Types of Processor

Question 1

What is RISC?

Answer 1

Reduced Instruction Set Computer

Question 2

What are the characteristics of RISC?

Answer 2

Reduced (small) instruction set.

Each instruction is one line of machine code.

Takes one clock cycle, meaning Pipelining is possible.

Used in common, general-use computers.

e.g.
LDA R1 X
LDA R2, Y
ADD R1, R2

Question 3

What is CISC?

Answer 3

Complex Instruction Set Computer

Question 4

What are the characteristics of a CISC?

Answer 4

Aim to complete tasks in as few lines as possible.

Large (complex) instruction set.

Instructions build into the hardware.

Compile has less work when converting from high-language to machine code.

Many specialised instructions.

More used in microcontrollers and embedded systems.

e.g.
MULT R1, R2

Question 5

How are Multi-Core CPUs different to normal CPUs?

Answer 5

Multi-core CPUs have multiple independent cores that can complete multiple fetch-execute cycles.

Question 6

What are Parallel Systems?

Answer 6

Use techniques like threading and pipelining to complete multiple instructions simultaneously on a single core.

Question 7

What is the Graphical Processing Unit (GPU)?

Answer 7

Co-processor made up of independent processors

Efficient at repetitive tasks like image processing and machine learning.