Hardware and Communication Flashcards
Hardware
The electronical/ physical components of a computer system
Software
The programs, routines and procedures that run on a computer system
Stored Program Concept
Programs need to be resident in memory to be executed. It processes by fetching the machine code instructions in sequence from main memory and executing them one at a time in the processor.
Von Neumann Architecture
Programs, data and instructions are stored in on single store.
CPU
The main chip on the motherboard. It consists of registers, ALU and control unit. CPU fetches instructions from memory in sequence, decodes and executes it.
RAM
Holds the programs currently being run, data being processed and is directly addressable by the processor.
Volatile
Cache
Holds recently used data and instructions for quickly access at a later time.
On-chip cache
Area of microprocessor that contains cache memory.
Disk cache
Area of very fast memory between RAM and hard drive
RAM cache
Area of very fast memory between CPU and main memory (sometimes referred to as L2 or L3 cache)
Web cache
File containing recently accessed web pages
ROM
Data and instructions are fixed onto the ROM chip during manufacture. It s permanent, cannot be deleted or amended.
EEPROM
(Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) A type of read only memory whose contents can be erased or reprogrammed using pulsed voltage.
Register
A unit of very small but fast memory on the processor used to temporarily store data/ control information.
Peripheral
A piece of equipment that can be attached to the CPU
