What does the Control Unit (CU) do?
Coordinates all activities of the CPU and directs the flow of data between the CPU and other devices.
What is the function of the Program Counter (PC)?
Holds the address of the next instruction to be executed.
What does the Memory Address Register (MAR) hold?
Holds the address of the memory location from which data or an instruction is to be fetched or to be written.
What is the purpose of the Memory Data Register (MDR)?
Used to temporarily store the data which is read from or written to memory.
What does the Current Instruction Register (CIR) hold?
Holds the current instruction being executed; the contents of the MDR are copied to the CIR if it is an instruction.
What operations are performed by the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)?
Performs arithmetic and logical operations on data.
What is the role of the Accumulator (ACC)?
The result of calculations carried out by the ALU can be temporarily stored here.
What does the Address Bus do?
Carries memory addresses that identify where the data is being read from or written to.
What information does the Data Bus carry?
Carries the binary 1s and 0s that make up the actual information being transmitted around the CPU/Computer.
What is the function of the Control Bus?
Carries command and control signals to and from every other component of the CPU/Computer.
What is Assembly Code?
A language that has a direct one-to-one relationship with the processor architecture.
What is a GPU?
Graphical Processing Unit is a co-processor initially used for rendering graphics
GPUs are now also used for parallel processing in various applications.
What is Parallel Processing?
The processing of program instructions by dividing them between multiple processors or processor cores
This technique enhances performance and reduces processing time.
What is an Input Device?
Any device that allows you to pass information from the outside world into a computer system
Examples include keyboards, mice, and scanners.
Define Output Device.
Any device that can take data stored in digital form and convert it into another format that humans can process
Examples include monitors, printers, and speakers.
What is Optical Storage?
Written and read using lasers, they spin so the laser can read the data from the correct location
Common types include CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs.
What is magnetic storage?
Divided into tracks and sectors, the disk spins so the disk’s read-write head can access the data in a segment.
What technology does solid state storage use?
They use flash memory to store data and a special type of memory that can retain its state once power has been disconnected.
What is ROM?
Read-only memory located on the motherboard, non-volatile and contains the very first instructions for the computer (bootstrap).
What does RAM stand for and what is its function?
Random Access Memory, temporary storage of instructions and data that is being executed by the processor.
Is RAM volatile or non-volatile?
It is volatile.
How does virtual storage differ from local storage?
Concept of storing and retrieving data over the internet in the cloud instead of a local storage device.
Fill in the blank: _______ is a type of memory that retains data even when the power is off.
ROM
Fill in the blank: _______ is temporary storage used by the processor.
RAM
