AQA AS Computing: 7.2 Computer Architecture Flashcards
Hardware
Electronic/electrical circuits that a computer is assembled from. The platform on which the software executes.
Main memory
Memory that is directly addressable by the processor
Memory location
A separately addressable area of main memory
RAM
Random access memory; volatile main memory in which the locations can be accessed directly in any order with the same access time for all writing and reading operations
ROM
Read only memory; non-volatile main memory that cannot be written to once it is set up
EEPROM
Electrically erasable programmable read only memory; its contents may be altered but writing is about 100 times slower than reading
Computer bus
A set of parallel wires connecting independent components of a computer system
System bus
The main highway connecting the processor, main memory and I/O controllers; it is made up of a data bus, an address bus and a control bus
I/O
Allows the CPU to communicate with peripherals
Peripheral
A computer device that is not part of the CPU. It can be external (e.g. mouse, keyboard, printer, monitor, memory stick or scanner) or internal, such as a CD-ROM drive
I/O device
A hardware unit that sends or receives data or stores data by communicating with the processor and main memory through an I/O controller
I/O controller
An electronic circuit that connects to a system bus and an I/O; it provides the correct voltages and currents for the system bus and the I/O device.
Secondary storage
Permanent storage memory not directly connected to the processor; also called backing store.
Main memory address
A unique numeric code corresponding to a location in memory.
Stored program concept
A program must be resident in main memory to be executed; it is processed by fetching machine code instructions in sequence from main memory and executing them, one at a time, in the processor.
