CPU Flashcards
The ___ is built around the CPU
system architecture
Most client computers have one chip and are referred to as?
single-processor computers
CPUs are manufactured on a silicon wafer called?
a die
have multiple physical CPU chips
Multiprocessor computers
an address that a CPU begins reading from whenever the CPU receives a reset signal
reset vector
a register on a CPU that contains the address of the next instruction the CPU will execute
program counter
What part of the CPU is responsible for reading and executing machine code?
−A) bus
−B) control unit
−C) core
−D) register
C) core
provides timing and coordination between other parts of the CPU
the control Unit
performs the primary task of executing instructions
Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
a temporary holding location where data must be placed before the CPU can use it
registers
intercepts accesses to memory for data or code and checks if the requested data is in cache first
Memory/cache controller
A series of lanes used to communicate between the CPU and other major parts of the computer
system bus
carries status signals between the CPU and other devices
control bus
carries address signals to indicate where data should be read or written to in the system’s memory
address bus
carries the actual data that is being read from or written to system memory
data bus
Two general CPU designs are used today:
−Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC)
−Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC)
a list of commands the CPU can understand and carry out
instruction set
a small program inside the chip that interprets and executes each instruction
microcode
a computer program that takes a high-level language and turns it into assembly code that is executed by the CPU
compiler
turns those instructions into numeric values called opcodes
assembler
what defines how fast it can perform operations?
the speed of the CPU
The most frequently used indicator is ?
the internal clock speed
the speed at which a CPU executes an instruction or part of an instruction
the internal clock
what does the CPU use to communicate with other chips in the computer and the rest of the computer?
the external clock
Most modern CPUs have ___ built into the chip
cache memory
While the CPU is executing program code, instructions or data that are most
likely to be used next are fetched from main memory and placed in cache
memory
just fact
the different levels of cache?
Level 1 (L1) cache is the fastest and usually runs at the same speed as the
CPU
−Level 2 (L2) cache is slower than L1, but much larger, where lvl 1 gets its speed
−Level 3 (L3) cache, until the last several years, was not part of the CPU
chip, but part of the motherboard
−Level 4 (L4) cache will usually be found on the motherboard (if it exists)
predicts what data will be needed and makes the data available in cache before it is needed
cache controller
an internal communications pathway that specifies the source and target addresses for memory reads and writes
-Typically runs at the external clock speed of the CPU
− The width is the number of bits that can be used to address memory
address bus
allows computer components, such as the CPU, display adapter, and main memory, to share information
-The number of bits indicates how many bits of data can be transferred from memory to the CPU in one clock tick
data bus
-Information is transported on ___ to keep the CPU informed about the status of resources and devices connected to the computer
-Memory read and write status is transported on this bus, as well as interrupt requests (IRQ)
control bus
a request to the processor to “interrupt” whatever it is doing to take care of a process, which in turn might be interrupted by another process
interrupt request
is the ability to run two or more processes (known as threads) at the same time
multithreading
the smallest piece of computer code that can be independently scheduled for execution
thread
allows two threads to run on each CPU core simultaneously
hyper-threading (HT)
the description of a CPU’s internal circuitry, defining characteristics such as the technology used to create the chip, the supported instruction set, and the bit size
microarchitecture
manufactures processors that compete with Intel’s line of processors
AMD Processor
RISC processors that are commonly used in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets
-used in embedded systems and are starting to be used in notebook computers
Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) processors
multiple CPU’s
multiptocessing
multiple proceses
multithreading
multiple tasks on the clock
pipelining
the ability to run a processor faster than its stated clock speed
overclocking
The ability of the CPU to perform more than one task on a single clock cycle is?
pipelining
determines which process to start given the multiple processes waiting to run
CPU scheduling
