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A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary processor in a given computer. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program , such as arithmetic , logic, controlling, and input/output (I/O) operations.
[2] [3] In the past, processors were constructed using multiple individual vacuum tubes, [4] [5] multiple individual transistors, [6] or multiple integrated circuits. The term is frequently used to refer to the central processing unit (CPU), the main processor in a system. [ 7 ]
[1] [2] By contrast, software is a set of written instructions that can be stored and run by hardware. Hardware derived its name from the fact it is hard or rigid with respect to changes, whereas software is soft because it is easy to change. Hardware is typically directed by the software to execute any command or instruction.
The control unit (CU) is a component of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) that directs the operation of the processor. A CU typically uses a binary decoder to convert coded instructions into timing and control signals that direct the operation of the other units (memory, arithmetic logic unit and input and output devices, etc.).
A floating-point unit (FPU), numeric processing unit (NPU), [1] colloquially math coprocessor, is a part of a computer system specially designed to carry out operations on floating-point numbers. [2] Typical operations are addition , subtraction , multiplication , division , and square root .
Floating-point arithmetic, for example, was often not available on 8-bit microprocessors, but had to be carried out in software. Integration of the floating-point unit, first as a separate integrated circuit and then as part of the same microprocessor chip, sped up floating-point calculations.
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In computing, the instruction register (IR) or current instruction register (CIR) is the part of a CPU's control unit that holds the instruction currently being executed or decoded. [1] In simple processors, each instruction to be executed is loaded into the instruction register, which holds it while it is decoded, prepared and ultimately ...