Chp.5 - CPU & Memory

A collection of vocabulary flashcards related to CPU and memory concepts from ENG210 Computer Architecture.

ALU

Arithmetic Logic Unit; performs calculations and comparisons.

CU

Control Unit; performs the fetch/execute cycle and manages data flow.

Registers

Small permanent storage locations within the CPU, used for specific purposes.

Program Counter (PC)

Also called instruction pointer; indicates the address of the next instruction.

Memory Address Register (MAR)

Holds the address of the data that needs to be accessed.

Memory Data Register (MDR)

Also called Memory Buffer Register, temporarily holds data transferred to/from memory.

Fetch-Execute Cycle

The two-step process where instructions are fetched from memory and executed.

RAM

Random Access Memory; temporary storage for data being processed.

DRAM

Dynamic RAM; cheap and common, requires constant refreshing.

SRAM

Static RAM; faster and more expensive than DRAM, used in cache memory.

ROM

Read-Only Memory; non-volatile memory that holds firmware.

Bus

The physical connection that transfers data between components.

Instruction Set

Defines the operations that a processor can perform.

OPCODE

The operation code that specifies the task to be performed.

Addressing Modes

Techniques to specify the location of operands in memory.

Pipelining

A technology used to improve instruction throughput by overlapping execution.