1.1.1 definitions

• what is the CU?

  A component of the processor that directs the operation of the other systems components by providing timing and control signals
• What is Von Neumann Architecture?

  Traditional computer architecture which has single memory for both data and instructions
• What is the CPU?

  performs the fetch decode execute cycle
• What is the ALU?

  The arithmetic logic unit performs arithmetic and logical operation on the data
• what is the cache?

  High-speed memory used to hold the data that is accessed most frequently to improve processor performance
• What is the register?

  This is a very fast memory location within the CPU with one purpose
• What is the PC?

  Contains the memory address of the next instruction to be fetched. After a successful fetch, it's value is incremented
• what is the MAR?

  Stores the memory of the data that is to be read from or written to in memory
• what is the MDR?

  The data that has been read from or is written to memory
• what is the accumulator?


  contains the result of the processing of the ALU
• What is the CIR?


  contains the current instruction being decoded and executed. The instruction is made up of the opcode and operand.
• what are buses?

  a bus is a communication pathway along which signals are transmitted. signals are transmitted from one part of the computer to another via buses
• What is the control bus?


  transmits command timing and specific. Bi-directional meaning signals can be carried in both direction i.e. between the CPU to memory
• what was the address bus?


  transmits the address to be manipulated in memory. This is a one way bus allowing signals to be carried from the CPU to memory
• what is the data bus?

  transmits data and instructions. bi-directional bus meaning the data and instructions can be carried in both directions i.e. between the CPU and memory
• what is the clock speed?

  the internal clock in the CPU that determines how fast each cycle of the FDE can be performed. The higher the clock speed, the more cycles that can be processed in a fixed amount of time. clock speed measured in hertz
• what are cores?

  processing unit that contains an ALU, a control unit and registers. A processor can have multiple cores, which can improve the performance of a computer system
• what is pipelining?

  concurrent processing of multiple instructions

  current instruction is being executed the next is being decoded and the following instruction is being fetched

  increases speed of execution
• what is harvard architecture?

  computer architecture that provided separate memories for data and instructions.
• what is contemporary architecture?

  modern computer architecture
• ROM


  read only memory

  non volatile

  used for storing BIOS/ bootstrap