Processor Basics

Memory Access: load (copy bytes from DRAM address to register)

Store: reverse of above

Arithmetic & Logic: add/multiply, bitwise op, compare

Control Flow: branch, call handled by CPU

Cache: small local memory to buffer instructions/data

Reading memory: transfer data from CPU to memory (load)

Write: from memory to CPU

Reading Example

Writing Example

Performance

Main Idea: Optimizing access to DRAM and use of processor caches is critical for processor performance!