Computer Architecture

Question 1

What is the processor and primary storage?

Answer 1

• The processor is the “brain” of the computer. This is where the “thinking” is
  done.
• The primary storage is the “memory” of the brain. This is where all the
  “conscious memory” is stored.

Question 2

How is processor also knows as and what does it consist?

Answer 2

The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU) consists of
the control unit, the memory unit, and the processor

Question 3

The processor consists of…

Answer 3

Arithmetic logic unit ALU

Question 4

The control unit consists of…

Answer 4

The control unit consists of the program counter (PC) and the Current 
Instruction Register (CIR)

Question 5

The memory unit consists of…

Answer 5

• The memory unit consists of the memory address register (MAR) and the
  memory data register (MDR)

Question 6

What is an address?

Answer 6

• An address signifies a unique location where data can be found in a computer
  memory. This address consists of 8 binary digits.

Question 7

What is a register?

Answer 7

• Registers are high speed data storage units in the processor that hold
  addresses and the data that matches these addresses. They help the
  processor access instructions from the memory

Question 8

What are buses?

Answer 8

Buses are wiring (electronic connections) that contain different parts of the
processor

Question 9

What does an address bus do?

Answer 9

connects the MAR (memory address register) to the primary

memory

Question 10

What does a control bus do?

Answer 10

connects the control unit to all parts of the processor to coordinate

Question 11

What is a data bus?

Answer 11

connects the MDR (memory data register) to the primary memory

Question 12

What is an interrupt and what does it do?

Answer 12

• Interrupts are signals sent from a device or software to the processor.
• These cause the processor to stop what it is doing and service the source of
  the interrupt signal.

Question 13

What are buffers and what do they do?

Answer 13

• Temporary memory storage area that offloads data from the processor to a
  temporary storage unit.
• This is done so that the processor can carry on with other tasks, because the
  processor does things so much more quickly than hardware (i.e. secondary
  storage)