Systems Architecture Exam Ready Booklet

A revision booklet supporting OCR J276 Computer Science Revision for specification point 1.1 Systems Architecture

• the purpose of the CPU
• Von Neumann architecture:
  • MAR (Memory Address Register)
    *MDR (Memory Data Register)
    *Program Counter
    *Accumulator
• common CPU components and their function:
  *ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)
  *CU (Control Unit)
  *Cache
• the function of the CPU as fetch and execute instructions stored in memory
• how common characteristics of CPUs affect their performance:
  *clock speed
  *cache size
  *number of cores
• embedded systems:
  *purpose of embedded systems
  *examples of embedded systems.