10.3 Architecture

The AVR CPU uses a Harvard architecture with separate buses for program and data to maximize performance and parallelism. The instructions in the program memory execute with a single-level pipeline. While one instruction executes, the next instruction is prefetched from the program memory, enabling instructions to be executed on every clock cycle.

Refer to the Instruction Set Summary section for an overview of all AVR instructions.

Figure 10-1. AVR CPU Architecture