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Computer Architecture & Organization
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The control unit is responsible for fetching instructions from memory, decoding them, and coordinating the flow of data and control signals to execute the instructions.
CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) architectures have a large and complex instruction set, while RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architectures have a smaller and simpler instruction set.
A cache is a small, fast memory located close to the CPU that stores frequently accessed data and instructions to improve performance by reducing the need to access slower main memory.
The ALU is responsible for performing arithmetic and logical operations on data, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and logical operations like AND, OR, and NOT.
Registers are high-speed storage locations within the CPU used for temporarily holding data and addresses during instruction execution.
Volatile memory (e.g., RAM) loses its contents when power is removed, while non-volatile memory (e.g., hard disk, flash memory) retains its contents even without power.
Pipelining is a technique used in CPU design to improve performance by splitting the execution of an instruction into multiple stages, allowing multiple instructions to be executed concurrently.
The system bus is a set of electrical pathways that transfer data, addresses, and control signals between the CPU, memory, and other components in a computer system.
SRAM (Static RAM) is faster and more expensive, while DRAM (Dynamic RAM) is slower but less expensive and has higher density.
Interrupts are signals sent to the CPU to temporarily halt the current program execution and handle a specific event or service, such as input/output operations or hardware errors.
The program counter is a register that stores the memory address of the next instruction to be executed by the CPU.
The instruction set architecture (ISA) defines the set of instructions that a CPU can execute, as well as the format and encoding of those instructions.
In the Harvard architecture, instructions and data have separate memory spaces, while in the von Neumann architecture, instructions and data share the same memory space.
The MMU is responsible for managing virtual memory by translating virtual addresses used by programs into physical addresses in main memory, and handling memory protection and segmentation.
Direct memory access (DMA) allows certain hardware devices to access system memory directly without involving the CPU, improving performance for data transfer operations.
The I/O subsystem handles the transfer of data between the CPU and peripheral devices, such as keyboards, displays, printers, and storage devices.
Little Endian stores the least significant byte of a multi-byte value at the lowest memory address, while Big Endian stores the most significant byte at the lowest memory address.
Virtual memory is a technique that allows programs to access more memory than is physically available by using a combination of main memory and secondary storage (e.g., hard disk).
The fetch-decode-execute cycle is the basic operation cycle of a CPU, where it fetches an instruction from memory, decodes it to determine the operation, and then executes the instruction.
The bus interface unit is responsible for managing the communication between the CPU and the system bus, handling data transfer and control signals.
A microprocessor is a general-purpose CPU designed for use in computers and other complex systems, while a microcontroller is a smaller, more specialized processor used for embedded systems and control applications.
The address bus is part of the system bus that carries the memory addresses used by the CPU to access instructions and data in memory.
Branch prediction is a technique used in CPU design to improve performance by predicting the outcome of conditional branch instructions and speculatively executing instructions based on that prediction.
BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is an older firmware interface for initializing hardware and booting the operating system, while UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a newer, more advanced firmware interface with better hardware support and additional features.
The system clock is a hardware component that generates a periodic signal used to synchronize and coordinate the operation of various components in a computer system, such as the CPU, memory, and peripherals.
The data bus is part of the system bus that carries the data being transferred between the CPU, memory, and other components.
In a single-cycle CPU design, each instruction is executed in one clock cycle, while in a multi-cycle CPU design, instruction execution is divided into multiple cycles or stages.
The memory controller is responsible for managing the flow of data between the CPU and main memory, handling memory refresh operations and coordinating access to memory modules.
A hardware cache is a small, fast memory located close to the CPU that stores frequently accessed data and instructions to reduce the average time required to access memory and improve overall system performance.
The ALU is a digital circuit within the microprocessor that performs arithmetic and logical operations on data, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and bitwise operations.
General-purpose registers are used for storing and manipulating data and addresses during program execution, while special-purpose registers have specific functions, such as storing the program counter or status flags.
The MMU is responsible for translating virtual memory addresses used by software into physical memory addresses, managing memory protection, and handling memory segmentation and paging.
The control unit is responsible for fetching instructions from memory, decoding them, and generating control signals to coordinate the operation of other components within the microprocessor to execute the instructions.
Memory segmentation is a memory management technique that divides the virtual memory address space into logically independent segments, providing memory protection and allowing programs to access different memory segments without interference.
The northbridge is a chipset component that connects the CPU to high-speed devices like memory and graphics, while the southbridge connects to slower peripheral devices like USB, storage, and input/output devices.
The instruction queue is a buffer that holds instructions that have been fetched from memory but are waiting to be decoded and executed in the CPU pipeline, allowing for more efficient utilization of the pipeline.
The memory bus is a component of the system bus that connects the CPU and memory controller to the main memory modules, providing the pathway for data transfer between the CPU and memory.
A scalar processor performs operations on a single set of data at a time, while a vector processor can perform the same operation on multiple sets of data simultaneously, improving performance for certain types of computations.
The translation lookaside buffer (TLB) is a cache that stores recent virtual-to-physical address translations, improving the performance of virtual memory address translation by reducing the need to access the full page table in main memory.
The instruction decoder is a component of the CPU that takes the encoded instruction from memory and converts it into a set of control signals that direct the operation of the other components within the CPU to carry out the specified operation.
Memory interleaving is a technique used to improve memory performance by spreading data across multiple memory modules, allowing simultaneous access to different parts of the data to increase bandwidth and reduce latency.
In a von Neumann architecture, instructions and data share the same memory space, while in a Harvard architecture, instructions and data have separate memory spaces, allowing for simultaneous access to both instructions and data.
The system timer is a hardware component that generates periodic interrupts used for timekeeping, scheduling tasks, and maintaining accurate timing within the computer system.
The interrupt vector table is a data structure that stores the memory addresses of interrupt service routines for various interrupt sources, allowing the CPU to transfer control to the appropriate routine when an interrupt occurs.
A soft reset is a software-initiated reset that restarts the system without powering off the hardware, while a hard reset is a complete restart of the system by cutting and restoring power to the hardware components.
The execution unit is the component of the CPU responsible for performing the actual computational operations specified by instructions, such as arithmetic operations, logical operations, and data manipulations.
The bus arbitration unit is responsible for managing and controlling access to the system bus when multiple components request access simultaneously, ensuring fair and efficient use of the bus resources.
Machine code is the low-level binary instruction set that a CPU executes directly, while microcode is a lower-level set of instructions that implement the machine code instructions, providing a layer of abstraction between the hardware and the machine code.
The memory address register (MAR) is a register that holds the memory address used by the CPU to access data or instructions from memory during the fetch-decode-execute cycle.
Memory caching is a technique used to improve performance by storing frequently accessed data and instructions in a small, fast cache memory closer to the CPU, reducing the need to access the slower main memory.