Ch 1

How many KB are in 1 GB?

1 million

How many microseconds are in one second?

1 million

How many ns are in 1 ms?

1 million

Pico refers to what power of 10 and 2?

10 ^-12 and 2^-40 1 trillionth

Femto refers to what power of 10 and 2?

10 ^-15 and 2^-50 1 quadrillionth

How many KB are in 1 MB?

1000

How many MB are in 1 GB?

1000

How many microseconds are in one millisecond?

1000

How many ms are in 1 second?

1000

How many nanoseconds in one microsecond?

1000 ns

Micro refers to what power of 10 and what power of 2?

10^-6 and 2^-20 1 Millionth

Nano refers to what power of 10 and 2?

10^-9 and 2^-30 1 billionth

A tera refers to what power of 10 and what power of 2?

10^12 and 2^40 1 trillion

1 peta refers to how many units of 10 and 2?

10^15 and 2^50 1 quadrillion

An Exa refers to what power of 10 and what power of 2?

10^18 and 2^60 1 quintillion

A Zetta is what power of 10 and 2?

10^21 and 2^70 1 sextillion

A kilo refers to what power of base 10 and base 2?

10^3 and 2^10 1 thousand

A mega refers to what power of 10 and what power of 2?

10^6 and 2^20 1 million

To what power of 10 does the prefix giga refer? What is the equivalent power of 2?

10^9 and 2^30

How many KB are in 2 GB?

2e+6

How many bytes are in 20 MB?

2e+7

By what order of magnitude is something that runs in ns faster than something that runs in ms?

6 orders of magnitude

What is a multicore processor?

A computer processor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units called cores.

What is PCIe?

A peripheral bus that has its own slot and operates in serial. Used for sound and video cards.

What is a video card?

A processor responsible for performing the necessary calculations to render graphics so the main processor does not get bogged down.

What is a microprogram?

A program written in a low level language that is implemented by the hardware.

What is cache?

A type of temporary memory that can be accessed faster than RAM

What is the difference between active and passive matrix technology?

Active uses on transistor per pixel Passive uses one transistor per row or column

What is ANSI?

American National Standards Institute establishes standards within America.

How does an integrated circuit differ from a transistor?

An integrated circuit contains billions of individual transistors.

What is Saas?

Application services.

What is internet speed measured in?

Bits.

Name 3 basic components of every computer.

CPU Memory I/O Devices

What is SDRAM?

Can synchronize itself with a microprocessors bus and is much faster than nonsynchronous memory.

Who is the father of computing and why?

Charles Babbage because his invention the Analytical Engine contained an ALU, integrated memory and basic flow control using punch cards.

A micron usually measures what?

Circuits on computer chips

What is a parallel port?

Communicates multiple bits simultaneously in parallel along at least 8 data lines.

What is the difference between computer organization and computer architecture?

Computer organization is referring to all of the physical components of a computer. Computer architecture is referencing how logically all the components function together.

What was it about the Von Neumann architecture that distinguished it from its predecessors?

Computers no longer had to be required to solve different problems. Memory devices in the form of mercury delay lines, could provide a way to store program instructions.

What two speed measurements are reciprocals of each other?

Cycle time and clock frequency.

If a transistor on an integrated circuit chip were 2 microns in size, according to Moore's law, how large would that transistor be in 2 years?

Density doubles every 18 months. 18/24 months = .75 microns.

Why study computer organization and architecture?

Design better software including system software such as compilers, operating systems, and device drivers. Optimize program behavior. Evaluate(benchmark) computer system performance. Understand time, space and price trade offs.

What is the resolution of a monitor?

Determines the amount of text and graphics that the monitor can display.

What does ISO do?

Establishes worldwide standards for everything from screw threads to photographic film. Is influential in formulating standards for computer hardware and software, including their methods of manufacture.

What is the underlying premise of Amdahl's Law?

Every algorithm has a sequential part that limits the speed up that can be achieved by multiprocessor implementation.

What is RAM storage measured in?

GB

What are the distinguishing features of a tablet computer?

Handheld Touchscreen Circuitry to perform all the operations is built into the tablet. Does not need additional equipment. Equipped with sensors, camera, speakers, stylus, keyboard, etc.

What factors are important in the decision to buy a computer?

Hard disk capacity RAM capacity Processor type Processor speed Cost of each part Type and size of monitor

Name something commonly measured in milliseconds.

Hard disk drive access times are often 10 to 20 milliseconds.

What are some non-von neumann models of computing?

Harvard architecture that has separate buses for data and instructions. Dataflow computing Quantum computing Celular automata Parallel computing

What unit is typically used to measure the speed of a computer clock?

Herz

What is clock speed?

How many pulses are generated by on oscillator per second.

What is the name of the Swiss organization that devotes itself to matters concerning telephony, telecommunications and data communication?

ITU - The International Telecommunication Union

What are the advantages of service - oriented - computing?

Improved information flow. Organizational flexibility. Lower software development and management costs. Configuration Flexibility.

What is a serial port?

Info is transferred in or out sequentially one bit at a time along one or two data lines.

Name some aspects of computer architecture.

Instruction sets Instruction formats Data types Addressing modes

What is IoT?

Internet of Things A system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human to human or human to computer interaction.

How does the arrangement of computer level hierarchy help us to understand computer systems?

It enables us to understand how these layers are implemented and interface with each other. We understand how our instructions get carried down throughout the levels and executed.

What is the purpose of the program counter?

It is a special purpose register that is used by the processor to hold the address of the next instruction to be executed.

What is the importance of the principle of equivalence of hardware and software?

It is important in designing the architecture of a computer. Factors like cost, speed and function determine whether hardware or software should be used.

What was the significance of the punch card?

It was the first computer program.

What is the difference between L1 and L2 cache?

L1 is built into the microprocessor. L2 is situated between the microprocessor and main memory.

What are the disadvantages of service - oriented - computing?

Large upfront investment. Great load and increased response time. Vast variety of services.

Name and explain the first layer of the computer level hierarchy.

Level 0 - Digital logic level - The physical components of a computer system: The gates and wires. The implementation of the mathematical logic.

Name and explain the second layer of the computer level hierarchy?

Level 1 - The control level - The control unit interprets the machine instructions sent to it one at a time, causing the correct actions to take place. It makes sure the instructions are decoded and executed properly.

Name and explain the third layer of computer level hierarchy.

Level 2 - Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) or Machine Level, consists of the machine language recognized by the particular architecture of the computer system.

Name and explain the fourth level of computer level hierarchy.

Level 3 - System Software Level - Operating system instructions. Responsible for multi programming, protecting memory and synchronizing processes.

Name and explain the fifth level of computer level hierarchy.

Level 4 - Assembly language level - Some type of assembly language that gets translated one to one to machine language.

Name and explain the sixth level of computer level hierarchy.

Level 5 - High Level Language - Consists of languages such as C, C++, Pascal, etc. Must be translated using a compiler or interpreter into assembly and then machine code.

Name and explain the seventh level of computer level hierarchy.

Level 6 - User Level - Applications

Name two types of computer memory.

Long term memory Temporary memory

Nano seconds are often used to measure what?

Main memory access times are often 50-70 nanoseconds.

What is meant by parallel computing?

Many calculations or the execution of the processes are carried out simulataneously.

What are the key characteristics of cloud computing?

Measured service. Rapid elasticity. Resource pooling On demand self services.

What are the main challenges of cloud computing from a consumer perspective?

Once they've moved to the cloud they may not be able to go back. Reliable high speed internet is mandatory. Must be mindful of resource consumption. Dependent on services that disappear.

What is RAM?

Random access memory. Contents can be accessed directly if you know its location.

How is Rock's Law related to Moore's Law?

Rock's Law is the corollary to Moore's Law. If Moore's law is to hold, Rock's Law must fall.

What is congestive collapse?

Routers become overwhelmed, reroute packets to other routers that become overwhelmed in a cascading fashion.

What are the three types of cloud computing platforms?

SaaS - Software as a Service PaaS - Platform as a Service IaaS - Infrastructure as a service.

What is SATA?

Serial Advanced Technology attachment, a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters to mass storage adapters. Hard disk interfaces with other system components.

What is Paas?

Server Hardware Operating Systems Database Services Security Components Back up and Recovery Services

What are the main challenges of cloud computing from a provider perspective?

Service must be uninterrupted, even during maintenance. Performance must be monitored continually and fixed if it falls below standards.

In what ways are hardware and software different?

Software is easier to change. Cost of software development is relatively flat. Hardware is based on earlier generation products. Hardware has to work over a range of time and environmental conditions.

What is SCADA?

Supervisory control and data acquisition Operate vital portions of physical infrastructure Power generation Transportation networks Sewage systems Oil and gas pipelines

Name two major breakthroughs in the history of computers.

The Atanasoff Berry Computer because it was the first completely electronic computer. The discovery of the integrated circuit.

What is a microprocessor?

The CPU, it executes program instructions.

What is the full name of the organization ISO? Is ISO an acronym?

The International Organization for Standardization. No, it comes from the Greek word isos, meaning equal.

What is cycle time?

The amount of time between two pulses on an oscillator.

How does the fetch decode execute cycle work?

The control unit fetches the next program instructions from the memory, using the program counter to determine where the instruction is located. The instruction is decoded into a language the ALU can understand. Any data operands required to execute are fetched from memory and placed in registers in CPU.

State Moore's Law.

The density of transistors in an integrated circuit will double every year.

What is ISA?

The instruction set architecture or machine level, that consists of the machine language recognized by the particular architecture of the computer system. It provides commands to the processor. It consists of addressing modes, instructions, native data types, registers, memory architecture, interrupt and exception handling and external I/O.

What is meant by open architecture?

The technology infrastructure specifications are open to the public, not proprietary.

In what ways are hardware and software similar?

They both interact with users, products and given inputs yield outputs. User facing and non user facing requirements. Complex, major features are decomposed into finer grained features.

Explain the difference between SSI, MSI, LSA and VLSI.

They each stand for different amounts of components per chip. 10-100 - Small scale integration 100-1000 Medium scale integration 1000 - 10000 Large scale integration 10000 + Very large scale integration

What is it about the transistor that made it such an improvement over the vacuum tube?

They use less power and lower voltages. They're many times smaller, enabling computers to be smaller. They could be wired into a series for greater computing power.

How does the term abstraction apply to computer organization and architecture?

Through the principle of abstraction we can imagine the machine to be built from a hierarchy of levels, in which each level has a specific function and exists as a distinct hypothetical machine.

What does it mean to fetch an instruction?

To load an instruction or piece of data from memory into a CPUs register.

What is USB?

Universal Serial Bus A self configuring serial interface that supports plug n' play.

Name two driving factors in the development of computers.

Vacuum Tubes Transistors

What makes Watson so different from traditional computers?

Watson drew inferences and made assumptions using hard facts and incomplete information. Watson understands the language and terms in a field of human knowledge.