The von Newmann Computer Model
When computer scientist John von Neumann designed his computer model in the 1940s, it was based on two main components: a central processing unit (CPU) and a storage structure (memory). This is the basis of most computers in use today. The purpose of this architecture was to show how a computer would access and run stored programs that contain programmed instructions and data. These are stored in random access memory (RAM), which can be read from and written to, similar to today’s computer RAM. Originally, the CPU was broken down into two components: the control unit and the arithmetic unit, as shown in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1. A basic diagram of the main components in the von Neumann computer model.
Figure 1-1. A basic diagram of the main components in the von Neumann computer model.