Processor Components And Storage Devices

Question 1

CPU

Answer 1

Central Processing Unit (Processor) - made up of components and has pins made of gold

Question 2

MAR

Answer 2

Memory Address Register - Holds the address in memory where processor is required to fetch/store data from/to

Question 3

MDR

Answer 3

Memory Data Register - Temporarily holds data moving between processor and main memory

Question 4

CIR

Answer 4

Current Instruction Register - Holds current instruction which is made of opcode and operand

Question 5

Opcode

Answer 5

The part of the instruction that tells the processor what should be done

Question 6

Operand

Answer 6

The part of the instruction that contains the data to be acted on, or the memory location of the data in a register

Question 7

PC

Answer 7

Program counter - holds memory address of next instruction to be executed

Question 8

Accumulator

Answer 8

Stores results from ALU
Several locations of super-fast memory called registers
Processor is able to access and reuse results in subsequent calculators

Question 9

Memory Read

Answer 9

Causes data from addressed location in RAM to be placed on the data bus

Question 10

Memory Write

Answer 10

Causes data on data bus to be written into addressed location on RAM

Question 11

Bus Request

Answer 11

Indicates device is requesting use of data bus

Question 12

Bus Grant

Answer 12

Indicates CPU has granted access to data bus

Question 13

ALU

Answer 13

Arithmetic-Logic Unit
The problem-solving part of the processor

Question 14

Arithmetic

Answer 14

Add, subtract, multiply, divide

Question 15

Logical

Answer 15

and, or, not, xor

Question 16

Shift

Answer 16

move bits to left/right within a register

Question 17

Fetch execute cycle

Answer 17

Fetch -> Decode -> Execute -> Repeat

Question 18

Buses (what are they?)

Answer 18

Series of connectors transferring signal between components

8, 16, 32 or 64 lines

Question 19

System Buses (names)

Answer 19

Control
Address
Data

Question 20

Info held by CPU (3)

Answer 20

Current instruction being executed

Address of data that it needs and also the data itself

Address of the next instruction to be executed

Question 21

Clock

Answer 21

Synchronises operations

Question 22

Control system (5)

Answer 22

Memory Read
Memory Write
Bus Request
Bus Grant
Clock

Question 23

ALU operations

Answer 23

Logical
Arithmetic
Shift

Question 24

System bus diagram

Answer 24

CPU <-> Control Bus
CPU -> Address Bus
CPU <-> Data Bus
Memory <-> Control Bus
Memory <- Address Bus
Memory <-> Data Bus
Input & output <-> Control Bus
Input & output <- Address Bus
Input & output <-> Data Bus

Question 25

Dedicated Registers (5)

Answer 25

PC
MAR
MDR
CIR
Accumulator

Question 26

RAM

Answer 26

Random Access Memory. A volatile form of high speed memory that can be quickly and easily read from and written to.

Question 27

Control bus

Answer 27

Sends control signals to coordinate execution of instructions and controls fetch-execute cycles and buses

Question 28

Address bus

Answer 28

Carries the memory location address of the register the data is being carried to or from

Question 29

Data bus

Answer 29

bi-directional bus to carry data between processor and memory

Question 30

Word

Answer 30

A unit of memory measuring 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits. Each word has a separate memory address

Question 31

Clock speed

Answer 31

Pulses of the clock trigger the fetch execute cycle therefore faster clock = faster fetch execute cycle. Clock in a 4GHz processor pulses 4 million times a second

Question 32

Dual core

Answer 32

2 processors linked together within an integrated circuit. Can theoretically process 2 instructions at once as each core has its own fetch execute cycle though instructions are usually sequential

Question 33

Quad core

Answer 33

4 processors linked together within an integrated circuit. Can theoretically process 4 instructions at once as each core has its own fetch execute cycle though instructions are usually sequential

Question 34

ROM

Answer 34

Read Only Memory. Non-volatile form of memory that can only be read from. Used for things that remain constant such as computer boot up program etc

Question 35

Primary storage

Answer 35

Usually RAM

Question 36

Secondary Storage

Answer 36

Magnetic, solid state or optical non-volatile memory eg hard disk, CD-ROM or flash

Question 37

Hard disk

Answer 37

A fragile device used to create back ups. Consists of tracks, sectors and platters with concentric tracks created on a magnetic disk that spins from 3600-7200rpm. Has high capacity, fast read write speeds and is relatively cheap per terabyte. Used to store company server data etc

Question 38

Cloud storage

Answer 38

Expensive but used everywhere. A type of online storage

Question 39

Solid state drive

Answer 39

Uses electricity programmable non-volatile flash memory and is more durable, portable, consumes less power and has faster read write speeds than a hard disk drive but is also more expensive and has less capacity.

Question 40

CDs DVDs and BlueRay

Answer 40

Disks created by different laser wavelengths burning small pits that create a spiral track that can be tightly wound to make it longer.

Question 41

CD-ROM

Answer 41

Read only. Hard printed CD

Question 42

CD-R

Answer 42

Recordable. A blank CD that can be recorded only once

Question 43

CD-RW

Answer 43

Rewritable. A CD that can be rewritten again and again

Question 44

Virtual Memory

Answer 44

A computer uses hard drive space and treats it like its RAM. Not as fast as RAM