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Exercise 1:
-Control unit
-Register unit
2. Registers are special memory locations which are used for temporary storage of information
within the CPU and will be used in subsequent processing.
3. MAR (Memory Address Register): This register holds the address of memory where CPU
wants to read or write data. When CPU wants to store some data in the memory or reads
the data from the memory, it places the address of the memory location in the MAR.
4. MDR/MBR (Memory Data Register/Memory Buffer Register): This register holds the contents
of data or instruction read from, or written in memory. The contents of instruction placed in tis
register are transferred to the Instruction Register, while the contents of data are transferred to
the accumulator or I/O register. In other words this register is used to store data/instruction
coming from the memory or going to the memory.
5. Data bus: This is a hardware line used purposely for transfer of data within the CPU and
computer system as a whole.
6. Address bus: This is a communication or hardware line that carries the addresses (locations)
where data items are to be found and retrieved.
7. Control bus: This bus carries control signals used to trigger and control the access of
components within the computer system.
8. keyboard port, mouse port, printer port, modem port, monitor port, SCSI port(Small
computer system interface port), microphone and speaker port, USB port.
Exercise 2:
1. Plug and play: This is a set of specification that allows a PC to configure itself
automatically to work with peripherals such as monitor, modems, and printers. A user
can “plug” in a peripheral and “play” it without manually configuring the system.
2. SD RAM: Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
Exercise 3:
4 Computer failures can arise based on either hardware related failure or software failure.
Hardware related failures involve either damage of the hardware or failure of the
hardware to respond due to damage of a line joining this hardwares in order to function
properly. For example a damage to the computer power system will cause the computer
not to start or not function very well during operations.
Software related failures are attributed to failures caused by a malfunctioned
software that can have direct access to hardware components. For example a software
that has crashed or not functioning properly which can access hardware components
through addresses may write or access an entirely different address which may cause
the computer not to function properly.
5 Computer Viruses are small program that hide themselves on your disks (both
diskettes and your hard disk). Unless you use virus detection software the first time that
you know that you have a virus is when it activates. Different viruses are activated in
different ways.
Viruses hide on a disk and when you access the disk (either a diskette or another
hard disk over a network) the virus program will start and infect your computer. The
worst thing about a computer virus is that they can spread from one computer to
another, either via use of infected floppy disk, or over a computer network, including
the Internet.
There are a number of third party antivirus products available. Most of these are better
than the rather rudimentary products available within DOS and Windows, but of course
you do have to pay for them! The main thing about your virus checker is that it should
be kept up to date. Many companies supply updated disks on a regular basis or allow
you to receive updates through an electronic, on-line bulletin board
6 Cache memory is a portion (perhaps several hundred KB) of High-speed memory located
within the CPU itself. In this special memory area, the machine attempts to keep a copy
of that portion of main memory that is of current interest. In this setting, data transfers
that normally would be made between registers and main memory are made between
registers and cache memory. Any changes made to cache memory are then transferred
collectively to main memory at a more opportune time. The result is a CPU that can
execute its machine cycle more rapidly because it is not delayed by main memory
communication. In this case the larger the cache memory the faster the performance of
the system.
There are two types involve: memory cache and disk cache. Memory cache also
known as cache store or RAM cache helps to speed up the processes of the computer
because it stores the instructions and data which are frequently used. The processor is
likely to request these items repeatedly so the items are stored for quick access. When
the processor needs an instruction, it first searches the cache and if it cannot locate the
item, it then searches for the RAM.
Memory cache can be further divided into three types or layers of memory. That is
Level 1(L1), Level 2(L2), and level 3(L3). L1 cache is the primary cache or internal cache
because it is built directly into the processor chip and this cache usually has a very small
capacity ranging from 8KB to 64KB. L2 or external cache is slightly slower than the L1
cache but has a much higher capacity ranging from 64KB to 4MB and is not part of the
processor as the case of the L1 cache which the processor can get access to it very fast.
Disk cache is used during disk access. So when a disk is being access, the data is
been copied into the disk cache so that the processor can access it very fast without any
waist of time and interruption.