1.1 Hardware Flashcards
(41 cards)
What is the CPU?
The core of the computer.
What are the main components of the CPU?
- Control unit (CU)
- Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
- Registers
What is the purpose of the CU?
Manages and coordinates CPU operations.
What is the purpose of the ALU?
Performs arithmetic and logical operations.
What are registers?
Fast storage locations within the CPU.
What is the Current instruction register (CIR)?
Holds the instruction currently being executed.
What is the memory address register (MAR)?
Stores the address of the memory location to be accessed.
What is the memory data register (MDR)?
Contains data being transferred to or from memory.
What is the Accumulator?
Stores intermediate results of arithmetic and logical operations.
What is the address bus?
Carries memory location addresses.
What is the data bus?
Transfers data between CPU and memory.
What is Random Access Memory (RAM)?
Volatile main memory.
What is Von Neumann Architecture?
Common processor design with shared storage for data and instructions; less expensive but slower.
What is Harvard architecture?
Processor design with separate storage for data and instructions; more expensive but faster.
What is the FDE cycle?
The Fetch-Decode-Execute (FDE) cycle, also known as the instruction cycle, is a fundamental process in computer architecture that describes how a computer’s central processing unit (CPU) operates. This cycle is continuously repeated as the computer processes instructions.
What happens during the fetch stage?
- The CPU retrieves the next instruction from the computer’s memory.
- The Program Counter (PC) contains the address of the next instruction to be fetched.
- This address is copied into the Memory Address Register (MAR).
- The instruction at that memory address is then copied into the Memory Data Register (MDR).
- Finally, the instruction is placed in the Current Instruction Register (CIR).
- The Program Counter is then incremented to point to the next instruction.
What happens during the decode stage?
- The Control Unit (CU) of the CPU interprets the instruction in the CIR.
- It determines what operation needs to be performed (e.g., addition, subtraction, data movement).
- The CU identifies the memory locations or registers that contain the required data (operands).
- It also determines where the result should be stored.
What happens during the execute stage?
- The CPU carries out the instruction that was decoded.
- If it’s an arithmetic or logical operation, the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) performs the calculation.
- For data movement operations, data is transferred between registers or between memory and registers.
- The result of the operation is stored in the designated location (usually a register or memory address).
What factors effect computer performance?
Clock speed, Cache size, Number of cores
What is the clock speed?
An alternating pulse of low and high voltage, measured in Hz/GHz. A higher clock speed results in faster processing.
What is cache memory?
A fast but small-capacity set of locations close to the processor. It stores frequently used instructions and data. Measured in megabytes, cache memory is more expensive than RAM.
What are the different levels of cache memory and how do they effect performance?
Level 1 cache: The smallest and fastest cache, integrated into the circuitry of each core.
Level 2 cache: Often shared by cores, it’s larger but slower than L1 cache.
Level 3 and 4 cache: Slower than L2 cache but larger, located on the processor or nearby on the motherboard.
How do the Number of cores effect the performance?
Number of cores: Each core contains a Control Unit (CU), Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), special registers, and local cache. As each core can run its own Fetch-Decode-Execute (FDE) cycle, more cores allow for more instructions to be processed simultaneously.
What is a input device?
A device that sends data to the computer for processing.
