COMP 2131- Module 1- A Tour of Computer Systems

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51 Terms

1
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-An electronic device that processes data

-Converting data into useful info

-Can store data for future use

What is a computer?

2
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Two main parts of a Computer System

-Hardware (Physical components)

-Software (Intangible parts that control the hardware)

3
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Discrete Information Processing System

Another name for a computer

4
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Hardware affects the correctness and performance of programs.

Hardware affects the _______ and ________ of programs.

5
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-Fetch and execution of an instruction

-Repeats forever

Instruction cycle

6
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-Personal Computers

-Server Computers (Serve many users)

-Super Computers (Large computers used for extensive application like weather forcast, or GPS)

-Embedded Computers (Washing machine, microwave, robots, etc)

What are the classes of computers?

7
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-Transmission of data

What is a signal?

8
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-Analog Signal

-Digital Signal

Types of signals?

9
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-1969 to 1973

-By Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labratories

When was the C programming language developed?

10
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-Core part of the OS

What does kernel mean?

11
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-GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)

-collection of programming compilers

What is a gcc compiler?

12
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1. Preprocessor

2. Compiler

3. Assembler

4. Linker

What are the four phases of the compilation system?

<p>What are the four phases of the compilation system?</p>
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-Modifies original C program according to directives that begin with '#'

-#include Reads contents of header file and insert it directly into the program

-Result is another C program with .i suffix

Explain Preprocessing phase

14
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-Translates file with .i suffix into text file .s suffix

-Text file contains an assembly-language program

Explain Compilation phase

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-Translates .s file into machine-language

-Packages them in a form known as relocatable object program

-Stores the result in object file .o suffix

-.o file is a binary file

Explain Assembly Phase

16
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-Merges other functions into the .o file

-Eg. printf resides in a different object file

-The Linker merges the hello.o and printf.o

-Result is an executable object file that is ready to be loaded into memory

Explain Linking phase

17
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1. CPU (or Processor)

-GPU

-Accelerated Processing unit (APU = CPU + GPU)

-FPGA

2. I/O devices

3. Main Memory

4. Buses

5. Registers

List the hardware components in a computer system

18
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-Parallel wires

-Carry data from one component to another

-Typically designed to transfers fix chunks of bytes called words

Purpose of buses

<p>Purpose of buses</p>
19
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-Enhance creation of images for a display

-Many small and more efficient cores made to handle multiple tasks simultaneously

Purpose of GPU?

20
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- Offers parallel processing, allowing multiple tasks to run simultaneously for high performance in specialized applications.

What is a field programmable gate array (FPGA)?

21
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-By either a controller or an adapter

How are I/O devices connected to the I/O bus?

<p>How are I/O devices connected to the I/O bus?</p>
22
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-Controllers are chip sets in the device itself or on the system's motherboard

What is a controller (in terms of I/O connection)?

23
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-An adapter is a card that plugs into a slot on the motherboard

What is an adapter (in terms of I/O connection)?

24
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-Temporary storage location

-Holds both a program and the data for the executing program

What is main memory?

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-Primary Memory

-RAM (Dynamic Ram and Static Ram)

-ROM (EEPROM and EAPROM)

-Secondary Memory

-USB, Floppy Disk, CD

What does main memory consist of?

26
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SRAM

-Retains value as long as power is supplied

-Typically faster than DRAM

-Cost per memory cell is greater than DRAM

DRAM

-Semiconductor memory

-Data stored in form of a charge

-Each memory is made up of a capacitor and transistor

-Capacitors leak, memory needs to be regularly refreshed

DRAM vs SRAM

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-As a linear array of bytes

-with its own unique address

How is memory logically organized?

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-The engine that interprets (or executes) instructions stored in the main memory

-At its core is a storage device (or register) called the program counter (PC)

What is the CPU (aka Processor)?

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-Computes new data and address values

What does the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) do?

30
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-Word sized storage device in main memory

What are registers?

31
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-PC is a special register pointing at some machine instruction stored in main memory

-PC increased after the fetch cycle

What is a program counter (pc)?

32
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-Serve as temporary staging areas for info that the processor is likely to need in the near future

-Speeds up program execution

Purpose of cache memories (aka caches)

33
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-On processor chip

-Holds 10's of thousands of bytes

-Can be accessed almost as fast as the register file

L1 cache?

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-Larger than L1 cache but slower to acess

-holds 100's of thousands to millions of bytes

-Connected to processor by a special bus

-Faster than accessing main memory

L2 cache?

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-Static random access memory (SRAM)

How are L1 and L2 caches implemented?

36
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-Top of the hierarchy to bottom

-Devices become slower, larger and less costly

-Register file occupies the top (0 or L0)

-Explain memory hierarchy of storage devices in a computer system

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-Set of 7-bits assigned together to represent data

-For each unique character a byte sized integer is assigned

ASCII code?

38
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-File is the collection of data

-Text file is a collection of characters in user readable form

What is a file?

39
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-A collection of characters

-In only machine readable form

-Used for the computer to read and execute

What is a binary file?

40
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-Application Software

-Systems Software

Software categories?

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-Bridge between hardware and the user

1. Protect hardware from misuse by runaway applications

2. Provide applications with simple and uniform mechanisms for manipulating complicated and different low-level hardware devices

Purpose of the Operating System (OS)?

<p>Purpose of the Operating System (OS)?</p>
42
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-Via fundamental abstractions:

1. Processes

2. Virtual Memory

3. Files

How does the OS achieve it's primary purposes?

<p>How does the OS achieve it's primary purposes?</p>
43
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-One instruction in main memory

-PC points to instruction

-CPU fetches(reads) and executes instruction

-PC increased after execution to get ready for next instruction

What is an instruction cycle?

44
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-OS's abstract for a running program

-An executing instance of a program (aka Task)

-eg. the MSWord software running in a process

What is a process?

45
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-Different processes run by taking turns

-The instructions of one process are interleaved with the instructions of another process

What does concurrently mean in terms of processes?

46
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A thread is a lightweight part of a process that runs independently, sharing the same code and global data with other threads, but having its own local variables—for example, typing and auto-saving in Word happen in separate threads.

What are threads?

47
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-A set of hardware devices connected together, physically, or logically,

-So that they may share or exchange information

-eg. Internet

What is a network?

48
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- The defined set of rules, algorithms, messages, and other mechanisms that the software and hardware must follow to communicate effectively

What is a protocol (In terms of networking)?

49
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-The connecting hardware on the network

What are nodes (In terms of networking)?

50
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-Allocate memory for local variables and functions as they are called

Purpose of a stack

51
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-Dynamic memory allocation

-malloc (), calloc()

Purpose of a Heap