Architectural state is the collection of information in a

computer system A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...

that defines the state of a program during execution. Architectural state includes

main memory Computer data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processing unit (CPU) of a comput ...

, architectural registers, and the

program counter The program counter (PC), commonly called the instruction pointer (IP) in Intel x86 and Itanium microprocessors, and sometimes called the instruction address register (IAR), the instruction counter, or just part of the instruction sequencer, is ...

. Architectural state is defined by the

instruction set architecture In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA), also called computer architecture, is an abstract model of a computer. A device that executes instructions described by that ISA, such as a central processing unit (CPU), is called an ...

and can be manipulated by the programmer using instructions. A

core dump In computing, a core dump, memory dump, crash dump, storage dump, system dump, or ABEND dump consists of the recorded state of the working Computer storage, memory of a computer program at a specific time, generally when the program has crash (comp ...

is a file recording the architectural state of a computer program at some point in time, such as when it has crashed. Examples of architectural state include: *

Main Memory Computer data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processing unit (CPU) of a comput ...

(Primary storage) *

Control register A control register is a processor register which changes or controls the general behavior of a CPU or other digital device. Common tasks performed by control registers include interrupt control, switching the addressing mode, paging control, ...

s ** Instruction flag registers (such as EFLAGS in x86) ** Interrupt mask registers **

Memory management unit A memory management unit (MMU), sometimes called paged memory management unit (PMMU), is a computer hardware unit having all memory references passed through itself, primarily performing the translation of virtual memory addresses to physical ...

registers **

Status register A status register, flag register, or condition code register (CCR) is a collection of status flag bits for a processor. Examples of such registers include FLAGS register in the x86 architecture, flags in the program status word (PSW) register in ...

s *

General purpose registers A processor register is a quickly accessible location available to a computer's processor. Registers usually consist of a small amount of fast storage, although some registers have specific hardware functions, and may be read-only or write-only ...

(such as AX, BX, CX, DX, etc. in x86) **

Adder Adder may refer to: * AA-12 Adder, a Russian air-to-air missile * Adder (electronics), an electronic circuit designed to do addition * Adder Technology, a manufacturing company * Armstrong Siddeley Adder, a late 1940s British turbojet engine * ''B ...

registers ** Address registers **

Counter Counter may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Counter machine, a subclass of register machines * Counter (digital), an electronic device, mechanical device, or computer program for counting * Loop counter, the variable that controls the iterat ...

registers **

Index registers An index register in a computer's CPU is a processor register (or an assigned memory location) used for pointing to operand addresses during the run of a program. It is useful for stepping through strings and arrays. It can also be used for hold ...

** Stack registers ** String registers Architectural state is not microarchitectural state. Microarchitectural state is hidden machine state used for implementing the

microarchitecture In computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as µarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular processor. A given ISA may be imp ...

. Examples of microarchitectural state include pipeline registers,

cache Cache, caching, or caché may refer to: Places United States * Cache, Idaho, an unincorporated community * Cache, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Cache, Oklahoma, a city in Comanche County * Cache, Utah, Cache County, Utah * Cache Coun ...

tags, and

branch predictor In computer architecture, a branch predictor is a digital circuit that tries to guess which way a branch (e.g., an if–then–else structure) will go before this is known definitively. The purpose of the branch predictor is to improve the flow i ...

state. While microarchitectural state can change to suit the needs of each processor implementation in a processor family, binary compatibility among processors in a processor family requires a common architectural state. Architectural state naturally does not include state-less elements of a computer such as busses and computation units (e.g., the

ALU ALU, Alu or alu may refer to: Computing and science ;Computing *Arithmetic logic unit, a digital electronic circuit ;Biology * Alu sequence, a type of short stretch of DNA *'' Arthrobacter luteus'', a bacterium Organizations * Abraham Lincoln ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Architectural State Central processing unit