Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: What Does the CPU Do?
Computers Can Process Any Type of Information
The CPU Is the Core of Each Computer
The Five Components of a Modern Computer
ALUs: The CPU’s Core
CPUs Process Operations and Make Decisions
What Is Information Anyway?
The Difference Between Analog and Digital Information
Chapter 2: Digital Operations
The Computer's World Is Binary
The Reciprocal States of 1 and 0
Decimal vs. Binary Number systems
Expressing Numbers in Binary
Fixed-Point and Floating-Point Fractions
Addition and Subtraction in Binary
What Are Logical Operations?
Integrated Circuits Contain Logic Gates
The Three Basic Logic Gates: AND, OR, and NOT
Truth Tables and Venn Diagrams
A Summary of the AND, OR, and NOT Gates
Other Basic Gates: NAND, NOR, and XOR
A Summary of the NAND, NOR, and XOR Gates
De Morgan’s laws
Circuits That Perform Arithmetic
The Addition Circuit
The Half Adder
The Full Adder and Ripple Carry Adder
The Carry Look-ahead Adder
Circuits That Remember
Circuits with Memory Are a Necessity!
Flip-flop: the Basics of Memory Circuits
The RS Flip-flop
The D Flip-flop and the Clock
The T Flip-flop and Counters
Modern Circuit Design: CAD and FPGA
Chapter 3: CPU Architecture
All About Memory and the CPU
Memory Has Assigned Addresses
Data Passes Through the Bus
Bus Width and Bits
R/W Signals and I/O Signals
Instructions Are Made of Operands and Opcodes
Accumulators and Other Registers Are Used in Operations
CPU Instruction Processing
Classic CPU Architecture
The Instruction Cycle
The Instruction We Process Changes Depending on the Program Counter
All Kinds of Memory Devices
A Comparison Between HDD and Memory
RAM Space, ROM Space, and I/O Space
What Are Interrupts?
Interrupts Are Useful
The Stack and the Stack Pointer
Interrupt Priority
Memory Classifications
I/O Ports and the GPU
Clock Frequency and Degrees of Accuracy
Clock Generators
Timer Interrupts
Reset Signals
CPU Performance Is Measured in FLOPS
Chapter 4: Operations
Types of Operations
There Are Many Types of Instructions
Instructions for Arithmetic and Logic Operations
What Are Bit Shifts?
The Sign Bit Lets Us Express Negative Binary Numbers
Logical Shifts and Arithmetic Shifts
Circular Shifts (Rotating Shifts)
Data Transfer Operations
Input/Output Instructions
Branch Instructions
Condition Evaluation and Status Flags
Putting Branches and Condition Evaluation Together
Operand Types
How Many Operands Do We Have?
Operands Take Many Forms
Immediate Value Processing
Address References
What Are Addressing Modes?
Addressing Mode Overview
The Structure of Operations in the ALU
A Look Inside the ALU
Serial Transmission and Parallel Transmission
An Overview of Some Basic Registers
An Overview of Some Basic Status Flags
The Sleep Instruction
Chapter 5: Programs
Assembly and High-Level Languages
What are Assembly Languages?
The Characteristics of Assembly Languages and High-level Languages
The Difference Between Programs and Source Code
Program Basics
What Can You Make Using Conditions and Jumps?
What Should We Make the Computer Do?
Where are Programs Stored?
What Happens Before a Program Is Executed?
Chapter 6: Microcontrollers
What Are Microcontrollers?
Microcontrollers Are in All Kinds of Products
The Function of a Microcontroller
Architecture of a Microcontroller
What Are DSPs?
DSPs and Multiplier-Accumulate Operations
Microcontrollers in Industrial Machines
Epilogue
Afterword
Index