CPU,FDE CYCLE, PERFORMANCE, ADDITIONAL HARDWARE Flashcards
What does ALU stand for?
Arithmetic Logic Unit
What is the role of the ALU?
performs simple calculations and logical operations
What does CPU stand for?
Central Processing Unit
What are registers?
temporary storage spaces for data and instructions inside the CPU
What does PC stand for (in the context of the CPU)?
Program Counter
What is the role of the PC?
contains the address of the next instruction to be executed
What does ACC stand for?
Accumulator
What is the role of the ACC?
stores the results of mathematical or logical calculations
What does MAR stand for?
Memory Address Register
What is the role of the MAR?
stores/holds the memory address of the instructions that is to be fetched
What does MDR stand for?
Memory Data Register
What is the role of the MDR?
holds/stores the data being transferred to or from memory.”
What is an FDE cycle?
A Fetch, Decode and Execute cycle
The basic operation cycle of a computer
What happens during an FDE cycle?
“The complete process of retrieving an instruction from memory (RAM), decoding it and carrying it out. Also known as the instruction cycle.”
What does the CPU consist of?
Control unit, registers , Level 1 cache , ALU
What is “clock speed”?
The measure of how quickly a CPU can process instructions
What are cores?
A complete set of CPU components
Each core is able to perform its own FDE cycle
A multi-core CPU has more than one set of components within the same CPU
What is the cache?
Cache memory is temporary storage for frequently accessed data
What is Von Neumann Architecture?
The CPU is the most important component in Von Neuman Architecture as it is constantly fetching and decoding instructions from RAM and controlling the other parts of the system
Also stores both instructions and data in memory
What is an embedded system?
An embedded system is a computer systems built into a larger machine to provide a means of control.
Embedded systems preform a specific pre-programmed task which is stored in ROM.
Name the main parts of a CPU
- Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
- Control Unit (CU)
- Cache
- Registers
What is the role of the CIR?
store the current instruction that has been fetched
What does CIR stand for?
Current Instruction Register