Chapter 3 Flashcards
The computer hardware design that includes the processor (CPU), and communication routes, called Buses, between the CPU and the hardware it manages, such as memory and disk storage.
System Architecture
A path or channel between a computer’s CPU an the devices it manages, such as a memory and disk storage.
Bus
A computer capable of supporting only a single CPU
Single-Processor Computer
A computer capable of supporting multiple CPU’s
Multiprocessor Computer
The part of the CPU that reads and executes very basic instructions such as reading data from memory or sending data to the screen.
Processor
The section of the processor that reads and executes the instructions. These come in multi (two or more), dual (two), and quad (four).
Core
By which hardware elements can the CPU be classified?
Design Type Speed Cache Address Bus Data Bus Control Bus CPU scheduling
What are the two general designs used in today’s computers? What is the main difference between them?
Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) and Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC). The main difference is the number of instructions the chip can process.
A computer CPU architecture in which processor components are reconfigured to conduct different operations as required. Such designs require many instructions and more complex instructions that n other designs.
Complex Instruction Set Computing
A computer CPU design that dedicates processor hardware components to certain functions. This design reduces that number and complexity of required instructions and, in many cases, results in faster performance than the other design.
Reduced Instruction Set Computing
The list of commands the CPU can understand and carry out
Instruction Set
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the CISC?
Advantages
- You need only general purpose hardware to carry out commands as opposed to hardware for a specific purpose.
- The chip is driven by it’s software, making it cheaper to produce.
Disadvantages
- The need for complex on-chip software. .
- It needs complex hardware to perform functions.
- The need to continually reprogram the on-chip hardware
- It is slower than RISC chip.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of RISC?
Advantages
1. Need little setup.
2. Specifically designed and optimized to perform specific functions.
Disadvantages
1. The chip is more expensive and complex.
2. The chip will need a lot of hardware to carry out the instructions.
A CPU design that permits the processor to operate on one instruction at the same time it is fetching one or more subsequent instructions from the operating system or application.
Pipelining
This CPU architecture that grew out of the RISC-based architecture, and enables the processor to work faster by performing several operations at once, predicting and speculating about operations that will come next (so that they are even completed before requested), This uses larger am more work area registers than CISC or traditional RISC-based architectures.
Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC)
Used to hold data or programming code in a computer. the size of a word varies among computers. 16-bit computers have a one of these in 16 bits and 64-bit computers have one of these in 64 bits.
Word
How fast the computer operates.
Speed
The speed at which the CPU executes internal commands, measured in megahertz (millions of clock ticks per second) or gigahertz (billions of clock ticks per second). These can be as low as 1 MHz and as high as 3GHz.
Internal Clock Speed
The speed at which the processor communicates with the memory and other devices in the computer, usually one-forth to one-half the other clock speed.
External Clock Speed
Special Computer memory that temporarily stores data used by the CPU. This is physically close to the CPU, and is faster than standard system memory, enabling faster retrieval and processing time.
Cache Memory
Cache memory that is part of the CPU hardware.
Level 1 Cache
Cache memory that, in most computers CPU designs, is located on the hardware separate from, but close to, the CPU.
Level 2 Cache
Cache Memory that is located on a chip, which is separate from, but close to the CPU, when L1 and L2 cache are both already built on the CPU.
Level 3 Cache
An internal communication pathway inside a computer that specifies the source and target address for memory reads and writes. This is measured by the number of bits of information it can carry. The wider this is ( the more bits it moves over time), the more memory available to the computer that uses it.
Address Bus
An internal communications pathway that allows computer components such as the CPU, display adapter, and main memory, to share information.
Data Bus
An internal communications pathway that keeps the CPU informed of the status of particular computer resources and devices, such as memory and disk drives.
Control Bus
A request to the processor so that a currently operating process, such as read from a disk drive, can be interrupted by another process, such as a write into memory
Interrupt Request
This determines witch process to run given the multiple processes waiting to run.
CPU Scheduling
The ability to run more that one process or parts at a time.
Multithreading
