IGCSEComputer ScienceCIETopic Questions3. Hardware3.1 Computer Architecture

Computer Architecture (CIE IGCSE Computer Science)

Topic Questions

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1a
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A computer has a Von Neumann architechure.

a)
Circle three components that are part of the central processing unit (CPU) in this computer.
accumulator (ACC)    hard disk drive (HDD)    memory address register (MAR)
    program counter (PC)    random access memory (RAM)  
read-only memory (ROM)   sensor           sold state drive (SSD)
 

[3]

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1b
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b)
Describe the purpose of the control unit (CU) within this computer.
 [2]

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1c
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c)
The computer has a single core CPU.

i)
State one purpose of a core in a CPU.
 [1]
ii)
The computer is upgraded to a dual core CPU.

Explain how the upgrade can affect the performance of the computer.

[2]

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2
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A Von Neumann model for a computer system contains several integrated circuits (IC).

The computer has a central processing unit (CPU). 

i)
Identify the bus that carries signals around the CPU to control the components

[1]

ii)
Identify the register built into the arithmetic logic unit (ALU).

. [1]

iii)
Four statements about a Von Neumann model for a computer system are shown.
 Tick (✓) to show if each statement is True or False.

Statement True
(✓)		 False
(✓)
Data and instructions are stored in the same memory unit    
The control unit manages operations within the CPU    
Data and instructions can be fetched into the CPU at the same time    
The control unit is responsible for decoding an instruction    

[4]

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3a
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Paige has a computer that has a central processing unit (CPU) based on the Von Neumann model for a computer system.

a)
Identify the component within the CPU that controls the flow of data.
[1]

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3b
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b)
Identify the component within the CPU where calculations are carried out
[1]

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3c
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c)
Identify the component within the CPU that stores the address of the next instruction to be processed.
[1]

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3d
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d)
Identify the register within the CPU that holds an instruction that has been fetched from memory
   . [1] 

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3e
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e)
Identify the register within the CPU that holds data that has been fetched from memory.
[1]

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4
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A digital alarm clock is controlled by a microprocessor. It uses the 24-hour clock system (i.e. 6 pm is 18:00).

Each digit in a typical display is represented by a 4-digit binary code.

For example:q4-paper1-spec2019-cie-igcse-computerscience


The clock alarm has been set at 08:00.

Describe the actions of the microprocessor which enable the alarm to sound at 08:00.
[2]

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