1
Q
Hardware
A
Describes all the physical, electronic and mechanical components forming part of a computer system.
2
Q
Control Unit (CU)
A
Manages the FDE cycle
3
Q
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
A
The processing and manipulation of data which consists of arithmetic operations or logical comparisons, allowing a program to take decisions.
4
Q
Registers
A
A small/fast access/temporary storage typically addressed by mechanisms other than main memory or MAR/MDR
5
Q
Address Bus
A
- Used to transmit the address in RAM of the next line of code to be fetched.
- Used to transmit the address of a RAM location or input/output port where data is to be stored or loaded.
6
Q
Data Bus
A
- Used to transfer program code between RAM memory and the processor.
- Used to transfer data between the processor and RAM memory or input/output ports.
7
Q
Control Bus
A
- Used to send control signals from the processor to the RAM memory or input/output ports to initiate data transfer.
- Carries interrupt signals to the processor to indicate that hardware/software requires attention.
8
Q
Cache Memory
A
- Small extremely fast memory
- Near or on processor
- Stores data and instructions that are used regularly
- When full least used data is discarded
- Attempts to solve Von Neumann Bottleneck
- Algorithms try to avoid cache miss
9
Q
Von Neumann Bottleneck
A
When the processor runs faster than memory by acting as a middle man between main memory and the registers
10
Q
Cache Miss
A
When data has been fetched from main memory instead of cache
11
Q
Random Access Memory (RAM)
A
- Volitile (temp)
- Stores programs and data currently in use
- Larger RAM reduces the need for frequent access to hard disk/virtual memory
12
Q
Read Only Memory (ROM)
A
- Non-volitile (perm)
- Contents are permenantly etched onto the chip at manufacturing stage
- Holds the bootstrap loader
13
Q
Disc Cache
A
- Temporary Storage
- Between CPU and hard disc
- Data recently read or about to be written is stored before being transferred
- Allows other faster devices to continue to other tasks
