System Architecture Flashcards
Hardware
any physical component that makes a computer
Software
any program that runs on a computer
Memory (primary storage)
used for holding instructions currently being executed
secondary storage
data that may be needed to perform processing
cpu (central processing unit)
hardware that executes programs and manages the rest of the programs
cpu
control unit
- controls execution of instructions in correct sequence
- decodes instructions
- regulates and controls processor timing using regular pulses from system clock
- sends and recieves signals from other devices in comp
cpu
alu (arithmetic logic unit)
- maths
- logical: and, or, not
- shift: letters can be shifted by a few places
MAR (memory address register)
holds address of data/instruction to be fetched/stored
MDR (memory data address)
holds data/instruction temporarily
PC (program counter)
holds memory address of next instruction
ACC (accumulator)
results of stuff in ALU is temporarily stored
factors affecting CPU perfomance
- clock speed
- cache size
- number of cores
clock speed
number of cycles per second (hertz/gigahertz)
cache memory
- faster memory where frequently used instructions and data can be stored
- more expensive
number of cores
- parallel processing
- more than one instruction can be executed at once
- only faster if computer is designed for multi-cores
