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• 1. Microprocessor and Memory Basics
• What is a microprocessor and where are they used?
• Abstract system architecture
• System communication
  • Data bus, address bus, control bus
  • Reading data from memory
  • Writing data to memory
  • The Address Capacity of Memory
• Inside the microprocessor
  • The Arithmetic and Logic Unit
  • The Program Counter
  • Registers
• Inside memory
  • Memory Read and Write Operations
  • Calculating storage space
  • Address decoders
  • Tri-state buffers
  • Multiple memory chips
  • Other types of memory
  • Memory mapped input/output

Abstract system architecture

A typical system architecture for a computer will have three principal blocks:

• The Microprocessor itself consisting of:
• an Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU) that performs mathematical and logical computations;
• a Control Unit that manages the execution of instructions;
• and multiple Registers that are used as temporary storage for instructions and data.
• Memory, which is used to store both the instructions to be executed by the microprocessor and the data to be used in the computation.
• Input and Output ports which interface the processor to the external world, including keyboards, mice, monitors, hard disc drives, etc.

Processor Schematic Architecture