Computer System Architecture Quiz

Introduction to Computer System Architecture

• The course covers topics such as pipelining, processes and threads, multitasking, and multi-processing.

• General-purpose microprocessors must have RAM, ROM, I/O ports, and timers added externally to be functional, but they offer versatility in terms of the amount of RAM, ROM, and I/O ports.

• General-purpose microprocessors consist of a CPU on a chip, but no RAM, ROM, or I/O ports. Intel 4004 was the first microprocessor.

• Microcontrollers are ideal for applications where cost and space are critical, as they have a fixed amount of on-chip ROM, RAM, and number of I/O ports.

• Microcontrollers consist of a CPU, RAM, ROM, I/O ports, timer, ADC, and other peripherals. Intel 8048 was the first microcontroller.

• An embedded system is a combination of software and hardware that performs a specific task, using a microprocessor or microcontroller to do one task only.

• Unlike an embedded system, a personal computer can be used for any number of applications and contains RAM memory and an operating system that loads various applications into RAM and lets the CPU run them.

• The internal organization of computers can be divided into three parts: the CPU, I/O devices, and memory (RAM and long-term storage).

• The CPU connects with peripherals and memory via buses (system bus), which consist of three types: control bus, address bus, and data bus.

• The CPU consists of a control unit and instruction decoder, an arithmetic/logic unit, and registers to synchronize and control the overall operation of the microprocessor system.

• The CPU performs arithmetic and logic instructions, points to the address of the next instruction to be executed, and stores the address of the instruction under execution.

• The CPU fetches machine language instructions and executes them through the fetch and execute process, which takes four steps: fetch instruction, decode instruction, execute instruction, and write (save) result.Execution of Instructions in a Simple Microprocessor

• The simple microprocessor consists of various components such as memory, electronic clock, ALU, accumulator, control unit, etc.

• The instructions are stored in memory and fetched one by one for execution.

• The address of the next instruction is placed in the Memory Address Register (MAR) while the instruction is being fetched.

• The fetched instruction is loaded into the Memory Data Register (MDR).

• The instruction is then loaded into the Control Instruction Register (CIR) and decoded.

• The Program Counter (PC) is incremented to point to the next instruction.

• The Control Unit (CU) executes the decoded instruction using the appropriate components such as ALU, accumulator, etc.

• The result of the instruction execution is then stored in the accumulator.

• The address of the next instruction is loaded into the MAR, and the process is repeated.

• The instructions are executed one at a time, in a non-pipelined manner.

• The execution time for each instruction is equal to the sum of the time required to fetch, decode, and execute the instruction.

• In a pipelined architecture, multiple instructions are executed simultaneously, with different stages of the pipeline executing different instructions.Computer Science Concepts

• Pipelined processor allows for multiple steps to be executed simultaneously, with each part being a pipelined stage

• The number of simultaneous stages that can be completed at once is known as the pipeline depth

• Processes are executable programs and associated data loaded and running in memory

• Processes may exist in multiple states, including new, ready, running, waiting, and terminate

• Threads are subsets of a process and are able to share memory, with each thread having its own instruction pointer, set of registers, and stack memory

• Interrupts indicate that an asynchronous event has occurred, and can be either software or hardware interrupts

• Multiprogramming allows a computer to run more than one program at a time

• Multiprocessing occurs by means of parallel processing, while multiprogramming occurs by switching from one process to another

• Multitasking allows multiple tasks to run simultaneously on one CPU, while pipelining is an example of multitasking

• Multithreading is an execution model that allows a single process to have multiple code segments running concurrently within the context of that process

• Operating systems make use of complex time management multitasking algorithms

• Examples of programs that utilize multithreading include VLC media player, where one thread is used for opening the player, one for playing a song, and another for adding songs to a playlist.