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Arithmetic Logic Unit: Logical Operations Bit-Shifting Operations

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Manoj Banerjee
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49 views2 pages

Arithmetic Logic Unit: Logical Operations Bit-Shifting Operations

Uploaded by

Manoj Banerjee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Arithmetic Logic Unit

Inside a computer, there is an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), which is capable of


performing logical operations (e.g. AND, OR, Ex-OR etc.) in addition to the
arithmetic operations (e.g. Addition, Subtraction etc.). The control unit supplies the
data required by the ALU from memory, or from input devices, and directs the ALU
to perform a specific operation based on the instruction fetched from the memory.
ALU is the “calculator” portion of the computer.
An arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is a major component of the central processing unit
of the computer system. It does all processes related to arithmetic and logic
operations that need to be done on instruction words. In some microprocessor
architectures, the ALU is divided into the arithmetic unit (AU) and the logic unit
(LU).
An ALU can be designed by engineers to calculate many different operations. When
the operations become more and more complex, then the ALU will also become
more and more expensive and also takes up more space in the CPU and dissipates
more heat. That is why engineers make the ALU powerful enough to ensure that the
CPU is also powerful and fast, but not so complex as to become prohibitive in terms
of cost and other disadvantages.
ALU is also known as an Integer Unit (IU). The arithmetic logic unit is that part of
the CPU that handles all the calculations the CPU may need. Most of these
operations are logical in nature. Depending on how the ALU is designed, it can
make the CPU more powerful, but it also consumes more energy and creates more
heat. Therefore, there must be a balance between how powerful and complex the
ALU is and how expensive the whole unit becomes. This is why faster CPUs are
more expensive, consume more power and dissipate more heat.

Different operation as carried out by ALU can be categorized as follows –


I. Logical operations − These include operations like AND, OR, NOT, XOR,
NOR, NAND, etc.
II. Bit-Shifting Operations − This pertains to shifting the positions of the bits
by a certain number of places either towards the right or left, which is
considered a multiplication or division operations.
III. Arithmetic operations − This refers to bit addition and subtraction.
Although multiplication and division are sometimes used, these operations
are more expensive to make. Multiplication and subtraction can also be done
by repetitive additions and subtractions respectively.

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