The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) is a key component of a computer's CPU that performs both logical and arithmetic operations, acting as the 'calculator' of the system. It can be divided into an arithmetic unit and a logic unit, with its complexity impacting cost, power consumption, and heat dissipation. ALUs handle operations such as logical functions, bit-shifting, and basic arithmetic, while balancing performance and efficiency.
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Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) is a key component of a computer's CPU that performs both logical and arithmetic operations, acting as the 'calculator' of the system. It can be divided into an arithmetic unit and a logic unit, with its complexity impacting cost, power consumption, and heat dissipation. ALUs handle operations such as logical functions, bit-shifting, and basic arithmetic, while balancing performance and efficiency.
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Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
Inside a computer, there is an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), which is capable of performing
logical operations (e.g. AND, OR, Ex-OR, Invert etc.) in addition to the arithmetic operations
(eg. Addition, Subtraction etc.). The control unit supplies the data required by the ALU from
memory, or from input devices, and directs the ALU to perform a specific operation based on
the instruction fetched from the memory. ALU is the “calculator” portion of the computer.
Integer Integer
Operand Operand
Status
Status
Opcode
Integer
Result
Unit (ALU)|
metic Lo:
An arithmetic logic unit(ALU) is a major component of the central processing unit of the a
computer system, It does all processes related to arithmetic and logic operations that need to
be done on instruction words. In some microprocessor architectures, the ALU is divided into the
arithmetic unit (AU) and the logic unit (LU).
‘An ALU can be designed by engineers to calculate many different operations, When the
operations become more and more complex, then the ALU will also become more and more
expensive and also takes up more space in the CPU and dissipates more heat. That is why
engineers make the ALU powerful enough to ensure that the CPU is also powerful and fast,
but not so complex as to become prohibitive in terms of cost and other disadvantages.
ALU is also known as an Integer Unit (IU). The arithmetic logic unit is that part of the CPU that
handles all the calculations the CPU may need. Most of these operations are logical in nature.
Depending on how the ALU is designed, it can make the CPU more powerful, but it also
consumes more energy and creates more heat. Therefore, there must be a balance between
how powerful and complex the ALU is and how expensive the whole unit becomes. This is why
faster CPUs are more expensive, consume more power and dissipate more heat.
Different operation as carried out by ALU can be categorized as follows —
* logical operations - These include operations like AND, OR, NOT, XOR, NOR QB Me perin Bit-Shifting Operations - This pertains to shifting the positions of the bits by a certain
number of places either towards the right or left, which is considered a multiplication or
division operations.
Arithmetic operations - This refers to bit addition and subtraction. Although multiplication
and division are sometimes used, these operations are more expensive to make.
Multiplication and subtraction can also be done by repetitive additions and subtractions
respectively.
