1.1 Systems Architecture
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What is cache?
A type of temporary memory. It is faster to access than RAM, but slower to access than the registers.
What is a control unit?
Organises the execution of instructions, including managing the other components in the processor.
What is the full name of MAR?
Memory Address Register
What is the full name of MDR?
Memory Data Register
What is the full name of PC?
Program Counter
What is an advantage of having multiple cores?
An advantage of having multiple cores is that it can process two instructions at the same time.
Describe what an embedded system is.
An embedded system is a dedicated computer system that performs one or more specific functions within a larger piece of equipment.
How is an embedded system different from a general purpose system?
General purpose systems can do a variety of things, while embedded systems have only one purpose.
Explain why there is a clock inside the CPU.
Controls the rate of instructions that are being executed.
What are the three C’s?
Clock speed, cache size, and the amount of cores.
What does the amount of cores impact?
It impacts the processing capabilities of the CPU.
What does MAR stand for?
Memory Address Register.
What does CU stand for?
Control Unit.
Why do we use cache over RAM?
It’s volatile memory that’s faster than RAM.
What does the control unit do?
Organises the execution of instructions.
What are the three factors that affect CPU performance?
Clock speed, cache, and number of cores.
Describe what an Embedded System is.
A dedicated computer system that performs one or more specific functions within a larger piece of equipment.
How is an embedded system different from a general purpose system?
Because an embedded system only has one purpose, while a general system can do many things.
State 5 characteristics of embedded systems.
Cheap, reliable, compact, programmable, and low power consumption.
What is secondary storage for?
Store long term memory like programs and files.
What is the purpose of the MAR
Temporarily stores the memory addresses used when searching for data in RAM
What is the purpose of the MDR
Temporarily holds the data (data values or instructions) that are read from or written to the main memory
What is the purpose of the accumulator
Stores the result of any calculation
What is the purpose of the CIR
Holds the current instruction that the processor is executing