6.2.1. Comprehensive Objective

Try these first

1. 1.

   What is a control unit responsible for?

   Hint

   Think about its role in coordinating other components.

2. 2.

   What are the three key phases of the instruction cycle?

   Hint

   Recall the acronym FDE.

3. 3.

   What are the three phases of instruction execution?

   • Fetch
   • Interpret
   • Execute
   • Fetch
   • Decode
   • Execute
   • Load
   • Store
   • Execute

   Hint

   Remember the acronym FDE.

4. 4.

   True or False: Control signals are only generated during macro instructions.

   • True
   • False

   Hint

   Consider the difference between instruction levels.

5. 5.

   Design a control unit for an academic system that needs to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. What architecture would you choose, and why?

   Hint

   Consider how each operation is managed and the complexity of the architecture.

6. 6.

   Evaluate how control signals change with different instruction types such as arithmetic vs. branching instructions.

   Hint

   Think about what happens in the control unit during each instruction type.