This chapter discusses processor structure and function. It covers the basic components of a CPU including registers, instruction cycles, and data flow. Key points include:
- A CPU must fetch, interpret, fetch operands for, process, and write data from instructions. It uses registers for temporary storage and a program counter to keep track of instructions.
- Common registers include general purpose, data, address, condition code, control/status, and program status registers. General purpose registers can vary in number, size, and whether they are general or specialized use.
- An instruction cycle involves fetching an instruction from memory, decoding it, fetching operands, executing the instruction, and writing results. Pipelining and branch prediction are