Control Unit and its Design

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A Central Processing Unit is the most important component of a

computer system. A control unit is a part of the CPU. A control unit
controls the operations of all parts of the computer but it does not
carry out any data processing operations.
What is a Control Unit?
The Control Unit is the part of the computer’s central processing unit
(CPU), which directs the operation of the processor. It was included
as part of the Von Neumann Architecture by John von Neumann. It is
the responsibility of the control unit to tell the computer’s memory,
arithmetic/logic unit, and input and output devices how to respond
to the instructions that have been sent to the processor. It fetches
internal instructions of the programs from the main memory to the
processor instruction register, and based on this register contents,
the control unit generates a control signal that supervises the
execution of these instructions. A control unit works by receiving
input information which it converts into control signals, which are
then sent to the central processor. The computer’s processor then
tells the attached hardware what operations to perform. The
functions that a control unit performs are dependent on the type of
CPU because the architecture of the CPU varies from manufacturer
to manufacturer.
Examples of devices that require a CU are:
 Control Processing Units(CPUs)
 Graphics Processing Units(GPUs)
Functions of the Control Unit
 It coordinates the sequence of data movements into, out of, and
between a processor’s many sub-units.
 It interprets instructions.
 It controls data flow inside the processor.
 It receives external instructions or commands to which it converts
to sequence of control signals.
 It controls many execution units(i.e. ALU , data buffers
and registers ) contained within a CPU.
 It also handles multiple tasks, such as fetching, decoding,
execution handling and storing results.
Types of Control Unit
There are two types of control units:
 Hardwired
 Micro programmable control unit.
Hardwired Control Unit
In the Hardwired control unit, the control signals that are important
for instruction execution control are generated by specially designed
hardware logical circuits, in which we can not modify the signal
generation method without physical change of the circuit structure.
The operation code of an instruction contains the basic data for
control signal generation. In the instruction decoder, the operation
code is decoded. The instruction decoder constitutes a set of many
decoders that decode different fields of the instruction opcode.
As a result, few output lines going out from the instruction decoder
obtains active signal values. These output lines are connected to the
inputs of the matrix that generates control signals for execution
units of the computer. This matrix implements logical combinations
of the decoded signals from the instruction opcode with the outputs
from the matrix that generates signals representing consecutive
control unit states and with signals coming from the outside of the
processor, e.g. interrupt signals. The matrices are built in a similar
way as a programmable logic arrays.

Control signals for an instruction execution have to be generated

not in a single time point but during the entire time interval that
corresponds to the instruction execution cycle. Following the
structure of this cycle, the suitable sequence of internal states is
organized in the control unit. A number of signals generated by the
control signal generator matrix are sent back to inputs of the next
control state generator matrix.
This matrix combines these signals with the timing signals, which
are generated by the timing unit based on the rectangular patterns
usually supplied by the quartz generator. When a new instruction
arrives at the control unit, the control units is in the initial state of
new instruction fetching. Instruction decoding allows the control unit
enters the first state relating execution of the new instruction, which
lasts as long as the timing signals and other input signals as flags
and state information of the computer remain unaltered.
A change of any of the earlier mentioned signals stimulates the
change of the control unit state. This causes that a new respective
input is generated for the control signal generator matrix. When an
external signal appears, (e.g. an interrupt) the control unit takes
entry into a next control state that is the state concerned with the
reaction to this external signal (e.g. interrupt processing).
The values of flags and state variables of the computer are used to
select suitable states for the instruction execution cycle. The last
states in the cycle are control states that commence fetching the
next instruction of the program: sending the program counter
content to the main memory address buffer register and next,
reading the instruction word to the instruction register of computer.
When the ongoing instruction is the stop instruction that ends
program execution, the control unit enters an operating system
state, in which it waits for a next user directive.
Micro Programmable control unit
The fundamental difference between these unit structures and the
structure of the hardwired control unit is the existence of the control
store that is used for storing words containing encoded control
signals mandatory for instruction execution. In microprogrammed
control units, subsequent instruction words are fetched into the
instruction register in a normal way. However, the operation code of
each instruction is not directly decoded to enable immediate control
signal generation but it comprises the initial address of a
microprogram contained in the control store.
 With a single-level control store: In this, the instruction
opcode from the instruction register is sent to the control store
address register. Based on this address, the first microinstruction
of a microprogram that interprets execution of this instruction is
read to the microinstruction register . This microinstruction
contains in its operation part encoded control signals, normally as
few bit fields. In a set microinstruction field decoders, the fields
are decoded. The microinstruction also contains the address of
the next microinstruction of the given instruction microprogram
 and a control field used to control activities of the
microinstruction address generator.

The last mentioned field decides the addressing

mode (addressing operation) to be applied to the address
embedded in the ongoing microinstruction. In microinstructions
along with conditional addressing mode, this address is refined by
using the processor condition flags that represent the status of
computations in the current program. The last microinstruction in
the instruction of the given microprogram is the microinstruction
that fetches the next instruction from the main memory to the
instruction register.
 With a two-level control store: In this, in a control unit with a
two-level control store, besides the control memory for
microinstructions, a nano-instruction memory is included. In such
a control unit, microinstructions do not contain encoded control
signals. The operation part of microinstructions contains the
address of the word in the nano-instruction memory, which
contains encoded control signals. The nano-instruction memory
contains all combinations of control signals that appear in
microprograms that interpret the complete instruction set of a
 given computer, written once in the form of nano-instructions.

In this way, unnecessary storing of the same operation parts of

microinstructions is avoided. In this case, microinstruction word
can be much shorter than with the single level control store. It
gives a much smaller size in bits of the microinstruction memory
and, as a result, a much smaller size of the entire control
memory. The microinstruction memory contains the control for
selection of consecutive microinstructions, while those control
signals are generated at the basis of nano-instructions. In nano-
instructions, control signals are frequently encoded using 1 bit/ 1
signal method that eliminates decoding.
Advantages of a Well-Designed Control Unit
 Efficient instruction execution: A well-designed control unit
can execute instructions more efficiently by optimizing the
instruction pipeline and minimizing the number of clock cycles
required for each instruction.
 Improved performance: A well-designed control unit can
improve the performance of the CPU by increasing the clock
speed, reducing the latency, and improving the throughput.
 Support for complex instructions: A well-designed control
unit can support complex instructions that require multiple
operations, reducing the number of instructions required to
execute a program.
 Improved reliability: A well-designed control unit can improve
the reliability of the CPU by detecting and correcting errors, such
as memory errors and pipeline stalls.
 Lower power consumption: A well-designed control unit can
reduce power consumption by optimizing the use of resources,
such as registers and memory , and reducing the number of clock
cycles required for each instruction.
 Better branch prediction: A well-designed control unit can
improve branch prediction accuracy, reducing the number of
branch mispredictions and improving performance.
 Improved scalability: A well-designed control unit can improve
the scalability of the CPU, allowing it to handle larger and more
complex workloads.
 Better support for parallelism: A well-designed control unit
can better support parallelism, allowing the CPU to execute
multiple instructions simultaneously and improve overall
performance.
 Improved security: A well-designed control unit can improve
the security of the CPU by implementing security features such as
address space layout randomization and data execution
prevention.
 Lower cost: A well-designed control unit can reduce the cost of
the CPU by minimizing the number of components required and
improving manufacturing efficiency.
Disadvantages of a Poorly-Designed Control
Unit
 Reduced performance: A poorly-designed control unit can
reduce the performance of the CPU by introducing pipeline stalls,
increasing the latency, and reducing the throughput.
 Increased complexity: A poorly-designed control unit can
increase the complexity of the CPU, making it harder to design,
test, and maintain.
 Higher power consumption: A poorly-designed control unit can
increase power consumption by inefficiently using resources,
such as registers and memory, and requiring more clock cycles
for each instruction.
 Reduced reliability: A poorly-designed control unit can reduce
the reliability of the CPU by introducing errors, such as memory
errors and pipeline stalls.
 Limitations on instruction set: A poorly-designed control unit
may limit the instruction set of the CPU, making it harder to
execute complex instructions and limiting the functionality of the
CPU.
 Inefficient use of resources: A poorly-designed control unit
may inefficiently use resources such as registers and memory,
leading to wasted resources and reduced performance.
 Limited scalability: A poorly-designed control unit may limit the
scalability of the CPU, making it harder to handle larger and more
complex workloads.
 Poor support for parallelism: A poorly-designed control unit
may limit the ability of the CPU to support parallelism, reducing
the overall performance of the system.
 Security vulnerabilities: A poorly-designed control unit may
introduce security vulnerabilities, such as buffer overflows or
code injection attacks.
 Higher cost: A poorly-designed control unit may increase the
cost of the CPU by requiring additional components or increasing
the manufacturing complexity.
FAQs on Control Unit
Q.1: What is main difference between ALU and CU?
Answer:
The main difference between an arithmetic logic unit(ALU) and a
control unit (CU) is that an ALU is a processor component that
performs comparisons, arithmetic computations, and many other
activities. While the majority of a computer’s functions are directed
and controlled by the control unit, or CU, which is a component of a
processor.
For more details you can refer to this article.
Q.2: What is the main component of a control unit?
Answer:
Instruction registers, control signals within the CPU, control signals
to/from the bus, a control bus, input flags, and clock signals are all
parts of this unit.
Q.3: What is the main purpose of the control unit?
Answer:
The control unit regulates and keeps track of communications
among the computer’s associated components.
Q.4: What is the difference between control unit and
memory unit?
Answer:
The memory unit holds the moderate storage outputs, which is
handled by the arithmetic logic unit, whereas the control unit
monitors and regulates all device units. The memory unit holds the
final result but control unit does not do this.