Chapter 5 (Computer Hardware) Flashcards
What is the fetch execute cycle?
The Fetch Execute Cycle is a computer process that locates a program instruction from memory, decodes the instruction and carries out the required action; this process is repeated for the rest of the program instructions.
What is the CPU?
The CPU is the processor or brain of the computer where data and programs are processed and calculations take place
What is the CU/ What does it stand for?
Control unit, Decides which instruction to carry out first
Fetches it from memory
Decodes the instruction and executes it
Repeats this process (fetch-execute cycle)
What is the ALU/ What does it stand for?
Arithmetic logic unit, Performs logical comparisons to assist with decision making using AND, OR and NOT operators Carries out arithmetic calculations (+,-, X, / etc.)
What is the IAS/ What does it stand for?
Immediate access store, Each memory location has a unique address assigned to it During the F-E cycle instructions are fetched from their specific storage location in the IAS using an address Stores the programs and data temporarily while in use
What is the PC/ What does it stand for?
program counter, Stores the address of the next instruction to be executed
What is the MAR/ What does it stand for?
Memory address register,The address of the current instruction or data being executed is temporarily stored in the MAR.
What is the MDR/ What does it stand for?
Memory data register, This register will temporarily store data being fetched from or written to the CPU
What is the IR/ What does it stand for?
Instruction register, Temporarily stores the current instruction to be decoded and then executed.
Wht is the accumulator?
When calculations takes place on data, the results are initially stored in the accumulator before being transferred and stored in main memory.
What is clock speed?
This measures the number of instruction cycles the CPU can deal with in a second
Measured in GHZ (higher number the better)
What is cache?
Temporarily stores frequently used instructions and data
It is quicker to search cache memory than RAM thus increasing processor speed
what is the processor core?
Can be defined as a single processor More advanced CPUs contain more than one which will increase their ability to run many programs at the same time e.g. quad core processor has 4 processors.
