Topic 1 -Systems Architecture Flashcards
What does CPU stand for?
Central Processing Unit
What is the function of the CPU?
to execute out instructions and process data
What are the 3 main parts of the CPU?
- Control Unit (CU)
- Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
- The Cache
What is the function of the Control Unit (CU)?
To execute program instructions by following the fetch-decode-execute cycle
What is the function of the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)?
Does all the calculations and contains the Accumulator Register
What is the function of the cache?
Stores regularly used data so the CPU can access it quickly if it’s needed. If the CPU requests data, it checks the cache first, if it doesn’t have it, it checks the RAM
Is the cache faster than the registers?
It’s slower than the registers but faster than the RAM
What are registers?
Small storage locations in the CPU which are super-quick to read/write to
What is the Von Neumann Architecture?
A system where the CPU runs programs stored in memory
What are the names of all the registers?
- Program Counter (PC)
- Accumulator
- Memory Address Register (MAR)
- Memory Data Register (MDR)
What is the function of the Program Counter?
holds the address of the next instruction to be executed
What is the function of the Memory Address Register?
holds the memory address of the current instruction, which points to data or a CPU instruction
What is the function of the Memory Data Register?
holds the actual instruction, and then the data that has been fetched from memory
What is the function of the accumulator?
Stores the intermediate results of the calculations in the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
Does Von Neuman architecture store the memory in the same or separate places?
It stores it in the same memory
How does the CPU carry out instructions?
the Fetch-Decode-Execute cycle
What happens during the fetch instruction?
- the memory address is copied from the PC to the MAR
- the instruction stored in the MAR address is copied to the MDR
- the program counter is incremented to point to the address of the next instruction
What happens during the decode instruction?
- the instruction in the MDR is decoded by the CU
What happens during the execute instruction?
- the instruction is preformed
- this could be:
-load data from memory
-write data to memory
-do a calculation
-do a logic operation
-jump to a different address
-halt the program
What is an embedded system?
A computer system built into another device to control or manage a specific function
Embedded systems are dedicated to a single task. What does that mean?
It means they are built to do one specific job. This makes them cheaper, easier to design, and more efficient.
Give some examples of embedded systems
- microwave
- washing machine
- traffic lights
- fitness tracker
- digital camera
- smart thermostat
- printer
What does RAM stand for?
Random Access Memory
What is RAM?
Primary memory in a computer which can be both read and written to. Is is volatile memory.
