Flynn's Classification of Computer Architectures

These flashcards cover key concepts and terminology related to Flynn's classification of computer architectures, including definitions of SISD, SIMD, MISD, MIMD, SMP, NUMA, and other relevant terms.

SISD

Single Instruction Stream, Single Data Stream; a uniprocessor system.

SIMD

Single Instruction Stream, Multiple Data Streams; multiple processors execute the same instruction on different data.

MISD

Multiple Instruction Streams, Single Data Stream; generally not used in commercial systems.

MIMD

Multiple Instruction Streams, Multiple Data Streams; can include shared memory and local memory architectures.

SMP

Symmetric Multiprocessor system where all processors are similar and share the same memory.

NUMA

Non-Uniform Memory Access, where processors have local memory and memory access times vary.

Cluster

A combination of uniprocessor systems and SMPs.

Complexity

How intricate a system or its components are; typically, SISD has minimum complexity.

Instruction Stream

A sequence of instructions generated by the control unit for execution by the processor.

Data Stream

A flow of data that is provided to the processor(s) for processing.