2. Definitions Flashcards
instruction set
The vocabulary of commands understood by a given architecture.
stored-program concept
The idea that instructions and data of many types can be stored in memory as numbers and thus be easy to change, leading to the stored-program computer.
doubleword
Another natural unit of access in a computer, usually a group of 64 bits; corresponds to the size of a register in the LEGv8 architecture.
word
A natural unit of access in a computer, usually a group of 32 bits.
data transfer instruction
A command that moves data between memory and registers.
address
A value used to delineate the location of a specific data element within a memory array.
alignment restriction
A requirement that data be aligned in memory on natural boundaries.
binary digit. Also called binary bit.
One of the two numbers in base 2, 0 or 1, that are the components of information.
least significant bit
The rightmost bit in an LEGv8 doubleword.
most significant bit
The leftmost bit in an LEGv8 doubleword.
one’s complement
A notation that represents the most negative value by 10 … 000(two)* and the most positive value by 01 … 11(two), leaving an equal number of negatives and positives but ending up with two zeros, one positive (00 … 00(two)) and one negative (11 … 11(two)). The term is also used to mean the inversion of every bit in a pattern: 0 to 1 and 1 to 0.
* As in, base 2.
biased notation
A notation that represents the most negative value by 00 … 000(two) and the most positive value by 11 … 11 , with 0 typically having the value 10 … 00(two), thereby biasing the number such that the number plus the bias has a non-negative representation.
instruction format
A form of representation of an instruction composed of fields of binary numbers.
machine language
Binary representation used for communication within a computer system.
hexadecimal
Numbers in base 16.
opcode
The field that denotes the operation and format of an instruction.
AND
A logical bit-by-bit operation with two operands that calculates a 1 only if there is a 1 in both operands.
OR
A logical bit-by-bit operation with two operands that calculates a 1 if there is a 1 in either operand.
NOT
A logical bit-by-bit operation with one operand that inverts the bits; that is, it replaces every 1 with a 0, and every 0 with a 1.
EOR
A logical bit-by-bit operation with two operands that calculates the Exclusive OR of the two operands. That is, it calculates a 1 only if the values are different in the two operands.
conditional branch
An instruction that tests a value and that allows for a subsequent transfer of control to a new address in the program based on the outcome of the test.
basic block
A sequence of instructions without branches (except possibly at the end) and without branch targets or branch labels (except possibly at the beginning).
branch address table. Also called branch table.
A table of addresses of alternative instruction sequences.