Flashcards
Internal Hardware components of a computer
Flashcards do conjunto (9)
- 1What is the role of the CPU?The purpose of the CPU is to respond to and process the data and instructions that drive the computer. It also must control all of the other components of the computer. It is comprised of registers, the control unit and the arithmetic logic unit.
- 2What is the role of main memory?RAM stores data and instructions that will soon be used by the processor. RAM is made up of a series of chips that each have millions of uniquely addressed memory cells. It is volatile and thus loses all of its content when the computer is switched off.
- 3What is the role of the address bus?The address bus is unidirectional, and is used for transmitting addresses from the CPU to main memory (and elsewhere). Each word in memory has its own specific address. The width of the address bus determines the maximum possible memory capacity of the system.
- 4What is the role of the data bus?The data bus provides a bidirectional path for moving data and instructions between system components. The width of the data bus is a key factor in determining overall system performance as it determines the length of each instruction (how many fetch-decode-execute cycles per instruction).
- 5What is the role of the control bus?The control bus is a bidirectional bus. The data and address buses are shared by all components of the system. Control lines must therefore be provided to ensure that access to and use of the data and address buses by different components of the system does not lead to conflict. The purpose of the control bus is to transmit command, timing and specific status information between system components.
- 6What is the role of an I/O controller?The role of an I/O controller is to interface between a peripheral device and the CPU.
- 7What is a bus?A bus is a small group of parallel wires connecting two or more components of the computer. They are used to transmit data within a computer system.
The processor is connected to main memory by three separate buses. When the CPU wishes to access a particular memory location, it sends this address to memory on the address bus. The data in that location is then returned to the CPU on the data bus. Control signals are sent along the control bus. - 8What is von Neumann architecture?The von Neumann architecture has one memory to store both data and instructions. Data and instructions are fetched serially from memory. Most modern computers are built on this principle.
- 9What is the Harvard Architecture?Physically separates memories for instructions and data
Faster that von Neumann because data and instructions can be fetched in parallel
These two memories can have different characteristics (programs can be read-only so no RAM)
Typically used in embedded systems.
Informações
- Descrição
- ## 'understand the concept of addressable memory', 'understand the need for communication between components', 'embedded systems such as digital signal processing use harvard architecture processors extensively' ##
- Criado por
- Abigail Carver
- Visualizações
- 11
- Avaliação