Computer Basics Quiz

The first generation of computers relied on machine language for programming, only capable of solving one problem at a time.

ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, was an early general-purpose electronic digital computer, created during World War II primarily for calculating artillery firing tables.

ENIAC was a massive machine that occupied a large room, demonstrating the technological advancement and physical scale of early computers.

John Mauchly (physicist) and J. Presper Eckert (electrical engineer) were the main figures behind the design and creation of ENIAC, leading a team of engineers, mathematicians, and programmers.

Machine language is the lowest-level programming language, directly understood by the computer, used in the first generation of computers.

Vacuum tubes were invented by Lee De Forest, an electrical engineer. These tubes played a critical role in early computers and other electronic devices.

The second generation of computers transitioned to transistors, which were smaller, more efficient, and produced less heat than vacuum tubes. This led to faster processing and more compact computer designs.

Transistors, invented in the 1940s, replaced vacuum tubes. These smaller and more efficient components significantly improved computer speed and reliability.

The third generation of computers saw the introduction of integrated circuits (ICs), also known as microchips. ICs packed many transistors onto a single chip, leading to much smaller, faster, and more powerful computers.

Integrated circuits (ICs), or microchips, revolutionized computer technology in the third generation. They integrated numerous transistors on a single chip, leading to smaller, cheaper, and more powerful computers.

Later generations of computers built upon the innovations of the first three generations. These generations saw the development of semiconductors, microprocessors, and advanced memory technologies.

A microprocessor is a single, integrated circuit that contains all the essential components of a central processing unit (CPU). It's the brain of a computer, responsible for executing instructions and processing data.

A self-contained transistor. These suffered from the issues of requiring soldering to a circuit board which was costly.

A persistent trend where the size of electronic circuits continues to decrease.

A prediction made in 1965 by Gordon Moore that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles about every two years. The trend is still observed, though the doubling rate is now closer to every 18 months.

A family of computers released by IBM in 1964. They featured compatible instruction sets, operating systems, and increasing speeds, memory sizes, I/O ports, and cost.

The first minicomputer released in 1964 by DEC. It was significantly smaller and more affordable compared to large mainframes, like the IBM 360 series.

A type of computer architecture where all components share a common set of signal paths, controlled by the CPU.

The use of gates to represent logic functions and memory cells to store data.

The cost of microchips has remained stable despite the increasing component density. The trend is driven by the constant improvements in fabrication techniques and manufacturing efficiency.

Pipelining is a technique where instructions are processed in stages, like a pipeline, with each stage working on a different instruction simultaneously, improving overall processing speed.

Branch prediction allows the processor to anticipate which instructions are likely to be executed next, based on previous patterns, enabling it to fetch and prepare those instructions in advance, reducing processing delays.

Superscalar execution allows processors to issue and execute multiple instructions per clock cycle, effectively parallel processing within a single processor, increasing performance.

Data flow analysis helps the processor determine the dependencies between instructions and optimize their execution order, maximizing efficiency and allowing more instructions to be processed concurrently.

Speculative execution is a technique where the processor makes educated guesses about the execution path and starts processing instructions based on its predictions. If the prediction is correct, it saves time, but if wrong, the results are discarded, and the correct path is followed.

The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), a pioneer in computing history, was a behemoth, weighing approximately 30 tons and occupying a space equivalent to 1,500 square feet. It relied on 18,000 vacuum tubes to function and required a substantial power supply of 140 kilowatts.

The ENIAC was capable of performing 5,000 additions per second, demonstrating its computational prowess. It operated on a decimal system, representing both numbers and performing arithmetic using decimal values. The machine employed 20 accumulators, each capable of storing a ten-digit decimal number. Each digit was encoded using a single vacuum tube, where an ON state represented a '1' and an OFF state represented a '0'.

The ENIAC's primary drawback was its lack of a dedicated memory to store programs. Instructions had to be manually rewired, making it inflexible and cumbersome. The machine was designed for specific tasks, not for general-purpose programming.

The stored-program concept, introduced by von Neumann, was a revolutionary idea in computer architecture. It involves storing programs directly in memory along with data. This allows the computer to fetch and execute instructions from memory, making it flexible and efficient. Programs become modifiable by changing the contents of memory.

The Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC), developed in 1945, was a groundbreaking machine based on the stored-program concept. It laid the foundation for modern computers, paving the way for general-purpose computing.

The IAS Computer (Institute of Advanced Study Computer), developed in 1946, was a key milestone in computing history. It epitomized the von Neumann architecture and served as a template for subsequent general-purpose computers. The IAS Computer comprised essential components like a central processing unit (CPU), main memory, arithmetic logic unit (ALU), input/output (I/O) equipment, and a program control unit (CC).

The central processing unit (CPU) is the brain of a computer system. It executes instructions and performs operations on data. The CPU is further divided into the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) and the Program Control Unit (CC).

The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) is a crucial part of the CPU. It handles arithmetic and logical operations on binary data. For instance, it performs addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and logical comparisons.

The program control unit (CC) is responsible for interpreting instructions stored in memory and coordinating their execution. It acts as a director guiding the CPU through various tasks based on the instructions.

Main memory is a crucial component of a computer, storing data and instructions. The IAS computer employed a main memory with 1,000 storage locations (words), each word containing 40 bits. Each memory location could store either data or an instruction.

Decreasing the size of logic gates on a chip allows for more gates to be packed in a smaller space, leading to a higher clock rate.

Dedicating a portion of the processor chip to cache memory significantly reduces the time it takes to access data, boosting performance.

Strategies that optimize the organization and architecture of a processor, such as pipelining and superscalar execution, aim to increase the effective speed of instruction execution.

The power density of a processor increases as the logic density and clock speed increase, posing a challenge for heat dissipation. This can lead to performance limitations.

The speed of electron flow in a processor is limited by the resistance and capacitance of the wires interconnecting them. As wires get thinner and closer together, these factors increase, leading to slower signal propagation.

The latency between a computer's RAM and its processor is the time delay in transmitting data between them, impacting overall performance.

Utilizing multiple levels of cache between the processor and main memory, with increased chip density allowing for more cache memory on the chip, significantly improves data access speeds.

The Pentium 4 architecture utilizes a significantly higher percentage of the chip area for cache memory compared to earlier generations, further highlighting the importance of cache capacity in modern processors.

Pipelining allows different stages of instruction execution to occur simultaneously, similar to an assembly line, while superscalar design enables multiple pipelines within a single processor, further enhancing instruction parallelism.

Limitations in increasing clock speed and power dissipation are among the challenges faced by single-core processor design, highlighting a need for alternative approaches like multi-core processing.