1.1 The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices

Question 1

What is the role of the PC (Program Counter)?

Answer 1

Stores the address of the next instruction or data to be fetched

Question 2

Give the name of the computer architecture that uses the fetch-execute cycle with a single control unit.

Answer 2

Von-Neuman Architecture

Question 3

Does CISC or RISC processors can process more complex instructions?

Answer 3

CISC processors

Question 4

What is the role of the MAR (Memory Address Register)?

Answer 4

Stores the address of the instruction or data to be fetched

Question 5

What is the role of the MDR (Memory Data Register)?

Answer 5

Stores data read from or being written to the RAM

Question 6

Does CISC or RISC processors complete an instruction in one clock CYCLE?

Answer 6

RISC processors

Question 7

What does CISC stand for?

Answer 7

complex instruction set computer

Question 8

What does RISC stand for?

Answer 8

Reduced instruction set computer

Question 9

What are three types of processing?

Answer 9

Concurrent processing, parallel processing, Multi-core processing

Question 10

What is the role of the CIR (Current Instruction Register)?

Answer 10

Stores the instruction currently being executed

Question 11

What is unique about parallel processing?

Answer 11

Different processes can be executed on processors at different or the same time.

Question 12

What is unique about Multi-core processing?

Answer 12

Different processes can be executed on different processors at different or the same time

Question 13

What is unique about concurrent processing?

Answer 13

Several processes executed at the same time instead of sequentially.

Question 14

What is the role of then ACC (Accumulator)?

Answer 14

Stores the result of calculations from ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)

Question 15

What is meant by the term ‘Virtual Memory’ and what is it’s function?

Answer 15

Virtual memory is additional memory used when RAM is full. It acts as secondary storage and is used to store unused programs while the current program being run is replaced in RAM.

Question 16

What does RAM stand for and what is it’s purpose?

Answer 16

Random Access Memory - Short term volatile memory where currently running instructions and data is stored.

Question 17

What does ROM stand for and what is it’s purpose?

Answer 17

Read Only Memory - Non-volatile memory which stores data even when the computer is turned off.

Question 18

What happens during the Fetch section in the FDE cycle?

Answer 18

1. The address of the next instruction is copied from the PC to the MAR.
2. The instruction held at that address is copied to the MDR. Simultaneously, the content of the PC is incremented so that it holds the address of the next instruction.
3. The contents of the MDR are copied to the CIR.

Question 19

What happens during the Decode section in the FDE cycle?

Answer 19

4. The instruction in the CIR is decoded. The instruction is split into opcode and operand. The opcode is used to determine the type of instruction and what hardware to use to execute it. The operand holds either:
   the address of the data to be used with operation, which is the copied to the MAR
   the actual data to be operated on, which will be copied to the MDR
   the data to be operated on may be passed to the ACC

Question 20

What happens during the Execute section in the FDE cycle?

Answer 20

5. The appropriate instructions / opcode is carried out on the operand.

Question 21

Give an example and name an advantage of magnetic storage.

Answer 21

Floppy disk, Hark disk. Has a high capacity of storage compared to the other storage types.

Question 22

Give an example and name an advantage of flash storage.

Answer 22

USB flash drive. Flash storages are typically very portable.