Along the way, different branches of the datapath will contain different mechanisms for modifying and transforming the data flowing through it. The control unit reads instructions fetched from memory and uses them to direct where data flows in the datapath. If data is thought of as water, then the datapath acts as a canal with many branches, and the control unit acts as a series of locks. This three-step process of fetching, decoding, and executing is typically implemented with two hardware components: a control unit and a datapath. Finally, the microprocessor executes the program, running through the instructions, manipulating the data, and storing the results.Ĭontrol Units and Datapaths Then, the microprocessor decodes and separates the instructions and data and activates the necessary components and pathways needed to run the program. To execute a program, the microprocessor first fetches a programs' instructions from memory and the data necessary to run them. In a von Neumann architecture, a circuit called a microprocessor is used to process program instructions and execute them. As a workaround to these problems, mathematician and computer scientist John von Neumann proposed what is now known as the von Neumann architecture, which stores programs in memory, thereby avoiding the need to hard-wire them. Reprogramming computers involved changing hardware switches manually, taking ridiculous amounts of time and having a high potential for coding errors.
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