control unit is hardwired when the control signals are generated by hardware
using conventional logic circuits.

o And micro-programmed control unit when the control signals are generated with the
help of micro instructions in control memory.
 Basic Terminology

o Control Memory: A memory containing a control memory.

o Control Signals: It’s a group of bits used to select a pattern multiplexer, decoder.
o Control Word: It’s a string of 1’s and 0’s which represent control variable.
o Micro-operations: Micro-operations (also known as micro-ops or ops) are detailed low-level
instructions used in some designs to perform complicated machine instructions in computer central
processing units.
o Micro-instruction: With the help of an assembler, a symbolic microprogram can be converted to
its binary equivalent. A symbolic microinstruction is defined by each line of the assembly language
microprogram.
o Microprogram: contains a sequence of micro-instructions.
 What is Micro-programmed Control Unit

A control unit whose binary control variables are stored in memory is known as a
microprogrammed control unit.
 
In Microprogrammed Control, the control information is stored in the control memory and is
programmed to initiate the required sequence of micro-operations.
By creating a definite collection of signals at each system clock beat, a controller generates the
instructions to be executed. Each of these output signals causes a single micro-operation, such
as register transfer. As a result, defined micro-operations that can be preserved in memory are
formed from the sets of control signals.
 What is Micro-programmed Control Unit

Each bit in the microinstruction is connected to a single control signal. The control
signal is active when its bit is set. The control signal becomes inactive when it is
cleared. The internal control memory can store a sequence of these microinstructions. A
microprogram-controlled computer's control unit is a computer within a computer.
 
The block diagram of a Microprogrammed Control Organization is shown below.
 
 What is Micro-programmed Control Unit
 What is Micro-programmed Control Unit

The microprogrammed control performs the following steps:-

1.) It can execute any instruction. It should be divided into a sequence of consecutive
operations by the CPU. This set of operations is called microinstruction. The control
signals are required for the sequential micro-operations to complete.
2.) Control signals saved in the ROM are created to execute the instructions on the data
direction. These control signals can be used to control the micro-operations associated
with a microinstruction at any time step.
 What is Micro-programmed Control Unit

3.) The following microinstruction address is generated.

4.) The last two steps are repeated till all of the microinstructions associated with the
instruction in the set are executed.
The micro counter register generates the address supported by the control ROM. The
micro counter obtains its inputs from a  multiplexer that selects the output of an
address ROM, a current address incrementer, and an address saved in the next address
field of the current microinstruction
 Characteristics of Micro-programmed
Control Unit

o The microinstruction address is specified in the control memory address register.

o All the control information is saved in the control memory, which is considered to
be a ROM.
o The microinstruction received from memory is stored in the control register.
o A control word in the microinstruction specifies one or multiple micro-operations
for a data processor.
 Conclusion of Micro-programmed Control Unit

The Micro Programmed Control is a simple logical micro-programm present in the

control memory that facilitates the generation of control signals. The main benefit of
using a microprogrammed control is that no further changes can be made once the
hardware configuration is set. If a different control sequence is to be used, a new set of
microinstructions for the system must be written.