Chapter 5 Vocab

5.0(1)
learnLearn
examPractice Test
spaced repetitionSpaced Repetition
heart puzzleMatch
flashcardsFlashcards
Card Sorting

1/59

Study Analytics
Name
Mastery
Learn
Test
Matching
Spaced

No study sessions yet.

60 Terms

1
New cards

address space

The maximum amount of memory that a computer can physically hold; determined by the size of the address field

2
New cards

Arithmetic Logic Unit

computer subsystem that performs mathematical and logical operations such as addition, subtraction, and comparison for equality

3
New cards

bus

(1) a path for electrical signals; (2) LAN topology in which all nodes are connected to a single shared communication line

4
New cards

cache hit rate

The percentage of the time that the information needed is in cache memory

5
New cards

cache memory

A high-speed memory unit that keeps a copy of memory cells with a high likelihood of access in the near future

6
New cards

Central Processing Unit

The part of the computer consisting of the control unit and the ALU

7
New cards

CISC machine

Complex Instruction Set Computer; a machine that has a very large and complex instruction set

8
New cards

cluster computing

independent systems, such as mainframes, desktops, or laptops, are interconnected by a local area network (LAN) like the Ethernet or a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet; also called MIMD parallel processing

9
New cards

Computer Organization

the branch of computer science that studies computers in terms of their major functional units and how they work

10
New cards

control unit

The computer subsystem that fetches and executes instructions stored in the memory of the computer

11
New cards

data path

The ALU circuits, registers, and interconnections between components

12
New cards

destructive store

When you store a new value in a memory cell and destroy its previous contents

13
New cards

direct access storage devices

A mass storage device in which each unit of information is associated with a unique address, but the time to access each piece of information may not be the same

14
New cards

fetch/store controller

The component that determines whether a value will be placed into memory or copied from memory

15
New cards

functional units

Subunits of a computer that perform tasks such as instruction processing, information storage, computation, and data transfer

16
New cards

grid computing

A MIMD model in which the individual processors can be computer systems belonging to a wide range of groups or individuals

17
New cards

Hierarchy of Abstractions

A series of abstractions, each one more detailed and each one showing lower level components of a system

18
New cards

I/O controller

A special-purpose device that controls the operations of an input/output device

19
New cards

input/output

The devices that allow a computer system to communicate and interact with the outside world, as well as to store information

20
New cards

instruction register

The register that holds a copy of the instruction to be executed

21
New cards

instruction set

set of all operations that can be executed by a processor

22
New cards

interrupt signal

A signal sent by the I/O controller to the CPU to let it know that it has completed an I/O operation

23
New cards

latency

The time required to rotate the disk to the beginning of the desired sector

24
New cards

level of abstraction

An alternate perspective or a different way to view a system

25
New cards

machine language

The programming language that a processor is able to directly understand and execute; written in binary

26
New cards

mass storage systems

Systems or devices where information is kept for long periods of time and not lost when the computer is not being used

27
New cards

memory

Th functional unit of a computer that stores and retrieves instructions and data being executed

28
New cards

memory access time

The time it takes to fetch or store the contents of a single memory cell

29
New cards

memory address

The unique numeric identifier for a memory cell

30
New cards

Memory Address Register

The memory register that holds the address of the cell to be fetched from or stored into

31
New cards

memory cell

The minimum unit of memory access

32
New cards

Memory Data Register

The memory register that holds the data value to be stored or the data value that was just fetched

33
New cards

memory width

The number of bits in a single memory cell

34
New cards

MIMD parallel processing

multiple instruction stream/multiple data stream; a parallel processing model in which multiple processors all work independently on their own program to solve a single problem; also called cluster computing

35
New cards

nanosecond

one billionth of a second

36
New cards

non-destructive fetch

When you access the contents of a memory cell and copy it, but do not destroy it

37
New cards

Non-Von Neumann architecture

Computer designs based on models other than the standard Von Neumann architecture

38
New cards

nonvolatile memory

Memory that does not lose its contents even when the power is turned off

39
New cards

parallel algorithms

Algorithms that exploit the presence of multiple processors to solve a single problem

40
New cards

parallel processing

Building computers with two or more processors that work in parallel

41
New cards

principle of locality

When you access a memory cell, it is likely that you will also access memory cells nearby very soon

42
New cards

processor

A system that is composed of the ALU together with the control unit

43
New cards

program counter

A register that holds the address of the next instruction to be executed

44
New cards

quantum computing

A field of computer design using the principles of quantum mechanics in which a single bit of information can be not just a 0 or a 1 but in both states at the same time.

45
New cards

Random Access Memory

A memory structure in which each cell has an address and it takes the same amount of time to fetch or store any cell

46
New cards

read-only memory

A memory structure that can only be accessed, not written into or changed

47
New cards

register

A special, high-speed storage cell

48
New cards

RISC Machine

Reduced Instruction Set Computer; a machine that has a very small and simple instruction set, but where each instruction is highly optimized and executes very quickly

49
New cards

sector

A disk storage unit containing an address, a data block, and a fixed number of bytes; sectors are arranged in concentric tracks on a disk

50
New cards

seek time

The time required to move the read/write head to the correct track

51
New cards

sequential access storage device

A mass storage device in which information is located by sequentially searching all the information that is stored

52
New cards

sequential execution

One instruction at a time is fetched from memory to the control unit, where it is decoded and executed

53
New cards

SIMD parallel processing

single instruction stream/multiple data stream; a parallel processing model in which multiple processors all execute the same instruction on their own local data

54
New cards

stored program

The instructions to be executed by the computer are represented as binary values and stored in memory

55
New cards

track

A single concentric circle of information on a disk

56
New cards

transfer time

The time required to read the desired sector into main memory.

57
New cards

vector

an ordered collection of values

58
New cards

volatile memory

Memory that loses its contents when the power is turned off

59
New cards

Von Neumann Architecture

The computational model designed by John Von Neumann and first implemented in the EDSAC computer of 1947; the structure and organization of virtually all modern computers

60
New cards

Von Neumann bottleneck

The inability of sequential, one-at-a-time processors to handle extremely large problems in a reasonable time scale