CISC 101 Study Guide - Summer 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Tuple, String Theory, Newline
CISC 101
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Introduction to Computer Architecture
• RAM and ROM are central to the computer, whereas most others are peripherals
• RAM Memory goes away if the power is turned off
• RAM and ROM are connected on a bus
CPU
• Central processing unit
• The heart of the computer
• Consists of millions of transistors
• Characterized by their clock speed, which controls the number of operations per second they
can carry out
o Responsibilities include:
▪ Locating and carrying our program instructions
▪ Carrying out arithmetic operations on data stored temporarily in a few registers
▪ Moving data between ram and other storage registers
• Can only carry out machine language instructions
• The pins are either on or off
• All program instructions must be reduced to binary machine code
RAM and ROM
• RAM is volatile, whatever is stored is gone when the power goes off
• Ultimately, the numbers are stored in binary format - stored in memory
• Typically holds program instructions
• ROM not volatile (Typically only one on a integrated circuit)
o Contains code and BIOS data used to boot the computer
Disk Storage
• Data stored on magnetic or optical media
• Not volatile!
• Disk read/write operations are much slower than operations carried out in RAM by CPU
• Moder ““D’s hae aks of o-volatile memory
Data Ports
• RS232, parallel, USB
• Providing input/output for the user via the keyboard,mouse, monitor, shound card,
irophoe…
• Modem, network card and/or wireless card
o Provide a means of connecting to other computers
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Von Neumann Architecture
• The structure is the following:
o Very compartmentalized
o Separate units for input and output
o Data is stored in separate memory location
o The ALU carries out instruction on data items moved to ALU
o Control unit acts as a stage manager
• CYLCLE: Fetch, decode, fetch operands, execute, update instruction counter
• Working on the ENIAC computer at moore school
o Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer
o First eletroi oputer uilt i the late 94’s
▪ Women were the only ones with enough patience
The First Computer Bug
• There was a moth stuck in the relay, ad as the reaso the ahie that the ahie as’t
working
• Known as the mother of COBOL
• The first commercial computer was the UNIVAC I which was delivered to the bureau of census
Vacuum Tubes
• A Bias voltage grid – allows current to flow between emitter and collector
• Lots of energy required
• Electrons going to Anode
• Vacuum tube can have many states, normally assumed to be 10
Transistors
• Do not need the same energy as a vacuum tube
• Much smaller than vacuum tube
Integrated Circuits
• A IC oies thousands, if not millions of transistors onto a single chip of silicon – a
semiconductor material
• Determines the logic diagrams used to create the circuits required
• Moore’s Law: The number of transistors in a processor will double every 24 months
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
