Computer Architecture and Organization - Chapter IV: MARIE

Vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes introducing the MARIE computer architecture.

Datapath

Part of the CPU that consists of an arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) and storage units (Registers) interconnected by a data bus that is also connected to Main memory.

Control Unit

Part of the CPU that provides signals to various CPU components to perform sequenced operations.

Registers

Hold data that can be readily accessed by the CPU; implemented using D flip-flops.

Arithmetic-Logic Unit (ALU)

Carries out logical and arithmetic operations as directed by the control unit.

Bus

A set of wires that simultaneously convey a single bit along each line, consisting of data lines, control lines, and address lines.

Clock Frequency

Measured in MHz or GHz, determines the speed with which all operations are carried out.

Clock Cycle Time

The reciprocal of clock frequency.

MARIE

Machine Architecture that is Really Intuitive and Easy. A simple model computer designed for illustrating basic computer system concepts, exhibiting the classical von Neumann design.

Accumulator (AC)

A 16-bit register in MARIE that holds a conditional operator or one operand of a two-operand instruction.

Memory Address Register (MAR)

A 12-bit register in MARIE that holds the memory address of an instruction or the operand of an instruction.

Memory Buffer Register (MBR)

A 16-bit register in MARIE that holds the data after its retrieval from, or before its placement in memory.

Program Counter (PC)

A 12-bit register in MARIE that holds the address of the next program instruction to be executed.

Instruction Register (IR)

A register in MARIE that holds an instruction immediately preceding its execution.

Input Register (InREG)

A 16-bit register in MARIE that holds data read from an input device.

Output Register (OutREG)

A 16-bit register in MARIE that holds data that is ready for the output device.

Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)

Specifies the format of a computer's instructions and the primitive operations that the machine can perform; an interface between software and hardware.

Micro-operations

Sequence of smaller instructions that each instruction consists of.

Register Transfer Language (RTL)

Used to specify the exact sequence of micro-operations carried out by an instruction.

Fetch-Decode-Execute Cycle

The series of steps that a computer carries out when it runs a program.

Assemblers

Translate instructions that are comprehensible to humans into the machine language that is comprehensible to computers.

Addressing Modes

Specify where an operand is located; can specify a constant, a register, or a memory location.

Effective Address

The actual location of an operand, from which data is accessed or to which data is written during the execution of an instruction.

Instruction-Level Pipelining (ILP)

Parallel execution of instructions to increase throughput.