What Is Machine Cycle?- Instruction Cycle

Let's discuss what is machine cycle. The difference between the instruction cycle and the machine cycle. Further how CPU executes the program instructions and the various steps involved for one machine cycle.

CPU

The CPU stands for the central processing unit. The CPU is the brain of the computer system which provides the processing power to the computer system. The CPU controls all the operations performed by the computer system including the activities necessary to execute the program. The machine cycle is the main activity performed by the central processing unit to execute the program instruction.

The machine cycle is also alternatively referred to as the instruction cycle. However, the machine cycle is part of the instruction cycle, whereas the instruction cycle is the process initiated by the CPU to execute the program instruction.

The machine cycle and the instruction cycle in detail

Understanding the instruction cycle

The computer program consists of a number of program statements. These statements are also referred to as program instruction. During the program execution, the operating system loads the program into the main system memory, RAM. The CPU initiates the program execution by fetching these instructions one by one from the main memory RAM. The machine cycle is a part of the instruction cycle. 

What is the instruction cycle?

In simple terms, the instruction cycle is the time taken by the CPU to execute one program instruction. The CPU is driven by a stream of clock pulses generated by the system clock. This stream of clock cycles helps the CPU to synchronize all the activities. For each clock tick, the CPU executes a part of the machine cycle. The instruction cycle is the sequence of steps executed by the computer CPU to execute one single instruction.

The instruction cycle consists of a sequence of the following steps:

1. Read the instruction from the memory.

2. Decode the instruction

3. Find the address of the optimal

4. Retrieve the open halt from the memory

5. Perform the desired operation on optimal

6. Find the address of the destination memory and finally store the result into the destination memory.

What is the machine cycle?

In order to execute a program instruction, the CPU repetitively performs a sequence of four steps. This sequence of four steps is called a machine cycle. The machine cycle is executed in four steps. These four steps include the crew operations such as fetch, decode, execute and finally store. The machine cycle is a part of the instruction cycle. In order to complete one single instruction cycle, the CPU might need either one or more machine cycles which depend upon the complexity of the program instruction.

Similarly, each part of the machine cycle needs the number of clock ticks to complete some part of the machine cycle such as fetch, decode, execute, or the store operation.

Understand the various steps in the machine cycle

The fetch part of the machine cycle includes fetching the program instruction from memory. The Super CPU initiates the program execution by fetching the program instruction and the corresponding data from the main system memory RAM. The decoding part of the machine cycle includes decoding the program instruction. The control unit inside the CPU decodes the program instruction as data whose own architecture. Each processor chip implements a set of binary commands which defines the various operations performed by the CPU.

This set of binary commands is called as instruction set architecture ISA. The CPU. The control unit inside the CPU chip generates the necessary signals for the arithmetic logic unit to perform the desire operation on the optimal. The execute part of the machine cycle includes the actual execution of the program instruction by the CPU.

The arithmetic logic unit of the CPU then performs the desired Each program instruction consists of two parts.

The first part is the OP code and the second part is the address of the operand.

The Op co-directs the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) to operate on the data and other instruction set architecture for the CPU. The instruction set architecture for a processor chip is a set of binary commands supported by the CPU. The final stage of the machine cycle includes storing the processed data back into the memory.

Once the ALU operates on the data the processed data is then sent in stored into the main memory RAM. This stored data in RAM can either be sent to any output device such as a monitor or the printer or to any permanent storage device to be stored for future use.

Summarize the machine cycle

The machine cycle is a basic operation of the CPU. The CPU continuously executes the machine cycle while performing the various operations. The machine cycle consists of a sequence of four steps which include the CPU operations such as fetch, decode, execute, and finally store.