[1] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

fetch-execute cycle
     
         the sequence of actions that a
        central processing unit performs to execute each machine
        code instruction in a program.
     
        at the beginning of each cycle the cpu presents the value of
        the program counter on the address bus.  the cpu then
        fetches the instruction from main memory possibly via a
        cache and/or a pipeline via the data bus into the
        instruction register.
     
        from the instruction register, the data forming the
        instruction is decoded and passed to the control unit which
        sends a sequence of control signals to the relevant function
        units of the cpu to perform the actions required by the
        instruction such as reading values from registers, passing
        them to the alu to add them together and writing the result
        back to a register.
     
        the program counter is then incremented to address the next
        instruction and the cycle is repeated.
     
        the fetch-execute cycle was first proposed by john von
        neumann.
     
        1998-06-25
     
     
see also:
central processing unit machine code program counter address bus main memory cache 
pipeline data bus instruction register control unit function units 
registers alu john von neumann 

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