Architectural state
Encyclopedia
The architectural state is the part of the CPU
which holds the state of
a process, this includes:
This does not include actual computation units as an ALU
for instance.
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
which holds the state of
a process, this includes:
- Control registerControl registerA control register is a processor register which changes or controls the general behavior of a CPU or other digital device. Common tasks performed by control registers include interrupt control, switching the addressing mode, paging control, and coprocessor control.-CR0:The CR0 register is 32 bits...
s- Instruction Flag Registers (such as EFLAGS in x86)
- Interrupt Mask Registers
- Memory management unitMemory management unitA memory management unit , sometimes called paged memory management unit , is a computer hardware component responsible for handling accesses to memory requested by the CPU...
Registers - Status registerStatus registerA status register or flag register is a collection of flag bits for a processor. An example is the FLAGS register of the x86 architecture....
s
- General purpose registers (such as AX,BX,CX,DX,etc. in x86)
- Adder Registers
- Address Registers
- Counter Registers
- Index Registers
- Stack Registers
- String Registers
This does not include actual computation units as an ALU
Arithmetic logic unit
In computing, an arithmetic logic unit is a digital circuit that performs arithmetic and logical operations.The ALU is a fundamental building block of the central processing unit of a computer, and even the simplest microprocessors contain one for purposes such as maintaining timers...
for instance.