UNIT 1 Systems Architecture

What is the purpose of the CPU?

To process instructions

What are the main CPU components?

Control Unit, ALU, Registers and Cache

What is the purpose of the Control Unit?

Coordinates and controls all activities taking place within the CPU

What is the purpose of the ALU?

Arithmetic logic unit: Performs arithmetic and logical operations

What is the Cache?

Memory on the CPU that is faster than RAM but slower than registers

What is Von Neumann Architecture?

A computer that stores both program instructions and data in the same memory

What is the FE cycle?

How the CPU processes data and instructions

What are the steps of the FE cycle?

1. Instructions are fetched from Main memory

2. Instructions are decoded

3. Instructions are executed

4. Process repeats

What is a register?

A small amount of storage space for temporary data in the CPU

What are the 4 important registers in the FE cycle?

Program counter, MAR & MDR, Accumulator

What is the purpose of the Program counter in the FE cycle?

To display the address in RAM of the next instruction to be processed.

What is the purpose of the MAR in the FE cycle?

Stores the address of the current instruction to be fetched from RAM

What is the purpose of the MDR in the FE cycle?

stores the instruction that has been transferred from RAM to the CPU

What is the purpose of the Acculumulator?

Store ALU's results

What are the 3 Main factors affecting CPU performance

Size of the Cache, Clock speed in Hz, Number of processor cores

How does the clock speed affect CPU performance?

The higher the clock speed, the more instructions the CPU can execute per second

How does the size of the Cache affect CPU performance?

The more cache memory a CPU has, the faster it can access frequently used data

How does the Number of processor cores affect CPU performance?

The more number of cores, the more instructions can be processed at once

What is an Embedded system?

A system built within a larger device to perform a specific purpose has a mini microprocessor, also has RAM & ROM

What are examples of embedded systems?

Dishwasher, Microwave, Washing machine