1.1 System Architecture

1.1 System Architecture

1. CPU-Central Processing Unit

   • The brains of the computer system
   • It fetches, executes and decodes instructions
   • Processes Data
   • The clock speed is measured in MHz or GHz, number of cycles per second
   • 1GHz processor executes 1 billion instructions per second
   • Doubling clock speed will double instructions executed

2. Cores execute Instructions

   • Multi-core Processors
   • Quad core executes twice as fast per second than dual core
   • 8 core executes twice as fast as the quad core per second
   • Each core executes their own instructions
   • quadrupling the cores can quadruple the instructions executed

3. Cache Size

   • Very fast and only takes up small amounts of memory on the CPU
   • The cache holds any instructions that are used frequently
   • It acts as a link between the CPU and Main Memory
   • increasing cache will reduce memory, speeding up the processing

4. Embedded Systems

   • Made up of both hardware and software
   • Does not contain a operating systems
   • Made for specialised tasks
   • Dishwashers, Washing Machines, Cameras and CCTV cameras