OCR GCSE

SLR1.1 Systems architecture (J277)

The purpose of the CPU:

The fetch-decode-execute cycle

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SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT

An electronic device that takes input…

SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT PROCESS

An electronic device that takes input… processes data…

SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

An electronic device that takes input… processes data… and delivers output.
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT
PROCESS OUTPUT
5

An electronic device that takes input… processes data… and delivers output.
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT PROCESS
OUTPUT
5 Multiply by 2

An electronic device that takes input… processes data… and delivers output.
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

5 Multiply by 2 10

An electronic device that takes input… processes data… and delivers output.
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

What is a computer?

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

To do this, computers follow a set of instructions known as a program.

SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

MEMORY
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

CPU

MEMORY
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

Execute Fetch

Decode
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

The fetch-decode-execute cycle

Fetch stage
• Fetch the next instruction from
main memory (RAM).
Execute Fetch • Bring it back into the CPU.

Decode
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

The fetch-decode-execute cycle

Decode stage
• Inspect the instruction to find
out what needs to be done.
Execute Fetch

Decode
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

The fetch-decode-execute cycle

Execute stage
• Carry out the instruction,
which could be:
Execute Fetch o Going back to main
memory and fetching data.
o Performing a calculation.
o Storing information back in
main memory.

Decode
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

The fetch-decode-execute cycle

On a modern CPU, the fetch-

decode-execute cycle occurs
Execute Fetch billions of times per second.

Clock speed
3Ghz processor = 3 billion cycles
per second.

Decode
SLR1.1 Systems architecture| The purpose of the CPU: The fetch-decode-execute cycle OCR GCSE (J277)

A computer is an electronic device that:

• takes input;
• processes data; and
• delivers output.

The purpose of the CPU is to fetch, decode and execute instructions.

Fetch
• Fetch the next instruction from main memory (RAM).
• Bring it back into the CPU.
Decode
• Inspect the instruction to find out what needs to be done.
Execute
• Carry out the instruction, which could be:
o Going back to main memory and fetching data.
o Performing a calculation.
o Storing information back in main memory.