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A Level Computer Science > Notes from Class Book > Flashcards

Notes from Class Book Flashcards

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1
Q

Why is FDE cycle used

A

Cycle carried out to process data

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2
Q

What happens in the Fetch stage and what registers are involved

A

Fetches data from RAM and stores it in registers

PC, MAR, MDR

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3
Q

What happens in the Decode stage and what registers are involved

A

CPU Decodes and gets ready for next step

CIR

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4
Q

What happens in the Execute stage and what registers are involved

A

Instruction is carried out

ALU, ACC

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5
Q

What makes up the CPU

A

ALU, CU and Registers

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6
Q

What is clock speed

A

Instructions carried out per second. It can be increased, overclocking

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7
Q

What is pipelining

A

Where the output of one stage is the input of the next

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8
Q

Why is pipelining used

A

To speed up tasks

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9
Q

What is instruction pipelining

A

As one instruction is executed the next can be decoded and the next fetched, queueing them up and decreasing processing time.

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10
Q

What is are the limitations of pipelining

A

If it fails and fetches the wrong instruction them whole pipeline must be flushed

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11
Q

What are the 5 registers (in order of use)

A

PC
MAR
MDR
CIR
ALU
ACC

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12
Q

What does the PC do

A

Points to the address of the next instruction to be executed

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13
Q

What does the MAR do

A

Holds address of instruction in memory

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14
Q

What happens after MAR is used in FDE cycle

A

Address travels to RAM and data is returned by data bus

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15
Q

What does the MDR do

A

Stores data after it has been fetched from RAM

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16
Q

What happens after MDR is used FDE cycle

A

CU decodes instruction

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17
Q

What does the CIR do

A

Stores decoded instruction

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18
Q

What does ALU do

A

Performs arithmetic or logic calculations

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19
Q

What does ACC do

A

Stores result of calculations in ALU

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20
Q

What are buses and what are the 3 types

A

Metal tracks on the motherboard
- Address
- Data
- Control

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21
Q

What is a register

A

Small, temporary, super fast memory

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22
Q

What happens when you open a program

A

Data and instructions are loaded into RAM

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23
Q

What does the CU do

A

Decodes instructions, controls flow of data

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24
Q

What is a feature of both the data and control bus

A

2 directional (CPU <-> Memory)

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25
Q

What does the control bus do

A

Responsible for communicating control signals

26
Q

What is a feature of the address bus

A

One directional (CPU –> Memory)

27
Q

What affects performance of CPU

A
  • Clock Speed (Hz)
  • Cores
  • Cache Size
  • Heat
  • Width of address bus
  • Parallel Processing
28
Q

What is clock speed determined by

A

Vibrations of a quartz crystal

29
Q

What is the speed of the FDE cycle determined by

A

CPUs clock chip

30
Q

Name the 4 types of primary storage

A

Cache, RAM, ROM, registers

31
Q

Name 2 types of secondary storage

A

Hard disk, Flash drive

32
Q

How does width of address bus affect performance of CPU

A

If the width is larger then more memory locations can be addressed

33
Q

What is the Operand

A

The data itself

34
Q

What is a drawback of parallel/concurrent processing

A

Some instructions are not compatible with parallel processing

35
Q

What is the stored program concept

A

Program must be loaded into main memory to be executed by the processor - instructions are fetched one at a time

36
Q

What is Von Neumann Architecture and name a limitation

A

Shared memory for programs + data instructions + data, both share a bus.
Limitation - Bottlenecking

37
Q

What is bottlenecking

A

Component that limits the potential of other hardware due to the differences in maximum capabilities of the 2 components

38
Q

What is Harvard Architecture and name a limitation

A

Separate memories with separate buses. Programs and data don’t have to compete for same bus
Limitation - Cost (very expensive)

39
Q

When would Harvard be used over Von Neumann

A

When speed is more important than cost, if the system is a risk to life, normally in specialist embedded systems

40
Q

Advantages of Von Neumann

A

Simplifies design of control unit
Cheaper
Data from memory and devices accessed in same way

41
Q

Can processors use both architectures

A

Yes, In desktop computers Cache uses Harvard and RAM uses Von Neumann

42
Q

What is CISC

A

Complex Instruction Set Computer

43
Q

What is RISC

A

Reduced Instruction Set Computer

44
Q

Features of CISC

A
  • Quicker to code programs
  • Compiler has little work to do to translate high level language to machine code
  • As code is short, less RAM needed to store instructions
45
Q

Features of RISC

A
  • Instruction set made up of a small number of fixed length instructions
  • Hardware is simpler to build with fewer circuits needed for carrying out complex instructions
  • Each instruction takes same amount of time so pipelining is possible
  • RAM is now cheap so RISCs use of RAM and software allows better performance processors at less cost
46
Q

What is a GPU

A

Graphics Processing Unit, uses 1000s of small efficient cores.
Used to accelerate scientific, engineering and other applications

47
Q

What is a Co-Processor

A

Uses an extra, more powerful core

48
Q

Name 3 Manual Input devices

A

Keyboard
Microphone
Sensors

49
Q

Name 3 Output devices

A

Printer
Projector
Speakers

50
Q

Name 3 types of Sensor

A

Infrared
Light
Pressure

51
Q

What are the 2 types of barcodes

A
  • UPC-A Retail and Warehousing (digits only)
  • Code 128 Transport and Shipment Tracking (Letters and numbers)
52
Q

What is a Sensor

A

Hardware device that can take measurement of physical properties

53
Q

What is Monitoring

A

Report Values

54
Q

What is Control

A

Can change value of next input. The output can alter how the process operates

55
Q

Name 4 types of Printer

A
  • Inkjet
  • Laser
  • Dot Matrix
  • 3D
56
Q

What does an Inkjet printer do

A

Most common printer. Printer is cheap, the ink is marked up.

57
Q

What does a Laser printer do

A

Uses dry powdered ink called toner. Businesses use them almost exclusively. Fast, reliable, excellent quality.

58
Q

What does a dot matrix printer do

A

Impact printer, similar to a typewriter. Noisy, Expensive, poor quality. Useful in damp environment.

59
Q

What is an RFID

A

Radio Frequency ID card. Use a transponder and reciever.

60
Q

What is an Actuator

A

Motors commonly used in conjunction with sensors to control a mechanism.

61
Q
A

A Level Computer Science (8 decks)

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