Components of a computer

Question 1

ALU

Answer 1

The part of the CPU where data is processed and manipulated. This processing and manipulation normally consists of arithmetic operations or logical comparisons allowing a program to make decisions

Question 2

Control unit

Answer 2

The part of the CPU that manages the execution of instructions. The control unit fetches each instruction in sequence, and decodes and synchronizes it before executing it by sending control signals to other parts of the computer

Question 3

Register

Answer 3

Tiny areas of extremely fast memory located in the CPU normally designed for a specific purpose, where data or control information is stored temporarily

Question 4

PC

Answer 4

A register in the control unit which holds the address of the next instruction to be executed.

Question 5

ACC

Answer 5

A special register within the ALU. It is used to hold the data currently being processed by the central processor. Any data to be processed is stored temporarily in the accumulator, the results ending up back in the accumulator being stored in the memory unit

Question 6

MAR

Answer 6

A register in the CPU that stores the address of the memory location currently in use. In the fetch phase, this would be the address of the instruction being loaded; in the execute phase, it would be the address of the data being used

Question 7

MDR

Answer 7

A register in the CPU that stores data being transferred to and from the immediate-access store. It acts as a buffer, allowing the central processor and memory unit to act independently without being affected by minor differences in operation. A data item will be copied to the MDR ready for use at the next clock pulse, when it can either be used by the central processor or be stored in main memory

Question 8

CIR

Answer 8

A register in the control unit that stores the address of the next instruction currently being executed and decoded

Question 9

Busses

Answer 9

A common physical pathway shared by signals to and from several components of a computer.

Question 10

Data bus

Answer 10

The part of the bus which carries the actual information

Question 11

Address bus

Answer 11

The part of the bus which carries identification about where the data is being sent

Question 12

Control bus

Answer 12

This bus carries command and control signals to and from every other component of a computer.

Question 13

Fetch-Decode-Execute

Answer 13

The complete process of retrieving an instruction from store, decoding it and carrying it out. Also known as the instruction cycle

Question 14

CPU

Answer 14

The main part of the computer, consisting of the registers, ALU and control unit

Question 15

Clock speed

Answer 15

Measured in Hertz, the clock speed is the frequency at which the internal clock generates pulses. The higher the clock rate, the faster the computer may work. The “clock” is the electronic unit that synchronizes related components by generating pulses at a constant rate

Question 16

Cores

Answer 16

A part of a multi-core processor. A multi-core processor is a single component with two or more independent actual CPUs, which are the units responsibly for the fetch-decode-execute cycle

Question 17

Cache

Answer 17

A part of the main store between the central processor and the rest of the memory. It has extremely fast access, so sections of a program and its associated data are copied there to take advantage of its short fetch cycle

Question 18

Von Neumann Architecture

Answer 18

Traditional computer architecture that forms the basis of most digital computer systems. A single control unit manages program control flow following a linear sequence of “fetch-decode-execute

Question 19

Harvard architecture

Answer 19

A computer architecture with physically separate storage and signal pathways for instructions and data. These early machines had data storage entirely contained within the central processing unit, and provided no access to the instruction storage as data

Question 20

Contemporary architecture

Answer 20

Any modern set of disciplines that describes the functionality, the organization and the implementation of computer systems

Question 21

CISC

Answer 21

A design that produces a complicated and expensive integrated circuit capable of performing a large variety of complex instructions. Complex instructions can be executed with few machine cycles

Question 22

RISC

Answer 22

A design that produces a simple, cheap integrated circuit with a basic range of machine instructions. Relies on speed as complex instructions take many machine cycles

Question 23

Multicore System

Answer 23

Development of CISC architecture with several sets of CPU components in one microprocessor.

Question 24

Parallel Processor System

Answer 24

The simultaneous use of several processors to perform a single job. A job may be split into a number of tasks each of which may be processed by any available processor

Question 25

Input Device

Answer 25

Any peripheral device that can accept data, presented in the appropriate machine-readable form, decode it and transmit it as electrical pulses to the CPU

Question 26

Output device

Answer 26

Any peripheral device that translates signals from the computer into a human-readable form or into a form suitable for reprocessing by the computer at a later stage.

Question 27

Storage device

Answer 27

Any medium (optical, magnetic, solid state and even paper which holds data or programs

Question 28

Magnetic storage

Answer 28

Storage medium which uses surfaces coated with a layer of magnetic material on which data can be stored by magnetically setting the arrangement of the magnetic material. This is done by electromagnetic read/write heads

Question 29

Flash storage

Answer 29

Collection of memory chips that is controlled by its own software to make the collection of chips act like a disk drive

Question 30

Optical storage

Answer 30

Storage medium that uses plastic discs on which the data is stored as patterns on the surface in pits and lands.

Question 31

RAM

Answer 31

Volatile main memory. Access times are very fast. Often referred to as Main Memory, although RAM can be used in main areas of computing and computing storage. When used as main memory RAM typically can be thought of as containing the Operating System, programs in use and the data those programs are using while the computer is running

Question 32

ROM

Answer 32

Memory for which the contents may be read by cannot be written to by the computer system. Software in ROM is fixed during manufacturing. It typically holds system boot up instructions. ROM is non-volatile. More modern types of ROM can be written to in limited ways, these include, PROM, EPROM and EAROM

Question 33

Virtual storage

Answer 33

Data stored on remote hard disks accessed over the internet

Question 34

Pipelining

Answer 34

Successive steps of an instruction sequence are executed in turn by a sequence of cores able to operate concurrently, so that another instruction can be begun before the previous one is finished

Question 35

GPU

Answer 35

A specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display. Modern GPUs highly parallel structure makes them more effective than general-purpose CPUs for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done in parallel