1.1- Systems Architecture Flashcards
Hardware
The physical things in a computer system, eg. CPU, motherboard
Software
The programs or applications that a computer system runs, eg. operating system
Embedded system
A computer system that has been designed for a dedicated function as part of a bigger system
Embedded system features
Low cost, small, reliable, robust, low power
Purpose of the CPU
-execute the instructions of the programs,
-process data
-manage the rest of the hardware resources
Three main parts in CPU
Control Unit (CU), Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), Cache
Control Unit (CU)
-Manage the fetch-execute cycle
-Controls the flow of data in and out the CPU
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
Carries out the calculations, logic operations and contains the accumulator
Cache
Very fast memory that stores regularly used data, so the CPU can access it quickly
Memory speed order
- Registers
- Cache
- RAM
Program counter (PC)
Holds the memory address of the instruction for each cycle
Accumulator
Stores intermediate results of calculations in the ALU
Memory Address Register (MAR)
Holds any memory address about to be used by the CPU. The address might point to data or a CPU instruction.
Memory Data Register (MDR)
Holds the actual data or instruction
Memory
Holds the program instructions and data
