Chapter 7

Processor and Memory

We saw in Chapter 2 that the main components of a computer system are
input, output,
storage, and CPU. We also saw that storage units are basically of two types primary and
secondary. With this background knowledge, I we are now ready to learn
more about the
internal structure and working of the various components of a computer
system. This and
the next two chapters have been devoted to this learning. In this chapter we
will learn
about the structure and working of the CPU (also known as processor) and
the primary
storage (also known as main memory or simply memory). Subsequently, the
structure
and working of secondary storage devices and [input/output devices will be
presented in
Chapters 8 and 9 respectively.
This chapter introduces the basic concepts related to the processor and the
main memory
of a computer system. In this chapter you will learn about:
1. How processors are internally structured?
2. How memory is structured?
3. How to determine the speed of a processor?
4. What are the different types of processors available?
5. How to determine the capacity of a memory?
6. What are the different types of memory available?
7. What are the main factors related to processor and memory that affect the
processing
speed of a computer system?
8. And several other terms related to the processor
The basic processor and memory architecture of a computer system is shown
in Figure
7.1. The details of the various components of this figure will be presented in
this
chapter.
ROM PROM Flash
Main Memory
(RAM)
V
Cache Memory
-----Decoder p. Accumulator
register
Program control

register
General-purpose
register
Instruction
register
General-purpose