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INFO 1216 > History/Hardware > Flashcards

History/Hardware Flashcards

1
Q

What were the Harvard computers?

A

Team of women who processed astronomical data.

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2
Q

When did the Agricultural age start?

A

12 000 years ago

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3
Q

When did the Industrial age start?

A

1700’s

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4
Q

What was the pivotal product of the Agricultural age?

A

The engine

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5
Q

What was the pivotal product of the Industrial age?

A

Electronics

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6
Q

When did the Information age start?

A

1990’s

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7
Q

What was the pivotal product of the Information age?

A

Knowledge

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8
Q

Who was the inventor of the Difference Engine? (1822)

A

Charles Babbage

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9
Q

What was the first general purpose programmable computer?

A

Analytical Engine, 1837

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10
Q

Who was the first programmer?

A

Ada Lovelace (Augusta Ada King)

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11
Q

What was the first published computer program?

A

Note G

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12
Q

Is an abacus a computer?

A

NO

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13
Q

Why did humans invent computers?

A

Humans seek to minimize costs while maximizing benefits.

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14
Q

What is Moore’s Law?

A

We can expect the speed and capability of computers to increase every couple of years/ number of transistors to double

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15
Q

When is Moore’s Law estimated to end?

A

2025

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16
Q

What did Joseph Marie Jacquard invent? (1804)

A

The Jacquard Loom

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17
Q

What was the Jacquard Loom an inspiration for and why?

A

The Analytical Engine, by using punched cards to program.

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18
Q

What was the WWII German cipher machine?

A

Enigma

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19
Q

Who cracked the German code in WWII?

A

Alan Turing

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20
Q

What machine was invented to decipher Enigma?

A

Colossus

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21
Q

What drove the miniaturization of computers in the ’50s-‘60s?

A

Space Race

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22
Q

When did home computing begin?

A

1980’s

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23
Q

What is Firmware?

A

Software embedded into a computer’s hardware.

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24
Q

What does CPU stand for?

A

Central Processing Unit

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25
Q

What does the CPU do?

A

Executes the instructions in a computer program.

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26
Q

Registers (CPU)

A

Hold the current state/value/data

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27
Q

Control Unit (CPU)

A

Decides what to do next, moves code/data around the CPU.

28
Q

ALU (CPU)

A

Arithmetic Logic Unit - Performs integer and logical operations.

29
Q

MMU (CPU)

A

Memory Management Unit - Manages the data flow between RAM and CPU

30
Q

Cache (CPU)

A

Super fast memory on-board the CPU.

31
Q

Clock (CPU)

A

Produces the timing signal in the CPU.

32
Q

What is the CPU instruction cycle?

A

1) Fetch
2) Decode
3) Execute

33
Q

Fetch (CPU)

A

CPU gets instruction from main memory and holds it in the form of a number.

34
Q

Decode (CPU)

A

Interprets the instruction that was fetched and generates an electronic signal.

35
Q

Execute (CPU)

A

The CPU routes the signal to the appropriate component for operation.

36
Q

What determines a CPU speed?

A

Clock Rate

37
Q

Integer Range

A

How much information can be processed at one time.

38
Q

Hyperthreading

A

Provides a single core CPU with multiple instruction streams. So when one execution stream stalls the other continues.

39
Q

What is volatile memory?

A

Forgotten when turned off.

40
Q

DRAM

A

Dynamic Ram, must be refreshed to hold its value.

41
Q

SRAM

A

Static Ram, holds value so long as current flows through circuit.

42
Q

Which is slower, DRAM or SRAM?

A

DRAM

43
Q

DIMM

A

Dual Inline Memory Modules

44
Q

What does cache memory allow?

A

Quicker access to memory.

45
Q

Why is it that 2 cores doesn’t equal twice the speed?

A

More cores means more time spent managing communications between them.

46
Q

What is a motherboard?

A

Printed circuit board that connects everything together.

47
Q

The bigger the cache, the ______. (speed)

A

Slower

48
Q

What are the 4 most common types of Non-Volatile memory storage?

A

1) Paper
2) Magnetic
3) Optical
4) Semiconductor

49
Q

What type of storage is a Hard Disk Drive? (HDD)

A

Magnetic

50
Q

What keeps the arm on an HDD from touching the surface of the drive?

A

Aerodynamics

51
Q

How does optical memory work?

A

Lasers encode and decode data.

52
Q

What are two positives of optical memory?

A

Cheap and long lasting.

53
Q

What type of memory are Solid State Drives an example of?

A

Semiconductor, Flash

54
Q

What is it called when a user and a computer take turns inputting and outputting data?

A

Synchronous

55
Q

What does it mean for I/O to be asynchronous?

A

The user is able to input data at anytime and the computer is able to output information independent of each other.

56
Q

What is buses short for?

A

Omnibuses

57
Q

What are buses?

A

Circuitry that allows numerous devices to be connected to a computer.

58
Q

Where do you find buses?

A

Typically the motherboard

59
Q

What is the most common peripheral connector?

A

USB

60
Q

What is the IEC prefix for a billion?

A

Gibi

61
Q

What two things does IEC combine?

A

Metric and Binary

62
Q

IEC prefix for 1000?

A

Kibi

63
Q

IEC prefix for a million?

A

Mebi

64
Q

Which is smaller, DRAM or SRAM?

A

DRAM

65
Q

Commercial computing began to increase the size of what?

A

Memory Capacity

INFO 1216 (10 decks)

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