CPU And Its Working Principle

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) can also be referred to as the brain of the computer. The majority has known the basics of it but did not know its working principle. Nevertheless, we shall together have a look at the functions and the whole working of the computer’s CPU.

I, therefore, encourage you to read this article meticulously to grab all of the computer’s central processing unit otherwise known as the processor.

The CPU is often called the brain of the computer because it is a fundamental component of the computer which is designed to process, calculate and move data.

The number of instructions carried by the computer in one second is used to calculate the speed of the computer and the speed is measured in Hertz. In modern days computers, the speed is in gigahertz (GHz) which means 1,000,000 times Hertz.

A processor is used to execute a stored program instruction which is given to it by the user through input. This processor is found in every type of computer be it small or big and it is a very fast machine.

The CPU speed of executing an instruction depends on its clock frequency which is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz), and the more the clock frequency, the more is the speed of the computer’s instruction execution.

You may be asking that, how does it work? Well, let’s look at the answer below:

Whenever a data or instruction or program is requested by the user, the CPU draws it from the RAM (Random Access Memory). Before the CPU sends the information back to the RAM, it reads the information associated with the task given to it. After which it starts its calculation and exporting the data.

The data has to travel through the system bus before it is further executed. A bus in a computer is a communication system that is used to transfer data among all the components of the computer.

The CPU plays an important role here by making sure that the data is processed and is on the system bus. It manages data to make it in a correct order while arranging the data on the system bus. The user gets the processed and calculated information as requested. When the data is processed, the CPU is required to store it in the memory of the system. So, this is the working principle of the CPU.

Now, what are the components that constitute a CPU?

A typical CPU consists of two main parts:

·         Control Unit

·         Logic Unit

The Control Unit: this CPU part manages the operation of the CPU. It commands the various computer components to react according to the program’s instruction. Programs for the computer are stored in the storage devices (HDDs and SSDs), when the run any of the programs, it loads directly into the primary memory (RAM) for their execution. This means, no program can run without loading into the primary memory.

The control unit of the CPU directs the computer system to process the program’s instruction with the aid of electrical signals. This control unit communicates with ALU and memory to carry out the process instructed.

Logic Unit: this is also called Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU). It is a digital electronic circuit placed inside the CPU. Its function is to perform integer calculation and bitwise logic operations. These calculations include addition, subtraction, shifting operations and Boolean comparisons like AND, OR, XOR and NOT operations. However, ALUs of different processor models may differ in design and functioning.

More Elements Of The Processor

The Register: A register is a very small place which is used to hold data of the processor. It stores information such as instruction, storage address and any kind of data like bit sequence among others. The register of a processor should be large enough to store all the given information. A 64-bit processor should have at least 64-bit registers and 32-bit register for a 32-bit processor. Among the memory devices, the register is the fastest.

CPU Multi-Cores

In recent times, computers come with a multi-core processor. This means that more than one processor is embedded in the CPU chip and they work simultaneously. This is done such that the CPU quickly achieves the high performance, consuming less energy power and multi-tasking. Examples of multi-core processors are Dual Core processors, Quad Core Processors, Hexa Core Processors and Octa-Core Processors, which means 2,4,6 and 8 processors in one chip respectively.

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