The CPU, the Central Processing Unit, is known as the heart of the computer. It is responsible for carrying out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetic, logical, control, and input/output (I/O) operations specified by the instructions.
A typical CPU consists of:
- an ALU, or Arithmetic and Logic Unit, which handles addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and logic operations
- a register file
- a control unit, which fetches, decodes, and executes instructions
It is usually connected to memory containing both program and data, and control ports for memory and other peripheral parts.
See also:
- Wikipedia's article
- The microcontroller and microprocessor tags
