Computer Science : S3 : L2 : Fetch Decode Execute Cycle

Data flow

The diagram illustrates the flow of data within a computer, where data is input, processed, and either output or sent to storage.

System bus

A parallel transmission component that transfers data from one component to another within a computer system.

Address bus

Carries an address to identify a location in memory or the I/O system for reading from or writing to.

Data bus

Carries data between the processor, memory, output devices, or input devices.

Control bus

Carries data from the control unit to system components or transmits timing signals.

Fetch

The process of loading instructions into memory (RAM) before the processor starts running the program.

Decode

The process of decoding the binary representation of an instruction to determine what other components need to do.

Instruction encoding

Each processor has slightly different encodings for instructions.

Execute

The process of executing an instruction by instructing other components to perform the necessary actions.