Computer Architecture Flashcards
What is computer architecture
The conceptual design and fundamental operational structure of a computer system.
Instruction Set
a list of all instructions, all variation that a processor can execute
Instructions
Arithmetic
Logic and,or,not
Data move,input,load,store
Control flow goto,if, call and return
Instruction Set Architecture
Set of rules that define the functionality, operation, and capabilities of a computer’s hardware and software interface
Microarchitecure
set of processor design techniques used to implement the instruction set
CISC
Complex Instruction Set Compling - ISA which each instruction can execute several low level operations
RISC
Reduced Instruction Set Compling- simplifies instrcution set by using a small set of instructions that can be executed quickly
Immediate Addressing
The operand or address field holds the data rather than the address of data
Direct/Absolute Addressing
The operand holds the address of the data
Indirect Addressing
The address field refers to the address of a location in main memory which contains the address of the location containing the operand
Fixed Length Instructions
use same number of bits to encode each instructions in the ISA
Variable Length Instructions
Uses different number of bits to encode the instruction the the ISA. This can reduce space take by a program but is harder to decode
