Fetch-decode-execute cycle
The fundamental CPU operation cycle: fetch instruction from memory, decode instruction determining operation and operands, execute operation. Fetch-decode-execute repeats continuously during program execution. Understanding this cycle is essential to CPU operation.
Real World
When Spotify plays a song on your phone, the ARM processor repeats the fetch-decode-execute cycle billions of times per second to decompress audio data and send it to your earbuds.
Exam Focus
Name all three stages and state what happens in each — missing one stage typically loses two marks.
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