In computing, the arithmetic logic unit, also known as ALU (arithmetic English acronym for logic unit), is a digital

circuit that calculates arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc..) And logical operations (yes, y, or , no), between two numbers. Many types of electronic circuits need to perform some arithmetic operation, so even the circuit into a digital clock will have a tiny ALU is maintained by adding 1 to the current time, and kept checking whether to activate the alarm sound, etc. . By far the most complex electronic circuits are those that are built into modern microprocessor chips. Therefore, these processors have within them an ALU very complex and powerful. In fact, modern microprocessor (and mainframes) can have multiple cores, each core with multiple execution units, each with multiple ALU. Many other circuits may contain inside an arithmetic logic unit: graphics processing units such as those in the NVIDIA and AMD, as the old FPU 80387 math coprocessor, and digital signal processors such as those found in sound cards Sound Blaster, CD drives and HDTVs. All these have in its interior more powerful and complex ALU.

A typical schematic symbol for an ALU: A and B are operands; R is the output, F is the input of the control unit, D is an output state

A simple 2-bit ALU which makes operations AND, OR, XOR and addition