Chapter 2 Vocab
Machine language
A binary-based language for representing computer programs that the computer can execute directly
Expansion bus
A bus on the motherboard used to connect peripheral devices
Microprocessor
A central processing unit (CPU) for a personal computer
Volatile
A characteristic of memory or storage in which data is not retained when the power to the computer is turned off
Nonvolatile
A characteristic of memory or storage in which data is retained even when the power to the computer is turned off
Processor
A chip (such as the CPU or GPU) that performs processing functions
Expansion card
A circuit board that can be inserted into an expansion slot location on a computer's motherboard to add additional functionally or to connect a peripheral device to that computer
Optical computer
A computer that uses light, such as from laser beams or infrared beams, to perform digital computations
Bus
An electronic path on the motherboard or within th CPU or other computer component along which data is transferred
ROM (read-only material)
Nonvolatile chips located on the motherboard into which data or programs have been permanently stored
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs)
Tiny, hollow tubes made of carbon atoms
Quad-core CPU
A CPU that contains four separate processing cores
Multi-core CPU
A CPU that contains the processing components or core of more than one processor in a single CPU
Dual-core CPU
A CPU that contains two separate processing cores
Port
A connector on the exterior of a computer to which a device may be attached
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
A fixed-length, binary coding system used to represent text-based data for computer processing on many types of computers
Byte
A group of 8 bits
Cache memory
A group of fast memory circuitry located on or near the CPU to help speed up processing
FireWire
A high-speed bus standard sometimes used to connect digital video cameras and other multimedia hardware to a computer
Expansion slot
A location on the motherboard into which expansion cards are inserted
Parallel processing
A processing technique that uses multiple processors or multiple processing cores simultaneously, usually to process a single job as fast as possible
Quantum computing
A technology that applies the principles of quantum physics and quantum mechanics to computers to direct atoms or nuclei to work together as quantum bits (qubits), which function simultaneously as the computers processor and memory
Universal Serial Bus (USB)
A universal bus used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices to a computer without requiring the use of additional expansion cards
Unicode
An international coding system that can be used to represent text-based data in any written language
Gigabyte (GB)
Approximately 1 billion bytes
Megabyte (MB)
Approximately 1 million bytes
Kilobyte (KB)
Approximately 1 thousand bytes (1,024 bytes to be exact)
Terabyte (TB)
Approximately 1 trillion bytes
Zettabyte (ZB)
Approximately 1,000 exabytes
Exabyte (EB)
Approximately 1,000 petabytes
Petabyte (PB)
Approximately 1,000 terabytes
Yottabyte (YB)
Approximately 1,000 zettabytes
Memory
Chip-based storage
RAM (random access memory)
Chips connected to the motherboard that provide a temporary location for the computer to hold data and program instructions while they are needed
Register
High-speed memory built into the CPU that temporarily stores data during processing
Flash memory
Nonvolatile memory chips that can be used for storage by the computer or user; can be built into a computer or a storage medium
PCI Express (PCIe) bus
One of the buses most commonly used to connect peripheral devices
Tera-scale computing
The ability of a computer to process data at teraflop speeds
Bandwidth
The amount of data that can theoretically be transferred through a communications medium in a given period of time
Throughput
The amount of data that is actually transferred through a communications medium under real-life conditions
Frontside bus (FSB)
The bus that connects the CPU to the chipset that connects to the rest of the bus architecture
Pipelining
The capability of a CPU or CPU core to begin processing a new instruction as soon as the previous instruction completes the first stage of the machine cycle
Multiprocessing
The capability to use multiple processors or multiple processing core in single computer, usually to process multiple jobs at one time faster than could be performed with a single processor
Central processing unit (CPU)
The chip located on the motherboard of a computer that performs most of the processing for a computer
Graphics processing unit (GPU)
The chip that does the processing needed to display images on the screen, can be located on the motherboard, inside the CPU, or on a video graphics board
Memory bus
The connection between the CPU and the RAM
System unit
The main box of a computer that houses the CPU, motherboard, memory, and other devices
Motherboard
The main circuit board of a computer, located inside the system unit, to which all computer system components connect
Decimal numbering system
The numbering system that represents all numbers using 10 symbols (0-9)
Binary numbering system
The numbering system that represents all numbers using just two symbols (0-1)
Bus interface unit
The part of a CPU core that allows it to communicate with other CPU components
Prefetch unit
The part of a CPU core that attempts to retrieve data and instructions before they are needed for processing in order to avoid delays
Control unit
The part of a CPU core that coordinates its operations
Floating point unit (FPU)
The part of a CPU core that performs decimal arithmetic
Arithmetic/logic unit (ALU)
The part of a CPU core that performs logical operations and integer arithmetic
Decode unit
The part of a CPU core that translates instructions into a form that can be processed by the ALU and FPU
Nanotechnology
The science of creating tiny computers and components by working at the individual atomic and molecular levels
Machine cycle
The series of operations involved in the execution of a single machine-level instruction
Bit
The smallest unit of data a digital computer can recognize; represented by a 0 or a 1
System clock
The timing mechanism within the computer system that synchronizes the computer's operations