Computer Science - Advanced Computer systems Flashcards
(31 cards)
Solid State
no moving parts
CPU
Central processing unit
What does the CPU do?
- Carries out processing by executing instruction
- Processes mathematical and logical data
- Retrieves data and instructions from main memory
- Stores Data into main memory once executed
What 4 main components do you find in the CPU
- Registers
- Control unit (CU)
- Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
- Cache memory
What are registers?
Very fast memory within the CPU
Name 4 registers
- Program counter (PC)
- Memory Address Register (MAR)
- Memory Data Register (MDR)
- Accumulator (ACC)
What does the Program counter do?
keeps track of the memory address of the next instruction to be executed in a program
What does the MAR do?
holds the address of the current instruction that is to be fetched from memory
What does the MDR do?
holds the contents found at the RAM address (held in the MAR)
What does the ACC do?
store the results of arithmetic and logical operations done in instructions, or values from RAM
What are buses
Electrical connectors along which the data is passed to different parts of the computer system (CPU, RAM)
Name 3 buses
Data bus, Address bus, control bus
What does the data bus do?
transfers data between a memory and CPU, and within the CPU (like ACC, ALU, and MDR)
What does the address bus do?
carries memory addresses from the MAR to the RAM
What does the control bus do?
transmits control signals from the control unit to coordinate and manage the operations of the CPU and other components (such as RAM
What is the clock in a CPU?
A vibrating crystal that sends out signals at a certain frequency, the speed that it does this is called clock speed
1MHz = ??
1000KHz
Where is the CPU located in a computer system?
the motherboard
What is cache memory?
a form of random access memory that stores recently accessed data in the CPU for quick retrieval
What is the FDE cycle?
Fetch, decode, execute
What does the control unit do?
receives and decodes instructions from the MDR, and sends out commands
clock speed
how fast the clock vibrates - determines the speed of the CPU
Define non-volatile
retains data when power is shut off
Define volatile
stores data temporarily, when computer is powered off, it looses it