What role does the Control Unit (CU) play in a CPU?

The Control Unit (CU) is a vital component of the CPU, primarily responsible for directing the operation of the processor. Its main role is to fetch instructions from memory, decode them to understand what action is required, and then send signals to other parts of the CPU and connected components to perform the tasks dictated by those instructions.

Specifically, the fetching of the next instruction is a critical function because it ensures that the CPU has a continuous stream of operations to execute, thus maintaining the processing pipeline efficiently. Without the CU managing this flow of instructions, the CPU would not be able to execute programs or respond to inputs properly.

In the context of the incorrect options, while the execution of instructions is crucial, that is specifically the role of the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) and other execution pipelines rather than the Control Unit. Management of memory storage is typically the responsibility of a memory management unit, while long-term data storage operations are handled by storage devices and file systems, not directly by the Control Unit within the CPU architecture.