Answer:
Step-by-step explanation:
In computer science, "fetching an instruction" refers to the process of retrieving an instruction from memory and storing it in a register in the CPU (central processing unit) so that it can be executed.
Instructions are typically stored in memory as a sequence of binary digits, with each instruction specifying an operation to be performed by the CPU. The fetch-execute cycle is a fundamental operation in the functioning of a CPU, where the CPU retrieves an instruction from memory, decodes it to determine what operation to perform, and executes it.
The fetch step involves the following sequence of operations:
The CPU sends a memory address to the memory controller, indicating where the instruction is stored.
The memory controller retrieves the instruction from memory and sends it back to the CPU.
The CPU stores the instruction in a register, where it can be decoded and executed in the subsequent steps of the fetch-execute cycle.
Once an instruction has been fetched, the CPU moves on to the next step in the fetch-execute cycle, which is to decode the instruction to determine what operation it specifies, and then execute that operation.