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Computer Science > 1.1 The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices > Flashcards

1.1 The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices Flashcards

1
Q

What does the ALU do?

A

The arithmetic and logic unit performs all arithmetic and logic calculations.

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2
Q

What does the CU do?

A

The control unit coordinates the activities of the CPU.

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3
Q

What are the names of the five registers?

A

Program counter (PC), Accumulator (ACC), Memory Address Register (MAR), Memory Data Register (MDR) and Current Instruction Register (CIR).

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4
Q

What does the Program Counter do?

A

Holds the address of the next instruction to be executed.

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5
Q

What does the Accumulator do?

A

a register that stores logical and arithmetic data in multistep calculations temporally.

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6
Q

What does the MAR do?

A

The Memory Address Register holds the address of the instruction being fetched from/ sent to memory.

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7
Q

What does the MDR do?

A

The Memory Data register temporarily stores the data being fetched from/ sent to main memory.

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8
Q

What does the CIR do?

A

The Current Instruction Register holds the instruction currently being executed (divided into operand and opcode)

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9
Q

What does the Operand ( in the CIR) contain?

A

Codes the address of the. data which the operation is to be performed.

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10
Q

What does the Opcode ( in the CIR) contain?

A

The type of instruction to be executed.

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11
Q

What are the three system buses?

A

Address, Data and Control bus

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12
Q

What is a Bus?

A

a set of parallel wires which connect two or more components in the CPU.

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13
Q

How is a Buses’ width related to the number of bits transferred?

A

width of bus is directly proportional to the number of bits transferred

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14
Q

What is the Address bus?

A

a unidirectional bus, that passes the address of the instructions from CPU to the Ram.

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15
Q

What is the data bus?

A

a Bi-directional bus that carries data to and from the address held on the address bus.

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16
Q

What is the Control bus

A

a unidirectional bus that carries control signals from processor to other components (carries clock pulses)

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17
Q

What is the fetch-decode-execute cycle?

A

A sequence of operations that are completed in order to execute an operation.

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18
Q

What happens in the fetch stage of the fetch execute cycle?

A
  • The address is copied from the PC to the MAR.
  • The instruction held in that address is copied to MDR by the data bus.
  • Contents of PC increased by 1
  • value held in MDR is copied into CIR
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19
Q

What happens in the Decode stage of the fetch-execute cycle?

A

The contents of CIR are split into Operand and Opcode.

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20
Q

What happens in the Execute stage of the fetch-execute cycle?

A

The Decoded instruction is executed.

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21
Q

What are the three factors that affect the processor?

A

Clock speed, Number of cores and Cache size.

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22
Q

What is the System Clock?

A

it controls the clock speed with signals of 1s and 0s. the activities start on the clock pulse ( when 0 switches to 1)

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23
Q

What is the Clock speed?

A

The time it takes for one clock cycle to complete. the faster the clock speed the more clock cycles completed in a given space of time.(measured in hertz)

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24
Q

What is a Core?

A

a independent processor that is able to complete its own fetch-execute cycle.

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25
Q

Whats the benefit of having multiple cores?

A

more fetch-execute cycles can be completed at one time.

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26
Q

Whats the drawback of having multiple cores?

A

Not all programs are able to work with multiple cores.

27
Q

What is the Cache?

A

a type of memory stored within the CPU that temporarily stores frequently used instructions.

28
Q

What is the benefit of having a large cache?

A

It takes less time to collect data from the cache then the RAM.

29
Q

Whats the difference between the three types of Cache?

A

The first level is the fastest with the smallest capacity and the third is the slowest with the largest capacity.

30
Q

What is pipelining?

A

The process of completing the fetch, decode and execute cycles of three separate instructions simultaneously.

31
Q

What are the two types of pipelining?

A

Instruction and arithmetic pipelining.

32
Q

What is instruction pipelining?

A

Separating the instruction into fetching decoding and executing.

33
Q

What is Arithmetic pipelining?

A

breaking down the arithmetic operations and overlapping them as they are performed.

34
Q

What is the downside of pipelining?

A

programs with a lot of selection ,as some lines will be fetched and decoded when they are not needed.

35
Q

What is Von Neumann Architecture?

A

an architecture of the cpus components that share data and programs in the same registers and carry the on the same buses.

36
Q

Where is Von Neumann architecture commonly used?

A

In conventional processors in PCs.

37
Q

Whats the benefits of Von Neumann Architecture?

A

its cheaper to develop and allows programs to be optimised in size.

38
Q

What is Harvard Architecture?

A

an architecture that has two physically separate memories for instructions and data.They are transferred in parallel buses making for quicker execution

39
Q

Where is Harvard architecture commonly used?

A

often used in embedded systems

40
Q

What are the benefits and drawbacks to harvard architecture?

A

Benefit- efficient use of space
Drawback- programs tend to be large

41
Q

What is Contemporary processing?

A

A processor that uses a combination of Harvard and Von Neumann architecture. Harvard in the cache; Von Neumann in the main memory.

42
Q

What does RISC stand for ?

A

Reduces instruction set computing

43
Q

Where are RISC processors most often used?

A

in smartphones and tablets.

44
Q

What does CISC stand for?

A

Complex Instruction Set Computing

45
Q

Where are CISC Processors most often used?

A

in Laptops and Desktop computers

46
Q

Compare the Hardware of RISC and CISC Processor.

A

CISC has more complex hardware; RISCC has less complex hardware

47
Q

Compare the machine cycles of RISC and CISC processors

A

CISC has multiple machine cycles per instruction; RISC only has one per instruction.

48
Q

Compare the energy consumption of CISC and RISC processors

A

CISC has a greater energy consumption; RISC has a lower energy consumption.

49
Q

Which processor would more intensive tasks be more efficient with, Out of RISC and CISC?

A

CISC (RISC is better/quicker at simpler tasks)

50
Q

Which architecture can address memory in more ways?

A

CISC

51
Q

Compare the physical size of CISC and RISC processors.

A

CISC is physically larger and more expensive; RISC is smaller and cheaper

52
Q

Why is a RISC processor cheaper?

A

its smaller so requires less silicon

53
Q

What is a GPU?

A

the graphical processing unit is a device with multiple independent processing units which work in parallel

54
Q

Why are GPUs useful?

A

they are efficient at completing repetitive tasks such as image rendering and machine learning.

55
Q

What is threading?

A

it refers to concurrent execution of multiple threads within a single process

56
Q

What are threads?

A

individual sequences of instructions that can run independently but share the same resources, including memory space , within a process.

57
Q

What are Multi-core processors?

A

Processors with multiple independent cores that can complete instructions separately.

58
Q

What are Parallel processing systems?

A

processors that complete tasks in a single core using threading

59
Q

Which of parallel systems and multi-core cpus perform better in larger projects?

A

multicore systems perform better

60
Q

What is an input decive?

A

a device which can be used to put data and information into a computer

61
Q

What is an output device?

A

a device which can be used to send information from the computer

62
Q

Give some examples of input devices.

A

Keyboard; Webcam; Magnetic stripe reader; barcode reader and digital cameras

63
Q

Give some examples of output devices.

A

LCD monitors; Organic LED monitor; speakers; printers; projectors ;and actuators

64
Q

What are the three types of secondary storage?

A

Computer Science (5 decks)

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