SLR1 - Systems Architecture Flashcards
What does CPU stand for?
Cental Processing Unit
What does ALU stand for?
Arithmetic Logic Unit
What is the ALU?
the Arithmetic Logic Unit performs calculations and logical decisions.
What does CU stand for?
Control Unit
What is the CU
the Control Unit sends signals to control how data moves around the CPU
What are the Cache?
Provide dast access to frequently used instructions/data.
What is the clock?
The electric unit that synthesises related components by generating pulses at a constant rate.
What are the Bus?
Collection of wires through which data and instructions are transmitted from one component to another.
What are the registers?
Tiny, fast pieces of onboard memory inside the CPU each with very specific purposes.
What does the Von Neumann Architecture consist of?A
- Control Unit (CU)
- Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
- Memory Unit (typically RAM)
- Inputs and Outputs
Key elements of the Von Neumann Architecture.
- It is based on the concept of the stored-program.
- Both instruction data and program are stored in the same memory in binary form.
- There is no way of knowing if the pure binary held in memory is representing instructions or data by simply looking at it.
- It also contains a number of registers which are tiny, fast pieces of onboard memory inside the CPU each with a very specific purpose.
What are the factors that can affect the performance of the CPU?
- Clock Speed
- Cache Size
- Number of Cores
A computer is an electric device which…
takes input, processes data and delivers output.
What is the Fetch-Execute Cycle?
To run the program the processor fetches an instruction, decodes it then executes it. The processor executes one instruction at a time.
Describe the ‘fetch’ stage in the fetch-execute cycle…
Fetching, fetches the next instruction from main memory (RAM) then brings it back to the CPU.
