Aritmeetilisloogikaüksus

Aritmeetilisloogikaüksus, or ALU, is a fundamental digital circuit within a central processing unit (CPU). Its primary function is to perform arithmetic and logical operations. Arithmetic operations include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Logical operations involve Boolean logic such as AND, OR, NOT, and XOR.

The ALU receives data from registers and control signals from the control unit. Based on these signals, it executes the specified operation and produces a result, which is then typically stored back into a register. ALUs also often produce status flags, which indicate properties of the result, such as whether it is zero, negative, or if an overflow occurred.

Modern CPUs contain multiple ALUs to handle parallel processing and speed up computations. The design and efficiency of the ALU are critical factors in the overall performance of a computer. Its capability to quickly and accurately execute a wide range of operations makes it the core processing engine of any computing device.