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OCR A Level Computer Science > Characteristics Of Processors, Storage and I/O Devices > Flashcards

Characteristics Of Processors, Storage and I/O Devices Flashcards

1
Q

What is the system bus made up of

A

The address, control and data bus

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2
Q

What is meant by a bidirectional bus

A

It allows two-way connection between internal components of the system

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3
Q

What is meant by the bus width

A

Bus width is the number of parallel lines a bus has

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4
Q

What is the data bus used for

A

To transfer data and instructions between components

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5
Q

What is the address bus used for

A

To specifiy the address of a memory location to either read or write data to that memory location

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6
Q

Is the address bus bidirectional or unidirectional

A

Unidirectional

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7
Q

What is meant by a unidirectional bus

A

There is only a one way connection between the component and the bus

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8
Q

What is the role of the control bus

A

Transfers control signals used to manage the operations that take place inside a computer system

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9
Q

What does the control signal, memory read, do

A

Places data from a specific memory location onto the address bus

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10
Q

What does the control signal, memory write, do

A

Stores data from the data bus onto a specific memory location

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11
Q

What does a bus request do

A

Signifies a component requires access to a bus

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12
Q

What does a bus grant do

A

Signifies a component has been given access to a bus it had requested

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13
Q

What does a bus busy signal do

A

Signifies that a bus s not available for use

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14
Q

What does an interrupt request do

A

Signifies that an error or exception has occurred that requires immediate attention from the processor

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15
Q

If a data bus has a width of 8, how many bits can it transfer per second

A

8 bits

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16
Q

If an address bus has a width of 8, how many bits can it transfer per second

A

2⁸ bits

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17
Q

What the role of the control unit

A

Organises the sequence in which program instructions are executed

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18
Q

What is the role of the ALU

A

Performs arithmetic calculations and logical operations (Add, Sub, NOT, XOR, binary shifts etc)

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19
Q

What is the role of the system clock

A

Oscillates between 0 and 1, which synchronises all operations

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20
Q

What is a register

A

Fast access memory that stores frequently used data

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21
Q

Name the 5 special registers

A

PC
CIR
ALU
MAR
MDR

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22
Q

Give an example of a general purpose register

A

Accumulator

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23
Q

What happens during the fetch phase of the FDE cycle

A
  1. Address in PC copied to MAR
  2. Data at address copied to MDR
  3. Simultaneously the PC increments by 1
  4. Data in MDR copied to CIR
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24
Q

What happens during the decode phase of the FDE cycle

A
  1. CU decodes data in CIR
  2. Data is split into opcode and operand
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25
Q

What is the significance of opcode and operand

A

Determines how the instruction is carried out

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26
Q

How does having multiple cores improve performance

A

More data processed simultaneously, as each core can execute FDE cycles independently

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27
Q

Why more cores not impact performance

A

The impact depends on the nature of the task. Not all programs are designed for multi core processing

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28
Q

Describe L1 cache

A

Part of the circuitry of the cores, the smallest but fastest cache

29
Q

Describe L2 cache

A

Part of the circuitry of each core, larger than L1 but slower

30
Q

Describe L3 cache

A

Slower than L2 but larger, built next to processor on motherboard

31
Q

Why is it advantageous for cache to be part of the circuitry of each core

A

Reduces the time taken for data to pass through registers

32
Q

What is clock speed a measure of

A

The amount of state changes per second, 0 to 1, which determines the amount of cycles per second

33
Q

What is overclocking

A

Performing more instructions per second than the recommended amount

34
Q

What is the negative of overclocking

A

Causes the processor to overheat

35
Q

Describe pipeling

A

Where one instruction is being executed, another is decoded and a third is being fetched

36
Q

What is the advantage of pipeling

A

Components don’t remain idle, improving efficiency and therefore performance

37
Q

Give 2 things Von nuemann architecture consists of

A

3 from:

A processor
Shared memory unit connected to processor
I/O controller
Shared address and data bus

38
Q

Give 2 features of harvard architecture

A

Instructions and data have separate memory locations

Uses different address/ data bus for Instructions and data

39
Q

Give two advantages of von nuemann architecture over harvard

A

Cheaper
More flexible

40
Q

Give one advantage of harvard architecture over von nuemann

A

Can simultaneously read/ write data while getting instructions, stopping components from being idle

41
Q

Describe the instruction set of a RISC processor

A

Simple commands that each take the same time to execute, where one instruction is carried out per clock cycle

42
Q

Why do RISC processors take up more storage when carrying out basic tasks compared to CISC

A

Due to the simple instructions, several are needed to execute the task which requires more memory and also takes up more time

43
Q

Give 2 positives of RISC having simpler instructions

A
  1. Makes it easier to implement pipeling
  2. Requires less circuitry, so cheaper and less power used
44
Q

Describe the instruction set of a CISC processor

A

Large number of instructions which are complex and take varied lengths to execute

45
Q

Does RISC make good use of RAM

A

No, it uses a lot of RAM to store instructions which can cause system bottlenecks

46
Q

What is an input device

A

A peripheral used to provide data and control signals to a computer system

47
Q

What is a biometric device

A

A device that uses physical traits of a person such as finger prints and facial ID to gain access to a device

48
Q

What is biometric spoofing

A

A term used to describe a method of fooling biometric scanners

49
Q

How do sensors convert analogue signals into digital form

A

Using an ADC, analogue to digital converter

50
Q

Give 2 examples of sensors in a mobile phone

A

Two from:

Ambient light sensor
GPS receiver
Magnetometer
Gyroscopes
Accelerometers

51
Q

What is the purpose of an RFID (radio frequency identifier)

A

Allows data to be transmitted wirelessly over radio waves

52
Q

Describe the composition of an RFID tag

A

Made up of an antenna, for sending and receiving radio signals
A chip that processes the signals
It’s own unique identifier

53
Q

How does a barcide reader work

A

Illuminates the barcode. More light is reflected by the white area and this light us captured by photoelectric cells which generate a binary value that corresponds to the bar code

54
Q

What is an output device

A

A peripheral that reproduces or displays data/ information from a computer system

55
Q

What criteria should be considered when choosing a suitable printer

A

Speed
Print resolution
Quality of colour reproduction
Paper handling
Cost of consumables

56
Q

What is printer resolution measured in

A

Dots per inch (dpi)

57
Q

Give two examples of non-contact printers

A

Inkjet printer
Laser printer

58
Q

Compare inkjet printers to laser printers

A

Use liquid ink, laser user powdered ink (toner)
Slower than laser printers
Can produce photo quality images, laser can’t

59
Q

Give 3 advantages of SSDs over HDDs

A

Faster access speed
Lower risk of mechanical failure due no moving parts
Less energy consumption due to less moving parts
Silent operation

60
Q

Give 3 advantages of HDDs over SSDs

A

Larger capacity
Longer lifespan
Cheaper

61
Q

Give 2 advantages of optical media

A

Cheap
Portable

62
Q

Give two disadvantages of optical media

A

Susceptible to damage (scratching, exposure to sunlight)
Low storage capacity in general

63
Q

Describe cloud storage

A

Where data is managed by commercial organisations and stored outside of your computer system

64
Q

Give 1 Pro and con of cloud storage

A

Pro: Convenient
Con: Performance based on Internet connection

65
Q

What us the maximum amount of RAM dependent on

A

The width of the address bus

66
Q

Give 3 instances of parallel processing

A

Pipelining
Array/ vector processing
Multicore processing

67
Q

Describe array/ vector processing

A

SIMD (single instruction multiple data)

Uses multiple ALUs to perform one instruction on a large data set simultaneously

68
Q

Describe multicore processing

A

MIMD (multiple instruction multiple data)

Each cpu has multiple cores/ each computer has multiple CPUs e.g. a supercomputer

69
Q

What is a co-processor used for

A

To perform routine mathematical tasks, freeing time for the core processor to perform separate tasks

OCR A Level Computer Science (8 decks)

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