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Stored Program Concept

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83 views

Stored Program Concept

Uploaded by

molaposk10
Copyright
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Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Y10-03-P13:

Stored program concept


Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Learning objectives
In this lesson students will learn to:

•Define what is meant by the 'stored program concept’


•Describe the hardware components used in the von Neumann
architecture and explain their role in the fetch-decode-execute cycle.

For more details on this topic and additional student activities see
Topic 3 of the student book.

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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

A little history
As long ago as the 1640s,
Mathematicians were creating
mechanical devices that could
perform mathematical operations.

They had hundreds or even


thousands of moving parts.

These devices were created to fulfil a single


purpose. If you wanted to change the purpose of such a device, it needed to
be rebuilt or rewired.

Pascal’s calculator (shown here) was designed and built by the famous
mathematician in 1642 (when he was 19 years old!) to help him with tax
calculations. It performed multiplications and divisions.
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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Programmable machines
In 1936, Alan Turing proposed a device he
called the ‘Universal Computing Machine’.

He proposed that a computing machine


could be designed that could be
‘programmed’ by giving it instructions on
punched tape.

It was around this time that the work of


engineer Tommy Flowers meant that
computing devices were becoming electrical
instead of mechanical machines.

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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Stored programs
The next step was to move programs from tape and store them
electronically within a computer.

In 1945, the mathematician and physicist John von Neumann, working


at the University of Princeton USA, published a paper about the
computer he and his team had designed and built.

It was the first computer that used the basic component architecture
we recognise in modern computers.

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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Von Neumann Architecture


Nearly every modern computer that exists today uses the structure
pioneered by von Neumann. They are made up of the following
components:
• a processing unit that contains
an arithmetic logic
unit and processor registers
• a control unit that contains
an instruction register
and program counter register
• memory that stores both data
and instructions
• external data storage
• input and output mechanisms

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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Fetch decode execute


The CPU follows three steps in order to process data.
The process is known as the fetch-decode-execute cycle (sometimes
shortened to the fetch-execute cycle).

To begin with, whenever you open and work with a program, its data
and instructions are loaded into your computer’s RAM.
As the RAM is accessed directly by the CPU, the CPU can get to work!

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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Fetch
In this step, the CPU fetches data and instructions from the
main memory (RAM) and then stores them in its own
temporary, very fast memory called registers.

Can I have
some
data?

RAM / Memory
CPU
Yes! Here
it is!

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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Fetch
For this to happen, the CPU uses a hardware path called the
address bus.
The memory address of the next item that the CPU wants is put
onto the address bus.

CPU
Address RAM / Memory
Bus

Data from this memory address then travels from the RAM to the
CPU on another hardware path called the data bus.

Data
CPU Bus RAM / Memory

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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Decode
The decode step involves the CPU working out what the instruction it
has just fetched actually means.

The control unit decodes the instruction and gets things ready for
the next step.

It does this by looking up the instruction from the instruction set. This
is the full list of operations that a microprocessor can carry out.

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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Execute
The execute stage is the point at which data processing happens.

Instructions are carried out on the data. Some instructions are


carried out by the arithmetic logic unit (adding, shifting, AND, OR,
etc.).

Once a cycle has completed, another begins.

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Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Fetch decode execute


Instructions and data are stored in the memory.

Instructions are fetched one at a time into the processor.

The instructions are decoded by the control unit.

The instructions are executed, sometimes using the arithmetic logic


unit.

© Pearson Education Ltd 2020. Copying permitted for purchasing institution only.
Y10-03-P13: Stored program concept

Wrap up: you have learned how to…


 Define what is meant by the 'stored program concept’.
• Early computers had a single function and needed to be rewired or
rebuilt for different functions.
• Programs stored inside the computer.
• All modern computers can be reprogrammed.
• Describe the hardware components used in the von Neumann
architecture and explain their role in the fetch-decode-execute
cycle.
• The memory holds the program’s instructions and data.
• The CPU contains the control unit and arithmetic logic unit used to
carry out the instructions.
• The address bus holds the address in memory and the contents
are passed along the data bus.

© Pearson Education Ltd 2020. Copying permitted for purchasing institution only.

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