computer architecture

Question 1

what is the von neumann architecture?

Answer 1

—————-system bus—————–
processor main memory I/O

Question 2

what does I/O stand for

Answer 2

Input / Output

Question 3

what is main memory

Answer 3

memory that is already addressable by the processor

Question 4

where is main memory available in?

Answer 4

memory chips (ICs)

Question 5

what does main memory store?

Answer 5

both program instructions and data

Question 6

what has a unique memory address and location in the main memory?

Answer 6

each byte

Question 7

what is data

Answer 7

where the variables are stored

Question 8

can data be changed

Answer 8

yes

Question 9

what doesn’t data affect?

Answer 9

it doesn’t affect how parts of the computer interact

Question 10

what are the types of main memory?

Answer 10

RAM and ROM

Question 11

what does RAM stand for

Answer 11

random access memory

Question 12

what does ROM stand for

Answer 12

read only memory

Question 13

what is RAM

Answer 13

volatile memory in which the locations can be accessed directly in any order

Question 14

what is ROM

Answer 14

non volatile memory that stores permanent instructions and data

Question 15

what does volatile mean?

Answer 15

it requires constant power to maintain it’s data

Question 16

what are I/O devices

Answer 16

peripherals eg. speakers and keyboards

Question 17

what are I/O controllers?

Answer 17

circuits that connect to a bus and a I/O device

Question 18

what do I/O controllers provide

Answer 18

the correct current and voltage

Question 19

how does the processor communicate with the I/O

Answer 19

the processor communicates through I/O controllers to I/O devices

Question 20

what does VDU stand for

Answer 20

visual display unit

Question 21

what is the system bus

Answer 21

a set of parallel wires connecting independent components of a computer system

Question 22

what is the system bus used for?

Answer 22

its used to pass signals between components

Question 23

what can the signals carried in the system bus represent?

Answer 23

data, addresses or control information

Question 24

what makes up the system bus?

Answer 24

data bus, address bus, control bus

Question 25

what does the data bus do?

Answer 25

used to transport data between components

Question 26

is the data bus unidirectional or bidirectional

Answer 26

bidirectional

Question 27

what does the address bus do?

Answer 27

used to address memory and I/O locations

Question 28

is the address bus unidirectional or bidirectional

Answer 28

unidirectional

Question 29

what does the control bus do?

Answer 29

used to transport control signals between components

Question 30

what control signals do the control bus transport?

Answer 30

clock, reset, memory read, memory write, I/O

Question 31

is the control bus bidirectional or unidirectional

Answer 31

bidirectional

Question 32

what bus(s) is unidirectional

Answer 32

address bus

Question 33

what bus(s) is bidirectional

Answer 33

data bus and control bus

Question 34

what is the control bus like?

Answer 34

traffic lights

Question 35

what is the data bus like?

Answer 35

the bus carrying people (data)

Question 36

what is the address bus like?

Answer 36

the road leading to the location

Question 37

what is the stored program concept

Answer 37

- a program must be resident in main memory to be executed - machine code instructions are fetched sequentially and executed one at a time in the processor

Question 38

fill in the gap for part (a) of the stored program concept? a .......... must be ............ in main ........ to be ..........

Answer 38

program, resident, memory, executed

Question 39

fill in the gap for part (b) of the stored program concept? ........... code instructions are ......... .............. and executed ........ at a time in the ...........

Answer 39

machine, fetched, sequentially, one, processor

Question 40

in the stored program concept what does the processor perform?

Answer 40

arithmetic and logical instructions

Question 41

in the SPC, what are these arithmetic and logical instructions represented as

Answer 41

machine code and stored as data

Question 42

what does SPC stand for

Answer 42

stored program concept

Question 43

what are the two types of the SPC

Answer 43

von neumann harvard architecture

Question 44

what is the von neumann SPC

Answer 44

addresses ==================> processor main memory <===========data + instructions

Question 45

what is the harvard architecture SPC

Answer 45

instruction address =======> instruction memory processor <=========instruction data addresses ==========> processor data memory <========= read/write data

Question 46

what is the harvard architecture used in?

Answer 46

embedded systems and digital signal processing systems

Question 47

in the HA, what does the separate memories mean?

Answer 47

separate memories have different characteristics

Question 48

what does HA stand for

Answer 48

harvard architecture

Question 49

what does VN stand for

Answer 49

von neumann

Question 50

disadvantage of the VN

Answer 50

competition for resources as all share the same bus

Question 51

advantage of the VN

Answer 51

it has a flexible memory

Question 52

what does the flexible memory of the VN mean?

Answer 52

both data and instructions can take memory space and its simpler to wire

Question 53

what is a disadvantage of the HA

Answer 53

instruction and data memory can have different word lengths

Question 54

what is the advantage of the HA

Answer 54

- instructions and writing / reading data can take place in parallel so can be faster - avoids bottleneck of single data / address bus - avoids possibility of all data being executed as code, which is one method that can be exploited by hackers

Question 55

fill in the gap for the HA ......... and writing / ........ data can take place in .......... so can be ............

Answer 55

instructions, reading, parallel, faster

Question 56

fill in the gap for the HA avoid ........... of single data / .......... bus

Answer 56

bottleneck, address

Question 57

fill in the gap for the HA avoids possibility of all data being .......... as ....... which is one method that can be ......... by ..........

Answer 57

executed, code, exploited, hackers