Systems Architecture Flashcards
What is a computer? And what are the 3 things it can do?
An electronic device which can:
- Take input
- Process data
-Produce output
What/ what does the CPU do?
The CPU is an essential part of the computer. The CPU carries out the fetch execute cycle?
How does a CPU fetch information?
It collects the next instruction from main memory (RAM). And then brings it back to the CPU
What does a computer decode an instruction?
It inspects it and works out what to do?
What does a computer do to execute the instruction?
It carries out the instruction. This could include:
-returning to main memory and collecting more data
-Performing a calculation
-Storing information back to main memory
What is the purpose of the CPU?
To process instructions by following the fetch-decode-execute cycle
What are the 4 main components of the CPU?
- The arithmetic and logic unit
- The control unit
- Cache
- Registers
How big is cache?
Small
What is the purpose of the MDR?
The memory data register holds data or a program instruction when it is fetched from memory or waiting to be written to memory
What is the purpose of the accumulator?
To hold the results of operations done by the ALU
What is the purpose of the PC?
The program counter holds the memory address of the next instruction to be processed
What is the purpose of the MAR?
The memory address register holds the address of the current instruction or piece of data to be fetched or stored
What does the ALU do?
It carries out mathematical and logical operations e.g (AND, OR , NOT and binary shifts)
What does the CU do?
The control unit coordinates all of the CPUs actions in the fetch decode execute cycle
What determines the CPUs performance?
Clock speed
Cache size
Number of cores
