1.1.2 Processor types (old) Flashcards
What does RISC mean?
Reduced Instruction Set Computer
What does CISC mean?
Complex Instruction Set Computer
What are the properties of RISC?
Small Instruction Set
Each instruction is one line of machine code and takes one clock cycle.
Used in everyday devices
What are the properties of CISC?
Large instruction set. The aim is to try and accomplish tasks in as few lines of assembly code as possible.
Instructions built onto hardware
Used in embedded systems and microprocessors
What are the benefits of RISC processors?
Pipelining is possible since each instruction takes one clock cycle.
What are the benefits of CISC processors?
Compilers have to do less work to translate high level code into machine code.
They require less RAM since instructions are smaller.
What are the disadvantages of RISC processors?
The compiler has to do more work to translate high level code into machine code.
More RAM is required to store the code.
What are the disadvantages of of CISC processors?
Many specialised instructions have been made, even though only a few of them are used.
What are multi-core CPUs?
CPUs that have multiple independent cores that can complete instructions separately which results in higher performance.
What are multi-core systems?
Systems where there are multiple cores that separate FDE cycles.
What are parallel systems?
Systems where multiple instructions can be completed at any given time. Instead of requiring multiple cores, it uses threading and pipelining instead.
Do multi-core or parallel systems perform better in large projects?
Multi-core.
