CS 310 Test 1 Study Guide

Describe "Generation Zero"

(1642-1945) Calculating machines * Mechanical machines that perform various calculations. * Notable machines: - Calculating Clock - The Pascaline - Difference Engine - Punched card tabulating machines.

Describe the Atanasoff Berry Computer

(1937-1938) *Created by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry of Iowa State University. * Solved systems of linear equations.

Describe "The First Generation"

(1945-1953) Vacuum Tube Computers * Notable machines: - Atanasoff Berry Computer - Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) - IBM 650 * UNIVAC, ERA, CRC all emerge.

Describe the ENIAC

(1946) (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) * Created by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the University of Pennsylvania. * Credited with being the FIRST general purpose computing device and computer.

Describe "The Second Generation"

(1954-1965) Transistorized Computers * Notable machines: - IBM Scientific/Business models. - UNIVAC 1000. - Digital Equipment Corporation and Control Data Corporation emerge.

Describe the IBM 650

(1955) * First mass-produced computer. * Phased out in 1969.

What is Moore's Law?

(1965) Gordon Moore, the founder of Intel, stated that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented.

Describe the "Third Generation"

(1965-1980) Integrated Circuit Computers * Notable machines: - IBM 360 - DEC PDP 8 and DEC PDP 11 - Cray 1 Supercomputer * IBM gains overwhelming dominance in the computer industry.

Describe the "Fourth Generation"

(1980-??) VLSI (Very Large Integrated Circuit Computers) * More than 10,000 components per chip. * Enabled the creation of microprocessors. *Notable machines: - 4-bit Intel 4004

AGP

(Accelerated Graphics Port) A high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a video card to a computer system, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics.

BCD

(Binary-Coded Decimal) * One of the earliest code schemes. * Used by IBM mainframes

CRT

(Cathode Ray Tube) Moves an electron beam back and forth across the screen, lighting up phosphor dots inside a tube.

EIDE

(Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics) Enhancements to the IDE that make it possible to address a hard disk larger than 528 Mb. Provides faster access to the hard drive, support for Direct Memory Access, and support for additional drivers.

IEEE

(Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) An organization which establishes standards of computing components, data representation, signaling protocols, and promotes the interests of the electrical engineering community.

ISA

(Instruction Set Architecture) The manner in which the software communicates with the hardware.

IDE

(Integrated Drive Electronics) A standard electronic interface used between a computer motherboard's data paths or Bus, and the computer's disk storage devices.

ISO

(International Organization for Standardization) An international organization which formulates hardware and software specifications for methods of manufacturing.

ITU

(International Telecommunications Union) An international organization which delegates concerns with the interoperability of telecomm systems. EX: Datacomm and Telephony

LCD

(Liquid Crystal Display) A liquid crystal mixture between two pieces of polarized glass.

PCI

(Peripheral Component Interconnect) Input/output Bus standard supporting the connection of multiple peripheral devices.

RAM

(Random Access Memory) The contents of memory that can accessed directly if the location is known.

SDRAM

(Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) Memory that is faster than conventional (nonsynchronous) memory because it can synchronize itself with the microprocessor's Bus.

USB

(Universal Serial Bus) An intelligent serial interface that is self-configuring and supports "plug and play".

Describe the Digital Logic Level

(level 0) This level is the location of the digital circuitry of a computer system (the physical chips), and its components implement the mathematical logic of ALL other levels.

Describe the Control Level

(level 1) The Control Unit decodes and executes instructions and moves data throughout the system.

Describe the Machine Level

(level 2) * ISA level. * Consists of instructions that are particular to the architecture of a machine. * Written in machine language and needs no compilers, interpreters, or assemblers.

Describe the System Software Level

(level 3) * Controls executing processes on the system. * Manages and protects system resources. * Assembly language instructions will often pass through this level without modification.

Describe the Assembly Language Level

(level 4) Acts upon assembly language produced from level 5 as well as instructions programmed DIRECTLY at this level.

Describe the High-Language Level

(level 5) The level in which programmers interact when writing programs.

Describe the User Level

(level 6) * The program execution and interface level. * The most widely familiar and recognized level in computing systems.

IEEE 754

* 8-bit exponent * bias of 127 * 23-bit significand

What are some general characteristics of the Computer Hierarchy Levels?

* In the hierarchy, each level is an abstraction of the level below it. * At each level, machines execute their own set of instructions by calling upon machines at lower levels to perform tasks. * The closer to the digital logic level, the faster executions are performed. * Computer circuits ultimately carry out the work.

Overflow

* Occurs when attempting a calculation results in a value becoming too large to be stored in a computer's representation. * losing high-order bits.

Underflow

* Occurs when attempting a calculation results in a value too small to stored in a computer's representation. * Possibly result of division by zero.

Giga

- G - 1 billion - 10^9 - 2^30

Kilo

- K - 1000 - 10^3 - 2^10

Word

A contiguous (consecutive) group of bytes.

Byte (data representation)

A group of 8 bits.

von Neumann Bottleneck

A single data path between the CPU and main memory. Leads to a slowdown of resources.

Cache

A small, special type of type temporary memory that can be accessed faster than RAM.

Hertz

Clock cycles per second (frequency). Frequently used to measure processor speeds. EX: 1MHz = 1,000,000 Hz

What is a method of Overflow detection?

Complement arithmetic.

Port

Component which allows data to move between the system and external devices.

Software

Computer program and associated data utilized to complete a task.

How was the von Neumann Model first conceived?

ENIAC inventors Mauchley and Eckert conceived of a computer system that could store instructions in memory. This led to the genesis of "stored program" computers and, ultimately, the creation of von Neumann Architecture Systems.

Accuracy

How closely a numeric representation approximates a true (real) value.

Precision

How much information is known about a value.

Addressable

If a particular byte can be retrieved according to its location in memory.

Computer Components: What is the function of a Processor?

Interpret and execute programs.

What is important of von Neumann Architecture?

It leads to the capacity to carry out sequential instruction processing and storing of instructions.

Native Resolution

LCD designed for a specific resolution (dot pitch).

What are the methods of measuring RAM and disk storage?

Measured in GB in small systems and TB in larger systems.

Control units can be...

Microprogrammed or hardwired.

Expansion Slot

Openings on the motherboard which allow for other boards to be plugged in.

Bus

Pathway along which data and instructions travel.

Serial Ports

Sends data as a series of pulses along one or two data lines.

Parallel Ports

Sends data as a single pulse along at least EIGHT data lines.

Describe the 4-bit Intel 4004

Spawned the modern concept of "personal computing"

How are storage capacities measured in computer systems?

Storage capacities are measured in the powers of 2.

Computer Components: What is the function of Memory?

Store both data and programs.

Active Matrix

Technology which uses one transistor per pixel thereby creating a better image.

Passive Matrix

Technology which uses transistors to activate entire rows and columns of pixels.

What are the components of the Digital Logic Level?

The Gates and the Wires between them.

Describe the IBM 360

The IBM 360 was the turning point for IBM computers. It introduced not just one model, but a family of models made compatible though a common operating system. First instance of the powerful concept of "Upward Compatibility".

Byte

a unit of storage (usually representing one character).

Nanosecond

one billionth of a second.

Micron

one millionth of a meter (micrometer).

Millisecond

one thousandth of a second.

Response Time

The rate at which pixels change color.

Aspect Ratio

The ratio of horizontal pixels to vertical pixels.

Mega

- M - 1,000,000 - 10^6 -2^20

What are the computer characteristics of the Third Generation?

- Much smaller. - More reliable than transistorized models. - Cheaper. - Less heat generation. - Less power consumption. - More widely used. - More powerful and many more operations built-in.

Peta

- P - 10^15 - 2^50

What are the computer characteristics of the First Generation?

- Slow. - Large. - Very Expensive. - High-power Consumption. - High-heat generation. - Extremely limited functionality.

What are the computer characteristics of the Fourth Generation?

- Small. - Reliable and powerful. - Minimal heat generation. - Minimal power consumption. - Vastly used. - Much cheaper.

What are the computer characteristics of the Second Generation?

- Smaller. - Less power consumption. - Less heat generation. - More reliable. - Less costly.

Tera

- T - 1 trillion. - 10^12 - 2^40

What are the levels of Computer Hierarchy?

- User-level. - High-level language level. - Assembly language level. - System software level. - Machine level. - Control level. - Digital logic level.

Milli

- m - 1/1000 - 10^(-3) - 2^(-10)

Micro

- micro u - 10^(-6) - 2^(-20)

Nano

- n - 10^(-9)

Pico

- p - 10^(-12)

What are the components of von Neumann Architecture?

1) A Central Processing Unit (CPU). 2) A Main Memory system. 3) An Input/output system.

Why study computer organization?

1) Design better programs such as system software, compilers, operating systems, and device drivers 2) Optimize program behavior such as speed or size and promote efficiency. 3) Evaluate computer performance. 4) Understand time, space, and price tradeoffs

What are the three main components of a computer?

1) Processor. 2) Memory. 3) Mechanism.

Nibble

4 bits grouped together. EX: 1 byte = 2 nibbles

ANSI

American National Standards Institute

What is Rock's Law

Arthur Rock, Intel's financier, said that the cost of a semiconductor chip fabrication plant will double every four years.

BSI

British Standards Institute

What is computer architecture?

The combination of hardware components along with the ISA.

Range

The difference between the largest and smallest values that can be expressed.

Contrast Ratio

The difference in intensity between bright whites and dark blacks.

Dot Pitch

The distance between a pixel and the closest pixel of the same color (resolution).

What is computer organization?

The logical arrangement of the hardware components and how they are interconnected.

Luminance

The measure of image brightness in candles per square meter.

Bit

The most basic unit of information in a computer.

Refresh Rate

The number of times per second that an image on a monitor is repainted.

What is the Principle of Equivalence of Hardware and Software?

This principle says that any task performed by software can also be performed using hardware, and any operation performed directly by hardware can be performed using software, assuming speed is not a concern.

Why study the historical developments in computer systems?

To fully appreciate the computer of today, and to observe the evolution of computing machinery that has taken place over centuries.

Computer Components: What is the function of a Mechanism

Transferring data to and from the outside world.