Mock 1
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Program counter
Holds the address of the next instruction to be fetched.
Current Instruction Register
Stores the instruction currently being executed and decoded.
Memory Address Register (MAR)
Holds the relevant memory address to read from or write to.
Memory Data Register (MDR)
Stores data being transferred to and from memory
Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)
Performs mathematical calculations and logical decisions.
Accumulator
Temporary storage register in the ALU that holds data while being processed.
RISC
Reduced Instruction Set Computer: simple instructions, one clock cycle each. Advantages: Allows pipelining, faster execution. Disadvantages: Compiler does more work
CISC
Complex Instruction Set Computer: large instruction set to reduce lines of code. Advantages: Compiler does little work
GPU
Graphics Processing Unit: dedicated graphics processor used to render images stored in graphics card RAM.
Multi-core CPU
CPU containing more than one core to allow parallel processing.
Factors affecting processor performance
Number of cores
RAM
Random Access Memory: stores programs/data currently in use
ROM
Read Only Memory: permanently stores essential instructions like BIOS.
Functions of an operating system
User interface
Memory management types
Paging: fixed-size pages, may be non-contiguous. Segmentation: logical segments of varying sizes.
Virtual memory
Uses part of the hard disk as RAM
Distributed operating system
Splits tasks over multiple computers
Multitasking operating system
Allows a user to run multiple jobs at the same time.
Multi-user operating system
Allows multiple users by allocating CPU slices using scheduling.
Mobile operating system
Consists of a main interface OS + a real-time hardware-specific OS.
Embedded operating system
OS on a chip, for specific functions on dedicated hardware.
Real-time operating system
Processes data immediately as it arrives.
Open-source software
Publicly available code that can be copied, changed, redistributed.