computer architecture Flashcards
state the name of the famous computer architecture system
von neumann architecture
what do buses do
they move data around the computer and send out control signals to synchronize internal operation
name three types of buses
address bus, data bus, control bus
what do the address buses do
they carry signals relating to the address between the processor and memory
what is the direction of address bus
uni-directional (operating in a single direction)
what do the data buses do
they send data between the processor, memory unit and the input/output devices
what is the direction of data bus
bi-directional (operating in both direction)
what do the control buses do
they carry signals relating to control and coordination of all activities within the computer
what is the direction of control bus
uni-directional
what are registers
high-speed storage areas within the computer
they are needed so that data can be manipulated within the computer
all data must be represented in a register before it can be processed
name five types of registers
memory address register (MAR) memory data register (MDR) program counter (PC) current instruction register (CIR) accumulator (ACC)
what is the memory unit made out of
address and contents
what will each address in memory unit identify
it will uniquely identify each location within the memory map
what does the control unit do
it controls the operation of the memory,processor, input/output devices
what does the control unit do with the instruction that it reads
it interprets them and sends out signals along the control bus to synchronize all computer components
what does the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) do
carries out calculations
carries out logic operation
holds values during calculations in the accumulator
state the 7 steps in the fetch-execute cycle
1- PC contains the address of the next instruction to be fetched
2- the address is copied from the PC to MAR via the address bus
3- the instruction at the memory address in MAR is copied into MDR
4- the instruction in MDR is copied into CIR
5- value in PC is then incremented by 1 so that it points to the next instruction to be fetched
6- address of instruction is placed in MAR
7- instruction is decoded and then executed
what was the main idea of von neumann architecture
to hold programs and data in a memory to make the data move between the memory unit and the processor
what is an address
location of where data can be found within the computer memory
which registers do the control unit contain?
CIR (contains the current instruction during processing) and PC (contains the address of the next instruction to be executed)
