– Peripherals that make computer useful such as the disk, printer, and mouse.
The CPU consists Control of a control unit and the arithmetic/logic unit (ALU).
The major components of the CPU are:
‑ A unit to fetch instructions from memory and decode them.
– The arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) or datapath, to process data.
– Registers to hold arguments and results of ALU processing.
– A control unit to decode instructions and initiate ALU action.
Fig. 3.1 CPU components
The ALU (Arithmetic-Logic Unit, or Patterson and Hennessy’s datapath) is the “figuring” unit of the computer, providing the calculation capability.
The ALU is connected to storage elements (registers for holding data to be processed and the results of the processing) by data buses.
The ALU processor is normally composed of singleelement (one-bit) processors (primarily adders), which are assembled together to form a 32-bit processor, in the case of the MIPS R2000. It also includes some other processing elements (such as a shifter).