DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

ANDHRA PRADESH
Name : U.Rajya Lakshmi
Designation : Lecturer
Branch : Computer Engg.,
Institute : Govt.Polytechnic for Women,
PALAMANER.
Year/Semester : III Semester
Subject : Computer Architecture
Subject Code : CM-303
Topic : CPU Organization
Sub Topic : Word length and Register size
Duration : 50 Min
Teaching aids : PPT,drawings
CM303.12TO13 1
 Objectives

On completion of this period you would be able

to know
• The word length of memory
• The relation between word length and register size

CM303.12TO13 2
Word Length and Register Size

CM303.12TO13 3
 Introduction
• Memory is a collection of cells together with
circuits needed to transfer data

• Each cell can store one bit of information

• A bit is either 0 or 1

• It stores information in groups of bits called words

CM303.12TO13 4
 Introduction
• A word is an entity that moves in and out of
memory as a single unit

• Each word has an identification number

• A word in memory can represent either

instruction or data

CM303.12TO13 5
 Memory 16Unit
bits
address 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

cell Word 0

Word 1

Word 2

Word 3

Word 4

Word 5

Word 6

Word 7
No.of bits per word=16 Total memory capacity =8 words X 16 bits per word
No.of words=8 CM303.12TO13 6
Fig.1
 Memory Unit
Word length of memory
• the total no.of bits in a word is called word length

Address
• An identification number of memory word

Memory capacity
• total no.of words X no.of bits perword

CM303.12TO13 7
 Memory unit

• Memory capacity depends on the no. of lines in

the address bus

• With n-bit wide address bus a CPU can address

up to 2n memory locations

• To read/write data CPU needs address of the

memory location

CM303.12TO13 8
 Registers
• Register

• Is a group of binary storage cells

• Holds information temporarily

CM303.12TO13 9
 Registers in CPU
• CPU has a set of high speed registers

• Used to hold memory address and data during

memory read and write operations

• Used to hold data and intermediate results during

the execution of a program

CM303.12TO13 10
 Important computer registers

Some important computer registers are

Accumulator(AC) : holds one input or output

Memory Address Register(MAR) : holds address for memory
Memory Data Register(MDR) : holds the data read from or
written to memory
Instruction Register(IR) : holds current instruction
Program Counter(PC) : holds address of next instruction

CM303.12TO13 11
 Register size
• Word length of memory affects the size of
registers

• Since AC holds data,

size of AC is no.of bits in a memory word

• Since MAR holds address

size of MAR is no.of bits in memory address

CM303.12TO13 12
 Register size
• Since MDR holds data
size of MDR is word length of memory

• Since IR holds instruction,

size of IR is no.of bits in a memory word

• Since PC holds address

size of MAR is no.of bits in memory address

CM303.12TO13 13
 16 bits
Address
Example 0

Memory unit capacity is 1

4096 words X 16 bits per word 2
3
To identify each word in memory 4
12 bits address is needed

This is so because 212 = 4096 …

Word length is 16 bits

4094
4095
CM303.12TO13 14
Fig 1.17
 Contd..
• Memory word length is 16 bits

• So AC,MDR and IR are of size 16 bits each

• The PC and MAR are of size 12 bits each

CM303.12TO13 15
 Summary

Some of the points discussed in this class

• Word Length is the total no.of bits in a memory word
• Address is the identification number of memory word
• Two operations of memory are read and write
• Memory Capacity depends on the no. of address
lines
• Word length affects the size of registers

CM303.12TO13 16
 Quiz

1. The size of MDR is equals to

a) kilo byte
b) byte
c) Word length

CM303.12TO13 17
 Quiz

1. The size of MDR is equals to

• kilo byte
• byte
• Word length

CM303.12TO13 18
 Quiz

2. The number that identifies a memory word is

called
a) data
b) address
c) Word length

CM303.12TO13 19
 Quiz

2. The number that identifies a memory word is

called
• data
• address
• Word length

CM303.12TO13 20
 Quiz

3. The size of PC is equals to

a) No.of address bits

b) Word length
c) nibble

CM303.12TO13 21
 Quiz

3. The size of PC is equals to

• No.of address bits

• Word length
c) nibble

CM303.12TO13 22
 Frequently Asked Questions

1. Define word length.

2. State the relation between word length and
memory

CM303.12TO13 23
 Assignment

1. Memory unit size of a computer system is

512 M X 32 bits. How many address bits are
needed to identify each memory location? Determine
the size of registers AC,PC,IR,MAR and MDR

CM303.12TO13 24