Low Level Processing - Architecture of a Computer

Question 1

What is the CPU made up of and what do the components do? (3)

Answer 1

• The Control Unit (This manages the fetching and execution of instructions from main memory)
• The Arithmetic Logic Unit (This performs arithmetic operations and logical decisions)
• The Registers (These are temporary storage locations that are internal to the processor)

Question 2

What can registers hold? (3)

Answer 2

Data being processed, the current instruction being executed and the memory being read from or written to

Question 3

What is RAM?

Answer 3

It stores all of the data and programs currently being used (It is volatile)

Question 4

What is ROM?

Answer 4

Non volatile memory that contains the bootstrap loader

Question 5

What is a word?

Answer 5

The number of bits that the processor can process in a single operation

Question 6

What are interfaces and what do they provide?

Answer 6

• The hardware and software required to allow communication between the processor and peripheral devices
• It needs to provide buffering and analogue to digital conversion

Question 7

What is the address bus?

Answer 7

This bus holds the address of where the data is to be read from or written to

Question 8

What is the data bus?

Answer 8

This bus is used to transfer data (The grater the bus width the more bits can be processed)

Question 9

What is the control bus?

Answer 9

Each line on the control bus has its own function to trigger an event (It can read, write and reset)