How the CPU Works

The Little Man Computer

Version

Download the tutorial

You can download your own copy of the Little
Man Computer simulation from the University of
Hertfordshire

Start the download now

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We will use it shortly

The link:
http://www.herts.ac.uk/lis/ltdu_temp/ltdu/project
s/mm5/#
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The Little Man Computer

LMC Instruction Codes

LOAD instruction op code 1

The Little Man goes to the mailbox specified

Reads the three-digit number in the mailbox
Puts that into the Calculator

Note:

The number in the mailbox is unchanged

The number in the calculator is replaced by
the new number
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LMC Instruction Codes

STORE instruction op code 2

The Little Man goes to the Calculator and reads the

number there
He writes the number down on a slip of paper and
puts it into the mailbox specified in the instructions

Note:

The number in the Calculator does not change

The number in the Mailbox is replaced with the new
value
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LMC Instruction Codes

ADD instruction op code 3

The Little Man walks over to the mailbox

address specified in the instructions
He reads the number and adds this number to
the number already in the calculator.

Note:

The number in the mailbox is unchanged

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LMC Instruction Codes

SUBTRACTION op code 4

Same as the ADD instruction, except the

number is subtracted
For this model we will assume that the Little Man
handles negative numbers correctly, though we will
not deal with it here.

Note:

The number in the mailbox is left unchanged

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LMC Instruction Codes

INPUT (or READ) op code 5,
address 00 (the 00 is ignored for this
special instruction code)

The Little Man gets a slip of paper in from the

in-basket
He types this number into the calculator
Each INPUT instruction handles only 1 slip of
paper
The Little Man will ignore the address portion
of this code
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LMC Instruction Codes

OUTPUT (or PRINT) op code 6,
address 00 (the 00 is ignored for this
special instruction code)

The Little Man walks to the calculator and

writes down the number on a slip of paper
This slip is put in to the out basket
Each OUTPUT instruction places 1 piece of
paper in the out basket
The Little Man will ignore the address portion
of this code
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LMC Instruction Codes

COFFEE BREAK (or HALT)
op code 7

The Little Man takes a break.

He will ignore the address portion of the
instruction

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A Simple Program
A few items

We need to store the instructions somewhere

We need a method to tell the Little Man where
to find the particular instructions that he is
supposed to perform at any given time

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A Simple Program
Assumed Solutions

Assume that the instructions are stored in the

mailbox starting at mailbox number 00
The Little Man will perform instructions by
looking at the value in the instruction location
counter and execute the instruction found in
the mailbox whose address has that value

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A Simple Program
Assumed Solutions

Each time the LM completes and instruction,

he will increment the Instruction Location
Counter and do the instruction specified by
the counter

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A Simple Program
Look at a program where the USER uses
the Little Man Computer to add two
numbers.
The User will place two numbers in the in
basket
The sum of the two will appear as a result
in the out basket

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A Simple Program
INPUT 500

The first step is to give the LM access to the

data
This instruction has the LM read the first
number from the in basket in to the calculator

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A Simple Program
STORE 99

299

It is not possible for the LM to simply read

another number into the calculator.
It would destroy the first number
We must save the first number somewhere
Mailbox 99 is chosen so that we dont have
any conflicts with other data or programs
Discuss this

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A Simple Program
INPUT

The LM reads the second number into the

calculator

ADD

500

399

We do not need to save the 2nd number in the

example, but we could have.
The 1st number from mailbox 99 is added to
the 2nd number in the calculator
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A Simple Program
OUTPUT 600

The LM puts the result in to the out basket

COFFEE BREAK

700

The program terminates

Note:

These instructions are stored sequentially starting

from mailbox 00.
This is so we could run the program again
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A Simple Program
Code Summary
Step

00
01
02
03
04
05
99

Mailbox
code

Instruction
description

500
299
500
399
600
700

INPUT
STORE DATA
INPUT 2ND #
ADD 1ST # TO it
OUTPUT RESULT
STOP
DATA
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Run the CPU Simulator

Now you try it.
Do the sample program included with the
simulation
Write your own program (and show me that
they work)

Write a program to add 3 numbers

Write a program that correctly calculates
x + y + z a b (Ex. 1 + 2 + 3 4 5 = -3)

For the bold and intelligent ones:

Write the last program only using 2 mailboxes!

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How the CPU Works

A More Complex View

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Overview
We saw in the Little Man Computer a
simplified version of how a CPU works.

Memory, the Control Unit, the Accumulator

(calculator) were all located in the same area
Decimal system used for communication of
instructions
Memory was limited to 100 mailboxes

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CPU Components
3 Major Parts

Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU)

Control Unit (CU)
Memory

The ALU & CU are known as the Central

Processing Unit

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Block Diagram of System

CPU

ALU

Control Unit
Program Counter

Memory

I/O

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Direct Comparison of
LMC & CPU

Control
Unit

ALU

I/O
Interface
Memory
Program
Counter
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CPU
ALU

Control Unit
Program Counter
I/O

Memory

Arithmetic/
Logic Unit (ALU)

The component where data is held

temporarily
Calculations occur here
It knows how to perform operations such
as ADD, SUB, LOAD, STORE, SHIFT.
It knows the commands that make up the
machine language of the CPU
It is the calculator
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CPU
ALU

Control Unit
Program Counter

Memory

Control Unit

I/O

Interprets and controls the execution of

instructions
This control corresponds to the fetch-execute
cycle

The fetch cycle gets the instructions

The execute cycle does the work specified in the
instruction
Note

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CPU
ALU

Control Unit
Program Counter

Memory

Registers

I/O

A Register is a single, permanent storage

location within the CPU used for a
PARTICULAR, defined purpose.
A register is used to hold a binary value
temporarily for storage, for manipulation,
and/or for simple calculations.
Registers have special addresses
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The End

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