Internal Hardware of a computer

Question 1

The processor

Answer 1

Executes program instructions in order to run applications

Question 2

Main Memory

Answer 2

a computer uses its main memory including RAM and ROM to store program instructions and frequently used data
main memory is usually much faster than secondary storage

Question 3

Buses

Answer 3

a series of parallel wires that connects internal components of a computer system (allowing signals to be passed between them)
the no. of parallel wires in a bus is called its width and has a direct r/ship to the no. of bits that can be transferred simultaneiously by bus

Question 4

address bus

Answer 4

transport memory addresses(specifiying where data is to be sent/retrieved from)
increasing its width increases the range of addresses that it can specify (= ^computers amount of addressable memory)
1 parallel wire in address bus = 2^1 of addressable memory locations

Question 5

Data bus

Answer 5

a computers data bus sends data and instructions to and from the different components of the computer system
^ width = ^volume of data that can be transferred over bus at any one time

Question 6

Control bus

Answer 6

used to carry control signals that reg the operation of the computer system
carries computers clock signal

Question 7

Harvard Architecture

Answer 7

the processor will use two seperate main memory locations
one for instructions the other for data
can give each piece of main memory different characteristics
used in embedded systems

Question 8

Von Neumann Architecthure

Answer 8

both instructions and data are stored in the same memory
often perform worse than those based on harvard architecture as the same buses have to be shared for fetching instructions and data
used in every day general purpose computer systems (e.g. laptops and smartphones)