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ALU
An arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is a digital electronic circuit that performs arithmetic and bitwise logical operations on integer binary numbers. This is in contrast to a floating-point unit (FPU), which operates on floating point numbers. An ALU is a fundamental building block of many types of computing circuits, including the central processing unit (CPU) of computers, FPUs, and graphics processing units (GPUs). A single CPU, FPU or GPU may contain multiple ALUs.
The inputs to an ALU are the data to be operated on, called operands, and a code indicating the operation to be performed; the ALU's output is the result of the performed operation. In many designs, the ALU also exchanges additional information with a status register, which relates to the result of the current or previous operations.
registers
In computer architecture, a processor register is a small amount of storage available as part of a digital processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU). Such registers are typically addressed by mechanisms other than main memory and can be accessed faster. Almost all computers, load-store architecture or not, load data from a larger memory into registers where it is used for arithmetic, manipulated or tested by machine instructions. Manipulated data is then often stored back into main memory, either by the same instruction or a subsequent one. Modern processors use either static or dynamic RAM as main memory, with the latter usually accessed via one or more cache levels.
Processor registers are normally at the top of the memory hierarchy, and provide the fastest way to access data. The term normally refers only to the group of registers that are directly encoded as part of an instruction, as defined by the instruction set. However, modern high-performance CPUs often have duplicates of these "architectural registers" in order to improve performance via register renaming, allowing parallel and speculative execution. Modern x86 design acquired these techniques around 1995 with the releases of Pentium Pro, Cyrix 6x86, Nx586, and AMD K5.
A common property of computer programs is locality of reference, which refers to accessing the same values repeatedly and holding frequently used values in registers to improve performance; this is what makes fast registers and caches meaningful. Allocating frequently used variables to registers can be critical to a program's performance; this register allocation is performed either by a compiler in the code generation phase, or manually by an assembly language programmer.
control unit
The control unit (CU) is a component of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) that directs operation of the processor. It tells the computer's memory, arithmetic/logic unit and input and output devices how to respond to a program's instructions.[1]
It directs the operation of the other units by providing timing and control signals.[citation needed] Most computer resources are managed by the CU.[citation needed] It directs the flow of data between the CPU and the other devices. John von Neumann included the control unit as part of the von Neumann architecture.[2] In modern computer designs, the control unit is typically an internal part of the CPU with its overall role and operation unchanged since its introduction