1.1 Systems architecture

Question 1

What factors affect the performance of the CPU?

Answer 1

1. Clock Speed
2. Cache Size
3. Number of Cores

Question 2

What is the purpose of the cache? How does it affect the speed of the CPU?

Answer 2

1) . Cache is a small amount of high-speed random access memory (RAM) built directly within the processor.
2) . It is used to temporarily hold data and instructions that the processor is likely to reuse.
3) . The bigger its cache, the less time a processor has to wait for instructions to be fetched.

Question 3

What is clock - speed? How does it affect the speed of the CPU?

Answer 3

1) . The clock-speed is the number of fetch-decode-execute cycles carried out per second
2) . Increasing the clock-speed will increase the number of fetch-decode-execute cycles that are executed every second.

Question 4

What can overclocking cause?

Answer 4

Long term damage to the CPU as it is working harder and producing more heat.

Question 5

What are cores?

Answer 5

1). Miniature parts of the CPU, each contain an ALU and CU

Each core is capable of fetching,decoding and executing its own instructions.

Question 6

How will increasing the number of cores affect the performance of the CPU?

Answer 6

The more cores a CPU has, the greater the number of instructions can be carried out simultaneously.

Question 7

What is an embedded system?

Answer 7

1) . A computer system with a dedicated function within a larger system, device or machine.
2) . Its purpose is to control the device and allow a user to interact with
3) . They tend to have one, or a limited number of tasks that they can perform.

Question 8

What are examples of an embedded system?

Answer 8

Traffic lights
domestic appliances
factory equipment
engine management systems 
hospital equipment
cameras
mobile phones
ovens
fridges
vending machines
cashier machines
satellite navigation devices -gps
television
digital watches
fitness trackers

Question 9

What advantages do embedded systems have over general purpose computers?

Answer 9

1) . their limited number of functions means they are cheaper to design and build
2) . tend to require less power. Some devices run from batteries
3) .They do not need much processing power. They can be built using cheaper, less powerful processors.