Arithmetic & Logic Unit and Control Unit
Arithmetic Logic Unit
» ALU consists of two units — arithmetic unit and logic unit.
» The arithmetic unit performs arithmetic operations on the data that is made available to it. Some of the arithmetic operations supported by the arithmetic unit are—addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
» The logic unit of ALU is responsible for performing logic operations. Logic unit performs comparisons of numbers, letters and special characters. Logic operations include testing for greater than, less than or equal to condition.
» ALU performs arithmetic and logic operations, and uses registers to hold the data that is being processed.
Control Unit
» The control unit of a computer does not do any actual processing of data. It organizes the processing of data and instructions. It acts as a supervisor and, controls and coordinates the activity of the other units of computer.
» CU coordinates the input and output devices of a computer. It directs the computer to carry out stored program instructions by communicating with the ALU and the registers. CU uses the instructions in the Instruction Register (IR) to decide which circuit needs to be activated. It also instructs the ALU to perform the arithmetic or logic operations. When a program is run, the Program Counter (PC) register keeps track of the program instruction to be executed next.
» CU tells when to fetch the data and instructions, what to do, where to store the results, the sequencing of events during processing etc.
» CU also holds the CPU’s Instruction Set, which is a list of all operations that the CPU can perform.
The function of a (CU) can be considered synonymous with that of a conductor of an orchestra.
The conductor in an orchestra does not perform any work by itself but manages the orchestra and
ensures that the members of orchestra work in proper coordination.