Chapter 7.

Basic
Processing Unit
Overview
 Instruction Set Processor (ISP)
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
 A typical computing task consists of a series
of steps specified by a sequence of machine
instructions that constitute a program.
 An instruction is executed by carrying out a
sequence of more rudimentary operations.
Some Fundamental
Concepts
Fundamental Concepts
 Processor fetches one instruction at a time and
perform the operation specified.
 Instructions are fetched from successive memory
locations until a branch or a jump instruction is
encountered.
 Processor keeps track of the address of the memory
location containing the next instruction to be fetched
using Program Counter (PC).
 Instruction Register (IR)
Executing an Instruction
 Fetch the contents of the memory location pointed
to by the PC. The contents of this location are
loaded into the IR (fetch phase).
IR ← [[PC]]
 Assuming that the memory is byte addressable,
increment the contents of the PC by 4 (fetch phase).
PC ← [PC] + 4
 Carry out the actions specified by the instruction in
the IR (execution phase).
Processor Organization Internal processor
bus

Control signals

PC

Instruction
Address
decoder and
lines
MDR HAS MAR control logic
TWO INPUTS Memory
AND TWO bus
OUTPUTS MDR
Data
lines IR

Datapath
Y

Constant 4 R0

Select MUX

Add
A B
ALU Sub R n - 1 
control ALU
lines
Carry-in
XOR TEMP

Textbook Page 413

Figure 7.1. Single-bus organization of the datapath inside a processor.

Executing an Instruction
 Transfer a word of data from one processor
register to another or to the ALU.
 Perform an arithmetic or a logic operation
and store the result in a processor register.
 Fetch the contents of a given memory
location and load them into a processor
register.
 Store a word of data from a processor
register into a given memory location.
Register Transfers Riin
Internal processor
bus

Ri

Riout

Yin

Constant 4

Select MUX

A B
ALU

Zin

Z out

Figure 7.2. Input and output gating for the registers in Figure 7.1.
Register Transfers
 All operations and data transfers are controlled by the processor clock.
Bus

D Q
1
Q
Riout

Ri in
Clock

Figure 7.3.
Figure 7.3.Input
Inputand
andoutput
output gating for one register
register bit.
bit.
Performing an Arithmetic or
Logic Operation
 The ALU is a combinational circuit that has no
internal storage.
 ALU gets the two operands from MUX and bus.
The result is temporarily stored in register Z.
 What is the sequence of operations to add the
contents of register R1 to those of R2 and store the
result in R3?
1. R1out, Yin
2. R2out, SelectY, Add, Zin
3. Zout, R3in
Fetching a Word from Memory
 Address into MAR; issue Read operation; data into MDR.
Memory-bus Internal processor
data lines MDRoutE MDRout bus

MDR

MDR inE MDRin

Figure 7.4.
Figure 7.4. Connection and control
Connection and controlsignals
signalsfor
forregister
registerMDR.
MDR.
Fetching a Word from Memory
 The response time of each memory access varies
(cache miss, memory-mapped I/O,…).
 To accommodate this, the processor waits until it
receives an indication that the requested operation
has been completed (Memory-Function-Completed,
MFC).
 Move (R1), R2
 MAR ← [R1]
 Start a Read operation on the memory bus
 Wait for the MFC response from the memory
 Load MDR from the memory bus
 R2 ← [MDR]
 Step 1 2 3

Timing Clock

MARin MAR ← [R1]

Assume MAR
is always available Address
on the address lines
of the memory bus. Start a Read operation on the memory bus
Read

MR

MDRinE

Data

Wait for the MFC response from the memory

MFC

MDR out Load MDR from the memory bus

R2 ← [MDR]

Figure 7.5. Timing of a memory Read operation.

Execution of a Complete
Instruction
 Add (R3), R1
 Fetch the instruction
 Fetch the first operand (the contents of the
memory location pointed to by R3)
 Perform the addition
 Load the result into R1
Architecture Riin
Internal processor
bus

Ri

Riout

Yin

Constant 4

Select MUX

A B
ALU

Zin

Z out

Figure 7.2. Input and output gating for the registers in Figure 7.1.
 Execution of a Complete
Instruction Internal processor
bus

Add (R3), R1 Control signals

PC

Instruction
Step Action Address
decoder and
lines
MAR control logic

1 PC out , MAR in , Read, Select4, Add, Zin Memory

bus

2 Zout , PC in , Yin , WMF C MDR

Data
lines IR
3 MDR out , IR in
4 R3out , MAR in , Read Y

Constant 4 R0
5 R1out , Yin , WMF C
6 MDR out , SelectY, Add, Zin Select MUX

7 Zout , R1 in , End Add

A B
ALU Sub R n - 1 
control ALU
lines
Carry-in
XOR TEMP
Figure 7.6. Con trol sequence for execution of the instruction Add (R3),R1.
Z

Figure 7.1. Single-bus organization of the datapath inside a processor.

Execution of Branch
Instructions
 A branch instruction replaces the contents of
PC with the branch target address, which is
usually obtained by adding an offset X given
in the branch instruction.
 The offset X is usually the difference between
the branch target address and the address
immediately following the branch instruction.
 Conditional branch
Execution of Branch
Instructions

Step Action

1 PCout , MAR in , Read, Select4, Add, Z in

2 Zout , PC in , Yin , WMF C
3 MDR out , IR in
4 Offset-field-of-IRout , Add, Z in
5 Z out , PCin , End

Figure 7.7. Control sequence for an unconditional branch instruction.

Multiple-Bus Organization
Bus A Bus B Bus C

Incrementer

PC

Register
file

Constant 4

MUX
A

ALU R

Instruction
decoder

IR

MDR

MAR

Memory bus Address

data lines lines

Figure 7.8. Three-b us organization of the datapath.

Multiple-Bus Organization
 Add R4, R5, R6

Step Action

1 PCout , R=B, MAR in , Read, IncPC

2 WMFC
3 MDR outB , R=B, IR in
4 R4outA , R5outB , SelectA, Add, R6 in , End

Figure 7.9. Control sequence for the instruction. Add R4,R5,R6,

for the three-bus organization in Figure 7.8.
Quiz Internal processor
bus

Control signals

 What is the control PC

sequence for
Instruction
Address
decoder and
lines
MAR control logic

execution of the Memory

bus

instruction Data
lines
MDR
IR

Add R1, R2 Constant 4

Y
R0

including the Select MUX

instruction fetch Add

A B

phase? (Assume ALU Sub R n - 1 

control ALU
lines
Carry-in

single bus XOR TEMP

architecture)
Z

Figure 7.1. Single-bus organization of the datapath inside a processor.

Hardwired Control
Overview
 To execute instructions, the processor must
have some means of generating the control
signals needed in the proper sequence.
 Two categories: hardwired control and
microprogrammed control
 Hardwired system can operate at high speed;
but with little flexibility.
Control Unit Organization
CLK Control step
Clock counter

External
inputs
Decoder/
IR
encoder
Condition
codes

Control signals

Figure 7.10. Control unit organization.

Detailed Block Description
CLK
Clock Control step Reset
counter

Step decoder

T 1 T2 Tn

INS 1
External
INS 2 inputs
Instruction
IR Encoder
decoder
Condition
codes
INSm

Run End

Control signals

Figure 7.11. Separation of the decoding and encoding functions.

Generating Zin
 Zin = T1 + T6 • ADD + T4 • BR + …
Branch Add

T4 T6

T1

Figure 7.12. Generation of the Zin control signal for the processor in Figure 7.1.
Generating End
 End = T7 • ADD + T5 • BR + (T5 • N + T4 • N) • BRN +…
Branch<0
Add Branch
N N

T7 T5 T4 T5

End

Figure 7.13. Generation of the End control signal.

A Complete Processor
Instruction Integer Floating-point
unit unit unit

Instruction Data
cache cache

Bus interface
Processor

System bus

Main Input/
memory Output

Figure 7.14. Block diagram of a complete processor.

Microprogrammed
Control
Overview
 Control signals are generated by a program similar to machine
language programs.
 Control Word (CW); microroutine; microinstruction

MDRout

WMFC
MAR in

Select
PCout

R1out

R3out
Micro -

Read
PCin

R1 in
Z out
Add

End
IRin
Yin
instruction

Zin
1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1

Figure 7.15 An example of microinstructions for Figure 7.6.

Overview

Step Action

1 PC out , MAR in , Read, Select4, Add, Zin

2 Zout , PC in , Yin , WMF C
3 MDR out , IR in
4 R3out , MAR in , Read
5 R1out , Yin , WMF C
6 MDR out , SelectY, Add, Zin
7 Zout , R1 in , End

Figure 7.6. Con trol sequence for execution of the instruction Add (R3),R1.
Overview
 Control store
Starting
IR address
generator One function
cannot be carried
out by this simple
organization.

Clock P C

Control
store CW

Figure 7.16. Basic organization of a microprogrammed control unit.

Overview
 The previous organization cannot handle the situation when the control
unit is required to check the status of the condition codes or external
inputs to choose between alternative courses of action.
 Use conditional branch microinstruction.
Address Microinstruction

0 PCout , MAR in , Read, Select4, Add, Z in

1 Zout , PC in , Yin , WMF C
2 MDR out , IR in
3 Branch to starting addressof appropriate microroutine
. ... .. ... ... .. ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. ... .. ... ... .. ... .. ... ... .. ... ..
25 If N=0, then branch to microinstruction 0
26 Offset-field-of-IR out , SelectY, Add, Z in
27 Zout , PC in , End

Figure 7.17. Microroutine for the instruction Branch<0.

Overview External
inputs

Starting and
branch address Condition
IR codes
generator

Clock  PC

Control
store CW

Figure 7.18. Organization of the control unit to allow

conditional branching in the microprogram.
Microinstructions
 A straightforward way to structure
microinstructions is to assign one bit position
to each control signal.
 However, this is very inefficient.
 The length can be reduced: most signals are
not needed simultaneously, and many signals
are mutually exclusive.
 All mutually exclusive signals are placed in
the same group in binary coding.
Partial Format for the
Microinstructions
Microinstruction

F1 F2 F3 F4 F5

F1 (4 bits) F2 (3 bits) F3 (3 bits) F4 (4 bits) F5 (2 bits)

0000: No transfer 000: No transfer 000: No transfer 0000: Add 00: No action
0001: PCout 001: PCin 001: MARin 0001: Sub 01: Read
0010: MDRout 010: IRin 010: MDRin 10: Write
0011: Zout 011: Zin 011: TEMPin
0100: R0out 100: R0in 100: Yin 1111: XOR
0101: R1out 101: R1in
0110: R2out 110: R2in 16 ALU
functions
0111: R3out 111: R3 in
1010: TEMPout
1011: Offsetout

F6 F7 F8
What is the price paid for
this scheme?
F6 (1 bit) F7 (1 bit) F8 (1 bit)

0: SelectY 0: No action 0: Continue

1: Select4 1: WMFC 1: End

Figure 7.19. An example of a partial format for field-encoded microinstructions.

Further Improvement
 Enumerate the patterns of required signals in
all possible microinstructions. Each
meaningful combination of active control
signals can then be assigned a distinct code.
 Vertical organization
 Horizontal organization
Microprogram Sequencing
 If all microprograms require only straightforward
sequential execution of microinstructions except for
branches, letting a μPC governs the sequencing
would be efficient.
 However, two disadvantages:
 Having a separate microroutine for each machine instruction results
in a large total number of microinstructions and a large control store.
 Longer execution time because it takes more time to carry out the
required branches.
 Example: Add src, Rdst
 Four addressing modes: register, autoincrement,
autodecrement, and indexed (with indirect forms).
- Bit-ORing
- Wide-Branch Addressing
- WMFC
 Mode

Contents of IR OP code 0 1 0 Rsrc Rdst

11 10 8 7 4 3 0

Address Microinstruction
(octal)

000 PCout, MARin , Read, Select4 , Add, Zin

001 Zout , PCin, Yin, WMFC
002 MDRout, IRin
003  Branch { PC  101 (from Instruction decoder);
 PC5,4  [IR 10,9];  PC3  [IR 10]  [IR9]  [IR8]}
121 Rsrcout , MARin , Read, Select4, Add, Zin
122 Zout , Rsrcin
123 Branch {PC  170;PC0  [IR8]}, WMFC
170 MDRout, MARin , Read, WMFC
171 MDRout, Yin
172 Rdstout , SelectY, Add, Zin
173 Zout , Rdstin , End

Figure 7.21. Microinstruction for Add (Rsrc)+,Rdst.

Note: Microinstruction at location 170 is not executed for this addressing mode.
Microinstructions with Next-
Address Field
 The microprogram we discussed requires several
branch microinstructions, which perform no useful
operation in the datapath.
 A powerful alternative approach is to include an
address field as a part of every microinstruction to
indicate the location of the next microinstruction to
be fetched.
 Pros: separate branch microinstructions are virtually
eliminated; few limitations in assigning addresses to
microinstructions.
 Cons: additional bits for the address field (around
1/6)
Microinstructions with Next-
Address Field
IR

External Condition
Inputs codes

Decoding circuits

AR

Control store

Next address I R

Microinstruction decoder

Control signals

Figure 7.22. Microinstruction-sequencing organization.

 Microinstruction

F0 F1 F2 F3

F0 (8 bits) F1 (3 bits) F2 (3 bits) F3 (3 bits)

Address of next 000: No transfer 000: No transfer 000: No transfer

microinstruction 001: PCout 001: PCin 001: MARin
010: MDRout 010: IRin 010: MDRin
011: Zout 011: Zin 011: TEMPin
100: Rsrcout 100: Rsrcin 100: Yin
101: Rdstout 101: Rdstin
110: TEMP out

F4 F5 F6 F7

F4 (4 bits) F5 (2 bits) F6 (1 bit) F7 (1 bit)

0000: Add 00: No action 0: SelectY 0: No action

0001: Sub 01: Read 1: Select4 1: WMFC
10: Write
1111: XOR

F8 F9 F10

F8 (1 bit) F9 (1 bit) F10 (1 bit)

0: NextAdrs 0: No action 0: No action

1: InstDec 1: ORmode 1: ORindsrc

Figure 7.23. Format for microinstructions in the example of Section 7.5.3.

Implementation of the
Microroutine
Octal
address F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 01 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 01 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 00 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 1 1 0

121 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 01 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 01 1 0 0 0 0
122 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 1 0 0 1

1 7 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 00 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 01 0 1 0 0 0
1 7 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 00 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0
1 7 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 01 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0
1 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0

Figure 7.24. Implementation of the microroutine of Figure 7.21 using a

next-microinstruction address field. (See Figure 7.23 for encoded signals.)
 R15in R15out R0 in R0out

Decoder

Decoder

IR Rsrc Rdst

InstDecout
External
inputs ORmode
Decoding
circuits
Condition ORindsrc
codes

AR

Control store

Next address F1 F2 F8 F9 F10

Rdstout

Rdstin
Microinstruction
decoder
Rsrcout

Rsrcin

Other control signals

Figure 7.25. Some details of the control-signal-generating circuitry.

bit-ORing
Further Discussions
 Prefetching
 Emulation