Computing

Groups of instructions, called a program, stored in the main memory, are being executed serially.

The 'fetch', 'decode', 'execute' cycle

This is sometimes referred to as the 'the Von Neumann concept' after the person who first defined it.

The system clock synchronizes the tasks in a computer

One clock cycle is the time that passes from the start of one high pulse, until the start of the next.

An address bus is a computer bus, controlled byCPUs or DMA-capable peripherals for specifying the physical addresses of computer memory elements that the requesting unit wants to access (read or write).

Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of modern computers and microprocessors that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory for reading and/or writing independently of the central processing unit. Many hardware systems use DMA including disk drive controllers, graphics cards, network cards, sound cards and GPUs.

The signal paths that carry commands from the instruction decode logic to various different functional units such as the ALU, memory address register, memory data register and other buffers.