Architecture

• Von Neumann architecture


  Shared memory space for instructions and data, single control unit or processor follows a linear fetch-decode-execute cycle, registers are used as fast access to instructions and data
• Harvard architecture


  Instructions and data stored in separate memory units, each with its own bus, reading/writing data can be done at the same time as fetching an instruction, used by RISC processors
• Processor architectures


  • Von Neumann
  • Harvard
• SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data)


  • Processor carries out a single instruction on multiple data items at the same time
• MIMD (Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data)


  • Multiple instructions are carried on multiple data items across several cores
• Distributed Computing


  Multiple computers on a shared network each take on part of a larger problem, can be done on a grand scale over the internet