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CIS 110: Introduction to Computers > 2: The System Unit - Processing and Memory > Flashcards

2: The System Unit - Processing and Memory Flashcards

1
Q

“natural language” of computers that can only understand two states, “on” and “off” (0s and 1s)

A

binary form

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2
Q

the smallest unit of data a digital (binary) computer can recognize - represented by a 0 or 1

A

bit

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3
Q

a group of 8 bits - often used in context of digital data storage

A

byte

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4
Q

a group of approximately 1,000 bytes (1,024 bytes exactly)

A

kilobyte (KB)

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5
Q

a group of approximately 1 million bytes

A

megabyte (MB)

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6
Q

a group of approximately 1 billion bytes

A

gigabyte (GB)

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7
Q

a group of approximately 1 trillion bytes

A

terabyte (TB)

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8
Q

numbering system that represents all numbers using 10 symbols (0-9)

A

decimal numbering system

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9
Q

numbering system that represents all numbers using only 2 symbols, 0 and 1 - used by ___ computers

A

binary numbering system

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10
Q

a fixed-length binary coding system used to represent text-based data for computer processing on many types of computers - focused on Latin alphabet and English language

A

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

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11
Q

an international coding system that can be used to represent text-based data in any written language - has been widely implemented

A

Unicode

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12
Q

image made up of a grid of small dots (pixels) that are colored appropriately to represent an image

A

bitmap image

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13
Q

digital representations of sound at particular moments that recreate audio when played back in proper order - thousands every second

A

samples

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14
Q

still image within video data that creates illusion of movement when played rapidly one after the other

A

frame

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15
Q

a binary-based language for representing computer programs that the computer can execute directly

A

machine language

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16
Q

the main box of a computer that houses the CPU, motherboard, memory, and other devices

A

system unit

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17
Q

the main circuit board of a computer, located inside the system unit, to which all computer system components connect

A

motherboard

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18
Q

special connector exposed through the exterior of the system unit case that connects external devices to the motherboard

A

port

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19
Q

the chip located on the motherboard of a computer that performs most of the processing for a computer

A

central processing unit (CPU)

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20
Q

the central processing unit (CPU) for a personal computer

A

microprocessor

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21
Q

CPUs that contain the processing components (cores) of multiple independent processors on a single CPU (2 in dual-core CPU, 4 in quad-core CPU)

A

multi-core CPUs

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22
Q

the chip that does the processing needed to display images on the screen - can be located on the motherboard, inside the CPU, or on a video graphics board

A

graphics processing unit (GPU)

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23
Q

the amount of data (measured in bits or bytes) that a CPU can manipulate at one time

A

word

24
Q

group of fast memory circuitry located on or near the CPU to help speed up processing

A

cache memory

25
Q

an electronic path on the motherboard or within the CPU or other computer component along which data is transferred

A

bus

26
Q

the amount of data that can be theoretically transferred through a communications medium in a given period of time

A

bandwidth

27
Q

the amount of data that is actually transferred through a communications medium under real-life conditions

A

throughput

28
Q

chip-based storage that is located inside the system unit and used by computer to store data on a short-term, temporary basis

A

memory

29
Q

a characteristic of memory or storage in which data is not retained when the power to the computer is turned off

A

volatile

30
Q

a characteristic of memory or storage in which data is retained even when the power to the computer is turned off

A

nonvolatile

31
Q

AKA system memory - chips connected to the motherboard that provide a temporary location for the computer to hold data and program instructions while they are needed

A

RAM (random access memory)

32
Q

high-speed memory built into the CPU that temporarily stores data during processing

A

register

33
Q

nonvolatile chips located on the motherboard into which data or programs have been permanently stored

A

read-only memory (ROM)

34
Q

nonvolatile memory chips that can be used for storage by the computer or user, built into a computer or a storage medium - allows for firmware to be updated

A

flash memory

35
Q

a location on the motherboard into which expansion cards are inserted

A

expansion slot

36
Q

a circuit board that can be inserted into an expansion slot location on a computer’s motherboard to add additional functionality or to connect a peripheral device to that computer

A

expansion card

37
Q

a bus on the motherboard used to connect peripheral devices

A

expansion bus

38
Q

the bus used to connect the CPU directly to RAM

A

memory bus

39
Q

the bus that connects the CPU to the chipset that connects to the rest of the bus architecture

A

frontside bus (FSB)

40
Q

a bus used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices to a computer without requiring the use of additional expansion cards

A

Universal Serial Bus (USB)

41
Q

a high-speed bus standard sometimes used to connect digital video cameras and other multimedia hardware to a computer - developed by Apple

A

FireWire

42
Q

phenomenon describing how approximately every 18 months, technology advances to the point where the number of transistors in a modern CPU doubles

A

Moore’s Law

43
Q

the part of a CPU core that performs logical operations and integer arithmetic - performs spell check, photo editing, burning CDs, etc.

A

arithmetic/logic unit (ALU)

44
Q

the part of a CPU core that performs decimal arithmetic

A

floating point unit (FPU)

45
Q

the part of a CPU core that coordinates its operations and activities - directs the flow of electronic traffic

A

control unit

46
Q

the part of a CPU core that attempts to retrieve data and instructions before they are needed for processing in order to avoid delays

A

prefetch unit

47
Q

the part of a CPU core that translates instructions into a form that can be processed by the ALU and FPU

A

decode unit

48
Q

the part of a CPU core that allows it to communicate with other CPU components

A

bus interface unit

49
Q

the timing mechanism within the computer system that synchronizes the computer’s operations - each tick is a “cycle”, and the number of cycles per second is measured in Hz

A

system clock

50
Q

CPU’s ability to process more than one piece of microcode at a time (multiple instructions per cycle)

A

superscalar

51
Q

the series of operations involved in the execution of a single machine-level instruction (fetch, decode, execute, store)

A

machine cycle

52
Q

the capability of a CPU or CPU core to begin processing a new instruction as soon as the previous instruction completes the first stage of the machine cycle

A

pipelining

53
Q

the capability to use multiple processors or multiple processing cores in a single computer, usually to process multiple jobs at one time faster than could be performed with a single processor

A

multiprocessing

54
Q

a processing technique that uses multiple processors or multiple processing cores simultaneously, usually to process a single job as fast as possible

A

parallel processing

55
Q

the science of creating tiny computers and components by working at the individual atomic and molecular levels

A

nanotechnology

56
Q

a technology that applies the principles of quantum physics and quantum mechanics to computers to direct atoms or nuclei to work together as quantum bits (qubits), which function simultaneously as the computer’s processor and memory

A

quantum computing

57
Q

a computer that uses light, such as from laser beams or infrared beams, to perform digital computations

A

optical computer

CIS 110: Introduction to Computers (9 decks)

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