computer architecture

Question 1

state the 3 different buses and the functions

Answer 1

address bus - unidirectional - carries an address signals relating to memory addresses between processor and memory

data bus - bidirectional - used to exchange data between processor, memory and input/output devices

control bus -unidirectional/bidirectional - carries signals used to coordinate the computer’s activities

Question 2

what is the CPU

Answer 2

The CPU processes data/instructions and instructions/data .An instruction is fetched from RAM into the CPU where it is then decoded . Once this has taken place the instruction is then executed

Question 3

list of the registers and uses

Answer 3

MAR -Holds the memory location of data that needs to be accessed
MDR - Holds data that is being transferred to or from memory
ALU - Carries out calculations , Carries out logical operations and holds temporary values during calculations
PC - Contains the address of the next instruction to be executed
CIR - Contains the current instruction during processing

Question 4

what is an interrupt

Answer 4

an interrupt is a signal sent from a device to processor requesting its attention

Question 5

what is a buffer

Answer 5

buffer is a temporary memory area in a device

Question 6

stored program counter

Answer 6

Programs / instructions are stored in memory
Data is stored in memory
Instructions are fetched and executed one after another

Question 7

main components of CPU

Answer 7

memory unit
arithmetic logic unit
general purpose register
program counter

Question 8

what does the control unit do

Answer 8

controls the operation of the computer’s ALU, memory and input/output devices,
telling them how to respond to the program instructions it has just read
interpreted from the memory unit.
provides the timing and control signals required by other computer components.
manage flow of data through CPU