Computer architecture
3.1What the syllabus asks of you
- (a) Understand the role of the central processing unit (CPU) in a computer (b) Understand what is meant by a microprocessor
- (a) Understand the purpose of the components in a CPU, in a computer that has a Von Neumann architecture (b) Describe the process of the fetch–decode–execute (FDE) cycle, including the role of each component in the process
- Understand what is meant by a core, cache and clock in a CPU and explain how they can affect the performance of a CPU
- Understand the purpose and use of an instruction set for a CPU
- Describe the purpose and characteristics of an embedded system and identify devices in which they are commonly used
Read the notes first
Chapter 3: Computer architecture
Drill this topic
All 28 questions on Computer architecture, untimed — answer on paper, then mark yourself against the mark scheme.
Make a worksheet
Choose the years and how many questions, then print it with the answers on separate pages.
28 questions
These are structured questions, answered in working rather than by picking an option, so they are not listed here one by one. The drill above puts each in front of you with its mark scheme to check against.