Term
| Who is Charles Babbage and what did he create? |
|
Definition
| The father of modern computing. Desogned difference engine and analyitc engine. |
|
|
Term
| Why didn't either of Charles Babbage's inventions get built? |
|
Definition
| Because he continually was coming up with ne designs and ideas for his first design (the difference engine). And he died before he built the analytical engine. |
|
|
Term
| What did the difference engine do? |
|
Definition
| Simple math. Adds, subtracts, multiplies and divides. |
|
|
Term
| Who is Ada Lovelace and what did she do? |
|
Definition
| The mother of computer programming,. She figured out how to make the analytic engine usable by coming up with a program for it. |
|
|
Term
| Why was George Boole important? |
|
Definition
| Because his ideas of logic and probabilities were later resurrected to become the foundation for modern computer circuitry. |
|
|
Term
| What was it that made Herman Hollerith famous? |
|
Definition
| He invented a punch card system that allowed for the census to be counted in 6 weeks rather than 7 years. |
|
|
Term
| What company started by Herman Hollerith later became IBM? |
|
Definition
| TMC, the Tabulating Machine Company |
|
|
Term
| Who created the differential analyzer and what did it do? |
|
Definition
| Vanneuver Bush, tabulates equations that allowed for our long guns in war to be accurate. |
|
|
Term
| What was Alan Turing famous for? |
|
Definition
| First for developing BOMBS, which broke code keys, which were then inserted into the Colossus via paper tape and decoded. |
|
|
Term
| What is the Turing Machine? |
|
Definition
| An abstract (un-buildable) machine that is designed to break down human thought into discrete calculable processes. |
|
|
Term
| How many components did the Turing Machine break thinking down into? and what were they? |
|
Definition
| Two components. The structure and the process. Structure is now the hardware, process is software. |
|
|
Term
| What did the Turing machine give us that was important to computing today? |
|
Definition
| Gives us a general machine that you can tell to do different things. IE. a programmable machine |
|
|
Term
| How does a Turing machine work? |
|
Definition
| Consists of an infinite length of paper tape divided into squares containing an X or a space. The read/write head obeys the if/then instructions and writes, erases, or does nothing then moves on until told to stop. |
|
|
Term
| What is a list of instructions called in the computing world? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Who were the three men who created the first transistor and why was it important? |
|
Definition
| John Bardeen, Walter Brittain, and William Shockley. Allowed for the miniturization of moderm electronics. |
|
|
Term
| What in modern computing did the transistor allow for? |
|
Definition
| Heart of the microprocessor, and integrated circuit. |
|
|
Term
| Who advocated the use of the bit as the computing unit? |
|
Definition
| John Von Neuman. Gains doctorate of Mathematics and Chemistry by age 25. Worked on both the Harvard Mark I and ENIAC. |
|
|
Term
| What was the most important development by John Von Neuman? |
|
Definition
| Developed the outline for the architechture of the stored program machine. |
|
|
Term
| What were the four components to Von Neuman architechture? |
|
Definition
| Central Processing unit, A control unit, tape drive storage, and Inputs and utputs. |
|
|
Term
| Who developed the first integrated circuits and who most heavily funded the project? |
|
Definition
| Jack Kilby, finded by NASA |
|
|
Term
| Ted Hoff, while working at intel, created the first what? |
|
Definition
| Microprocessor. Intel 4004. |
|
|
Term
| How much processing power did the Intel 4004 have? |
|
Definition
| could process about 4 bits at a time, same as the ENIAC but infinitely smaller. |
|
|
Term
| HOw many times more powerful are microprocessors today than the Intel 4004? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Who was it that designed the first Apple computers and what were they called? |
|
Definition
| Apple I's were designed and developed by Steve Woniak. But they didn't come with a case. |
|
|
Term
| Although the Apple II was released in 1977, it only took off in 1979. Why did it take off then? |
|
Definition
| Visicalc (the first spread sheet application) was the first killer application. Software that made people want to buy newer hardware. |
|
|
Term
| Steve Jobs was less of a programmer than he was a _______. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Bill Gates and Paul Allen. |
|
|
Term
| What did Bill Gates sell to IBM executives? |
|
Definition
| DOS, Disc Operating System. Which was just a modified version of QDOS, which he bought from a computer store for 50 grand, and made it run on IBM PCs. |
|
|
Term
| How much of the OS market does Microsoft now control? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What are the 3 computer numbering systems? |
|
Definition
| Decimal, Binary, and hexadecimal. |
|
|
Term
| What are the subscripts for each numbering system? |
|
Definition
Decimal10
Binary2
Hexadecimal16 or H |
|
|
Term
| How many digits is a bit? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| A string of 2 bits i known as what? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| A string of 4 bits is known as what? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| How many bytes make up a word? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What does hexadecimal numbering involve thats different than binary? |
|
Definition
| it has 6 more digits and is a base 16 system. |
|
|
Term
| What are the extra digits in the hexadecimal system and what do they equal? |
|
Definition
| A=10, B=11, C=12, D=13, E=14, F=15 |
|
|
Term
| When converting from decimal to hexadecimal, what steps shoudl you follow? |
|
Definition
| First convert to binary, then split the byte in the middle, then add the bits together using the hex system (1,2,4,8) |
|
|
Term
| What is 6710 in hexadecimal form? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What is the highest number that can be represented by one bit in the binary system and what does it look like? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What is ASCII and what does it stand for? |
|
Definition
| A code for representing english characters as numbers with each letter assigned a different number. American Standard for Information Exchange. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Electrostatic discharge, the unintended movement of electrons from one body to another. Can damage certain electronic components. |
|
|
Term
| What is dynamic electricity? |
|
Definition
| It is controlled electricity that flows along wires. |
|
|
Term
| when working with computer parts, what should you do to prevent ESD? |
|
Definition
| Ground yourself using an anti-static wrist strap. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A closed path followed or capable of being followed by an electric current. |
|
|
Term
| What is the difference between an analog signal and a digital signal? |
|
Definition
Analog-a signal that has a lower and upper limit but is infinitely variable between the 2.
Digital-Either on or off, 1 or 0, like morse code or binary. Usable by a computer where as analog isn't. |
|
|
Term
| A material through which electricity flows readily is called what? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What are the 3 metals that act best as conductors? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A material that allows limited or no electrical current pass through it. Also known as a non-conductor. |
|
|
Term
| What are examples of some of the best non-conductors? |
|
Definition
| organic materials; glass, air, ceramics, wood and rubber are best. |
|
|
Term
| What is a semi-conductor? |
|
Definition
| A material that offers less conductivity than metals but more than insulators. Silicon is the most commonly used. |
|
|
Term
| What are the 2 ways data is sent in our computers? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| How does a serial port send data? |
|
Definition
| One bit at a time across one wire, but it sends data very fast and doesn't need to be syncronized like a parallel port. |
|
|
Term
| How does a parallel port send data? |
|
Definition
| they send waves of suncronized data. This is efficient, but the syncronization can get off and screw up the data it's sending. It also degrades over time. |
|
|
Term
| What is a discrete transistor? |
|
Definition
| a single transistor. an electronice device containing a semi-conductor and having at least three contacts. Used in circuits and as amplifiers, detectors, or switches. |
|
|
Term
| What are the 3 leads on a transistor called? |
|
Definition
| Collector or source, emitter or drain, and base or gate. |
|
|
Term
| What is a timing signal in a transisitor? |
|
Definition
| It determines the frequency of binary data. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| They are a way for us to get electricity to peform meaningful tasks in a system. |
|
|
Term
| What are the microchip names we covered in class (4)? |
|
Definition
| Integrated circuit, Chips, CPU, and Processor. |
|
|
Term
| What mineral are microchips made out of? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| After the melted quartz is poured into rods, how much roughly is each ingot worth? |
|
Definition
| between 8 and 16 thousand dollars. |
|
|
Term
| What happens to the ingots of quarts once poured? |
|
Definition
| They are sliced into wafers, polished, cleaned, and prepared for etching. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Mask created by the chip architects, then ultra violet light etches the wafer. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the process of adding chemical elements into a semiconductor material to controlconductivity and create transistors on the wafers. |
|
|
Term
| There are 2 chemicals most commonly used in doping. What are they and what are the properties of their flow? |
|
Definition
Boron-positive flow
Phosphorus-negative flow |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The packaging that protects the integrated circuit. The die is the silicon square that holds the circuit itself. |
|
|
Term
| This type of chip carrier was used by the Intel 4004 and 8008. |
|
Definition
| DIP chip, Dual-Inline packaging |
|
|
Term
| What is a PGA chip carriers and how is it setup? |
|
Definition
| Pin Grid array. Lots of pins on the chip are inserted into corresponding slots on the mother board. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Zero insertion force socket. PGA chip is dropped into place and a lever is lowered to lock the processor in place. |
|
|
Term
| What is SECC and why was it phased out? |
|
Definition
| Single Edged Contact Cartridge. Plugged into the PC like a PCI card, larger to support cache memory. Phaseed out becasue it could be easily shaken out of place. |
|
|
Term
| How many pins does a P4 PGA chip have now? AMD PGA chip? |
|
Definition
P4-478 pin socket
AMD-462 pin socket |
|
|
Term
| What is LGA and how does it work? |
|
Definition
| Land Grid Array. No pins, contacts on the chip line up with contacts on the motherboard. Tends to run a bit hotter than pinned carriers. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A piece of metal that distributes the heat evenly over the surface. |
|
|
Term
| Which chips use LGA set up? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What are the 7 basic logic gates? |
|
Definition
| NOT, AND, OR, XNOR, XAND, NOR, NAND. We are only covering AND, NOT and OR. |
|
|
Term
| Electrical signal controls the what of a logic sentence? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| In electronic truth value, 1 and 0 each equal what? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What does a NOT gate do and what is it used for? |
|
Definition
| NOT gates reverse each input value. It is used for processor memory. Only one input. Gate looks like a triangle in diagrams. |
|
|
Term
| What is the difference between simple and complex logic sentences? |
|
Definition
| Simple sentences consist of one statement (ex: The pizza is hot, the pizza is NOT hot), complex statements 2 or more gates (ex: The car IS fast AND red) |
|
|
Term
| What is a conditional statement? |
|
Definition
| A logic statement that uses the "if...then" set up. IF the car is fast, THEN it's cool. |
|
|
Term
| How does an AND gate work? |
|
Definition
| All inputs have to be on to produce a positive outcome. Multiplies input (1's or 0's) and if answer is one (only one way to get it 1 and 1) then the outcome is positive. If the car is fast AND red, then it is cool. Series type circuit. recatange with right side bowed out. |
|
|
Term
| How does an OR gate work? |
|
Definition
| At least one input has to be on to produce a positive outcome. Uses addition instead of mutliplication to get outcome. Parallel type circuit. Looks like rectangles with left end bowed inward and right end bowed out. |
|
|
Term
| What are the 4 basic functions of the CPU? |
|
Definition
| fetch, decode, execute, write |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the processors workspace. It's where the processor holds the information that it is currentlly using to work. Register size and quantity affect overall processor power |
|
|
Term
| What is an ALU and what does it do? |
|
Definition
| Arithmetic Logic Units. Handles the integer arithmetic. Also handles Boolean operations (AND, OR, NOT). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A whole number. No decimals or fractions. |
|
|
Term
| What is an FPU and what does it do? |
|
Definition
| Floating Point Unit. Handles numbers that include fractions, decimals, or irrational numbers. Does logarithm, exponentials, and Trigonometry. |
|
|
Term
| What is an irrational number? |
|
Definition
| Numbers with neverending decimal places. |
|
|
Term
| A timing frequency is used inside processors, it clicks each time an operation is carried out. How do they do that? |
|
Definition
| By applying and electrical current to quartz crystal, it vibrates at a certain frequency and doesn't change. |
|
|
Term
| Which works faster, the processor, or the other componenets of the computer and why? |
|
Definition
| The processor works faster because the information has a shorter distance to travel between functions. |
|
|
Term
| What is a bottelneck and how can it be rememdied? |
|
Definition
| Bottlenecks happen when the componenets outside the processor can't keep up with it and it waits for its next task. Remedied by prefetching. |
|
|
Term
| What must we minimize to make the CPU perform most efficiently? |
|
Definition
| Incoming and outgoing data |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| SRAM (Static RAM). Used inside the processor to hold information waiting to be worked on. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Method in which processors predict what instructions and data will be needed next and stores them in the cache. The front end of the processor does this. |
|
|
Term
| Where is L1 cache memory located? L2 and L3? |
|
Definition
| L1 is embedded inside the processor itself. L2 and L3 could be inside also, but can also be kept outside. If outside they are connected by a backside bus which is dedicated to cache memory. |
|
|
Term
| Older processors without pipelines were less efficient, why? |
|
Definition
| Becasue they waited for entire process (fetch, decode, execute) before they began the next intruction. While one function was taking place, the other 2 weren't doing anything. |
|
|
Term
| What is a pipeline and how does it speed up efficiency of a processor? |
|
Definition
| Multiple calculations broken up into a series of smaller steps. allows for each function (fetch, decode, execute) to operate independently and run constantly with out waiting for the previous function to be finished. |
|
|
Term
| What two types of data does a processor recieve from outside which it processes with it's internal instruction set? |
|
Definition
| Commands (instructions) for how to handle the DATA, the second type of info it gets, this comes from the user. |
|
|
Term
| What does CISC stand for? |
|
Definition
| Complex Instruction Set Computer. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Cram as many transistors onto theprocessor as you can giving it more instruction sets so it can crunch numbers faster. Intel X86 architecture. Also used by AMD. |
|
|
Term
| What are the pros and con of CISC architecture? |
|
Definition
Pros- The more it already knows, the faster it can process. It's easier to program for. Code is backward compatible.
Con-More instructions = more transistors = more cost |
|
|
Term
| What does RISC stand for? |
|
Definition
| Reduced Instruction Set Computer |
|
|
Term
| How does RISC architecture work? |
|
Definition
| It minimizes internal instructions and implements pipeline architecture. |
|
|
Term
| What are the Pros and Cons os RISC architecture? |
|
Definition
Pros-More speed from simplified instruction sets. Simpler hardware lowers chip cost.
Cons- Performance depends greatly on the software code quality. Requires multiple instructions for the same action. Need more cache to feed instructions more quickly. |
|
|
Term
| Most processors today use both CISC and RISC technologies. Who uses which more? |
|
Definition
| Intel and AMD use mostly CISC with some RISC. Motorola and IBM use mostly RISC with some CISC. |
|
|
Term
| How stages does a P4 pipeline have? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| The high stage pipeline gives intel what whcih they use for marketing? |
|
Definition
| Gives them faster clockspeed capabilities. |
|
|
Term
| What are the drawbacks to using the high stage pipelines that the P4 uses? |
|
Definition
| The data has to be streamlined. When idle, the processor starts doing self checks in order to keep the pipelines full and may take some time to recognize new data. |
|
|
Term
| What does the front end of the processor do? |
|
Definition
| Also called the "data manager" it gets info into the pipelines and prepares the data for the other parts of the processor. |
|
|
Term
| There are 2 compnents to the front end of the processor, what are they and what do they do? |
|
Definition
Enhanced Branch Prediction-predicts what next instruction set might be ahead of time.
Speculative execution-when predicted instruction is executed before it is called for. |
|
|
Term
| What is the penaly when the front end of the processor makes a wrong prediction? |
|
Definition
| If inside the cache its 19 cycles to flush. If outside, it takes 30 cycles to flush. |
|
|
Term
| What is the Advanced Dynamic Execution Unit? |
|
Definition
| Portion of the processor that makes the front end work efficiently by predicting ahead of time what the next set of instructions might be. |
|
|
Term
| What are the three components of the Advance Dynamic Execution unit? |
|
Definition
| Branch Target Buffer, Translation Look-Aside Buffer, Out-of-order execution logic unit. |
|
|
Term
| What is the branch target buffer? |
|
Definition
| in charge of fetching the instructions and making predictions before the next operation is requested. |
|
|
Term
| What is the translation look-aside buffer? |
|
Definition
| Remembers the location of every program running to prevent data duplication in the L2 and L1 cache Important in multi-tasking. |
|
|
Term
| What is the Out-of-Order execution logic unit? |
|
Definition
| Re-orders instructions so that they can be processed more efficiently. |
|
|
Term
| What are the names of the 3 parts of the Out-of-Order Execution Logic Unit? |
|
Definition
| Allocator, Register Renamer, Task scheduling queues. |
|
|
Term
| What is in the processor Back End? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Address Generation Unit. Puts out of order information back together. |
|
|
Term
| What does the FPU do in the back end? |
|
Definition
| Deals with the floating point math and also handles the preinstalled instructions for multimedia. MMX, SSE and SSE2 are all built in instructions. |
|
|
