Von Neumann Architecture

Question 1

ALU

Answer 1

Given x and y, calculates
> x+y
>x-y
>x+1
>x-1
>NOTx, xANDy, xORy, xXORy
Operation selected by sending ALU a binary code
Can also receive 1+ status codes
Output is result of calculation and 1+ status codes

Question 2

CU

Answer 2

Directs operations of components on computer
Receives instructions from memory, interprets it and sends appropriate signals to other computer components

Question 3

CPU

Answer 3

Holds addresses of instructions to be run when computer boots up
Keeps track of next instruction to be executed by program
Has memory caches with frequently used instructions and data

Question 4

Processors

Answer 4

Word size= #of bits that can represent an instruction= memory address length
32 or 64 bit standard
32 can store 4GB of ram
64 theoretically stores 18 exabytes
Some supercomputers store 1 petabyte