Hardware

Question 1

Instruction set

Answer 1

A list of (machine code) commands that can be processed by the CPU

Question 2

Types of secondary storage

Answer 2

Optical, magnetic, and solid state

Question 3

Purpose of a CPU

Answer 3

To process instructions/data and to run the fetch–decode–execute cycle

Question 4

Purpose of a register

Answer 4

To temporarily store data/instruction/address

Question 5

1 Ghz is equal to…

Answer 5

1 billion cycles per second

Question 6

Features of magnetic storage

Answer 6

Data is stored on platters
(Platters) are divided into tracks and sectors
Has components that are spun
Data is read/written using a read/write arm
Data is read/written using electromagnets
Magnetic field determines the binary value
It is non-volatile

Question 7

Features of solid state storage

Answer 7

Flashes data onto chips
Uses transistors
Uses NAND/NOR technology
Uses control gates
Uses flow gates
Controls the flow of electrons
It can be volatile or non-volatile

Question 8

How does the FDE Cycle work

Answer 8

1. PC is copied to MAR
2. Address is sent from MAR to RAM thru the address bus
3. Memory in the address is sent to the MDR
4. MDR copies to CIR
5. PC incraments by one
6. Instruction is decoded and executed, temporary result stays in ACC

Question 9

Cache

Answer 9

Located in the CPU and allows for faster access to the CPU