1.1.2 Types of processors

COMPLETE

What size of instruction set is a CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer)?

large instruction set

What is CISC’s aim?

to complete a task in as few lines of assembly code as possible

Where is CISC on a computer?

built into the hardware

Where is CISC used?

• microcontrollers

• embedded systems

What size of instruction set is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)?

small instruction set

In a RISC what does each instruction equal?

• one line of machine code

• one clock cycle

Where are RISC processors used?

• mobile phones

• tablets

• computers

• (low power requirements = suitable for battery powered)

Advantages of CISC

• compiler = less work. easier converting high level lang into machine code

• very little RAM needed to store instr (code is short)

Disadvantages of CISC

• expensive to produce - complex design

• many specialised instructions are made - only a few of them are use

• difficult to apply pipelining

Advantages of RISC

• Pipelining is possible (each instruction takes one clock cycle)

• cheaper to design & produce,give off less heat & consume less power

Disadvantages of RISC

• compiler has to do more work translating high level lang. into machine code

• more RAM required to store code

What is a co processor?

an extra processor (supplements functions of primary processor)

What may a co-processor be used to perform?

• floating point arithmetic

• graphics processing

• digital signal processing

What range of functions does a co-processor carry out?

a limited range of functions

What are multi core CPUs able to do?

distribute workload across multiple CPU cores

(achieving higher performance)

What devices are usually dual-core or quad-core?

• personal computers

• mobile devices

What is the improvement of performance by using a multi-core processor dependent on?

software’s ability to take advantage of the parallel processing capabilities

What is a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)?

• specialised electronic circuit

• efficient at manipulating computer graphics and image-processing

What does a GPU consist of? (In terms of cores)

• thousands of smaller,more efficient cores

• designed for handling multiple tasks simultaneously

  (parallel architecture)

What does a GPU’s highly parallel structure make it suitable for?

processing large blocks of visual data simultaneously

Where may a GPU be present on a personal computer?

• graphics card

• embedded on motherboard

Generalised use of GPUs on computers?

• machine learning

• modelling physical systems

• data mining

• audio processing

• breaking passwords

What is a GPU a form of?

a co-processor

Why might a GPU be used with a CPU?

• accelerate scientific, engineering, analytics and other applications

• offloading compute-intensive parts of application to GPU while remainder of code runs on CPU

What is parallel processing?

• dividing the tasks into subtasks that can be processed in parallel

• one subtask per core ate the same time

What are the two different approaches to parallel processing?

• SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data)

• MIMD(Multiple Instructions Multiple Data)

What is SIMD?

same instruction operates simultaneously on multiple data location

What is MIMD?

different instructions operate concurrently on different data locations