PROGRAM COUNTER (PC)

The program counter holds the address of the instruction that is currently running. It is simply a register, which will be explained in further detail later, that holds the address of the currently executing instruction. This address needs to be stored so that the computer can either return to it later, or use it to jump to other instructions.

INSTRUCTION MEMORY

The instruction memory reads the instructions that are designated by the program counter instruction address. This address is received at the "read address" portion of the instruction memory. The instruction memory component then fetches the instruction at the specified address, and outputs the said instruction through the "instruction [31-0]" output.

CONTROL

The control tells the datapath, memory, and I/O devices what to do according to the instructions of the program. Certain portions of the initial instruction output by the instruction memory are received by the control, notated by the blue arrow entering the central control device. This small instruction set is then divided amongst the different control paths, and is used to dictate the actions of the other components of the processor.

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