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CPU and Its Operation

A brief description of the operation of the computer's brain which is the CPU or the Central Processing Unit.

The Central Processing Unit or the CPU

The central processing unit or the CPU is where all the complex calculations are made. A processor is given instructions and then executes the said instructions to come out with results. Programs are used to give instructions to the processor. Think of the central processing unit as the brain of the whole computer. Instructions are given to it, they are processed, and then finally, an output or a result is produced. Without the central processing unit, the whole computer is rendered useless. A human being without a brain is practically useless too.

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The Operation of the CPU

The CPU operates in a very systematic way. The first step in the operation of a CPU is fetching. During this stage, programs are retrieved from the memory. The second step in the operation of a CPU is decoding. Once programs are retrieved from memory, they are broken down into manageable pieces. Decoding is the process of breaking down programs into manageable pieces. The third step in the operation of a CPU is execution. In this stage, the processor actually processes the data, makes calculations, and churns out a result. The last step in the operation of a CPU is the writeback stage. During the writeback stage, the results churned out by the processor are written onto a memory block. After the result is stored into memory, the CPU fetches another program from the memory. Almost all processors operating in a computer that have a Von Neumann architecture follow the Fetch-Decode-Execute-Writeback cycle.