A fetch cycle is a process by which a computer's central processing unit (CPU) retrieves an instruction from memory and prepares it for execution. The fetch cycle typically consists of the following steps:

• The CPU retrieves the next instruction from memory, using the program counter (PC) to determine the memory address of the next instruction.
• The CPU decodes the instruction to determine the operation to be performed, the operands involved, and any addressing modes required.
• If the instruction requires operands, the CPU retrieves them from memory or from registers, depending on the addressing mode.
• The CPU performs the operation specified by the instruction, using the fetched operands.
• If the operation produces a result, the CPU stores it back in memory or in a register, depending on the addressing mode.
• The program counter is incremented to point to the next instruction in memory, and the process begins again with a new instruction fetch.

These steps are repeated over and over again as the CPU executes the program, fetching and executing each instruction in turn until the program is complete.