BASIC OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS OF
COMPUTER
To perform a given task an appropriate program
consisting of a list of instructions is stored in the
memory. Individual instructions are brought from the
memory into the processor, which executes the
specified operations. Data to be stored are also stored
in the memory.
Examples: - Add LOCA, R0
This instruction adds the operand at memory location
LOCA, to operand in register R0 & places the sum into
register. This instruction requires the performance of
several steps,
1. First the instruction is fetched from the memory into
the processor.
BASIC OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS OF
COMPUTER
The preceding add instruction combines a memory
access operation with an ALU Operations. In some
other type of computers, these two types of
operations are performed by separate instructions
for performance reasons.
Load LOCA, R1
Add R1, R0
Transfers between the memory and the processor
are started by sending the address of the memory
location to be accessed to the memory unit and
issuing the appropriate control signals. The data
are then transferred to or from the memory
BASIC OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS OF
COMPUTER
COMPUTER
The fig shows how memory & the processor can be
connected. In addition to the ALU & the control
circuitry, the processor contains a number of registers
used for several different purposes.
The instruction register (IR):- Holds the
instructions that is currently being executed. Its
output is available for the control circuits which
generates the timing signals that control the various
processing elements in one execution of instruction.
The program counter PC:-
This is another specialized register that keeps track
of execution of a program. It contains the memory
address of the next instruction to be fetched and
executed.
Besides IR and PC, there are n-general purpose
registers R0 through Rn-1.
BASIC OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS OF
COMPUTER
The other two registers which facilitate
communication with memory are: -
1. MAR – (Memory Address Register):- It holds the
address of the location to be accessed.
2. MDR – (Memory Data Register):- It contains the
data to be written into or read out of the address
location.
Operating steps are
1. Programs reside in the memory & usually get these
through the I/P unit.
2. Execution of the program starts when the PC is set
to point at the first instruction of the program.
3. Contents of PC are transferred to MAR and a Read
Control Signal is sent to the memory.
BASIC OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS OF
COMPUTER
4. After the time required to access the memory
elapses, the address word is read out of the
memory and loaded into the MDR.
5. Now contents of MDR are transferred to the IR &
now the instruction is ready to be decoded and
executed.
6. If the instruction involves an operation by the ALU,
it is necessary to obtain the required operands.
7. An operand in the memory is fetched by sending its
address to MAR & Initiating a read cycle.
8. When the operand has been read from the memory
to the MDR, it is transferred from MDR to the ALU.
9. After one or two such repeated cycles, the ALU can
perform the desired operation.
BASIC OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS OF
COMPUTER
10. If the result of this operation is to be stored in
the memory, the result is sent to MDR.
11. Address of location where the result is stored is
sent to MAR & a write cycle is initiated.
12. The contents of PC are incremented so that PC
points to the next instruction that is to be
executed.
Normal execution of a program may be preempted
(temporarily interrupted) if some devices require
urgent servicing, to do this one device raises an
Interrupt signal.
An interrupt is a request signal from an I/O device
for service by the processor. The processor
provides the requested service by executing an
appropriate interrupt service routine.
