School Knowledge Organiser Component 1

• What is the Von Neumann Architecture?

  A system where data and instructions share memory
• What does the Fetch-Decode-Execute Cycle involve?

  Fetching, decoding, and executing instructions continuously
• What is the role of the Central Processing Unit (CPU)?

  It carries out all processing in a computer
• What does the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) do?

  Performs arithmetic and logical operations
• What is the function of the Control Unit (CU)?

  Controls data flow and decodes instructions
• What is the purpose of the Accumulator (ACC)?

  Stores results from the ALU
• What does the Program Counter (PC) do?

  Stores the address of the next instruction
• What is the Memory Address Register (MAR)?

  Stores the address for data to be fetched
• What is the Memory Data Register (MDR)?

  Stores data fetched from or sent to memory
• What is the Fetch-Decode-Execute Cycle?

  Continuous process of fetching, decoding, executing
• What is clock speed?

  Number of instructions per second (Hz)
• How is clock speed measured?

  In Gigahertz (GHz)
• What happens when a CPU is overclocked?

  It runs at a higher clock speed
• What are the main factors affecting CPU performance?

  Clock speed, cache size, number of cores
• What is cache memory?

  Fast temporary memory in the CPU
• What are the three levels of cache memory?

  L1, L2, and L3
• What is the difference between L1, L2, and L3 cache?

  L1 is fastest but smallest; L3 is slowest but largest
• What is a dual-core processor?

  A CPU with two processing units
• What is an embedded system?

  A computer system with a dedicated function
• What is Random Access Memory (RAM)?

  Main memory that is volatile
• What is virtual memory?

  Hard disk space used as temporary RAM
• What is magnetic storage?

  Common, reliable, cost-effective storage type
• What is Read Only Memory (ROM)?

  Non-volatile memory that cannot be written to
• What is the difference between volatile and non-volatile memory?

  Volatile loses data without power; non-volatile retains it
• What is solid-state storage?

  Uses flash memory with no moving parts
• What is optical storage?

  Uses laser light to read data from disks
• What is the capacity of a CD?

  650 MB
• What is binary data?

  Data represented in base 2 using 0s and 1s
• What is a bit?

  A single binary digit
• How do you convert denary to binary?

  Use a table to compare values and subtract
• How do you convert binary to denary?

  Add values of binary digits with 1s
• How do you convert hexadecimal to binary?

  Split into parts and use 4-bit tables
• How do you convert hexadecimal to denary?

  Convert to binary, then to denary
• What are the rules for binary addition?

  Follow specific rules for carrying over
• What is an overflow error?

  Occurs when data exceeds CPU capacity
• What is the maximum binary value for an 8-bit CPU?

  11111111
• What happens if an overflow error occurs?

  Data cannot be processed correctly
• What is the binary representation of the decimal number 186?


  10111010
• How do you convert binary to hexadecimal?

  Split binary into 4-bit tables and sum
• What is the hexadecimal equivalent of the binary number 10111010?

  BA