Comp. Ch. 2 Test

is a single circuit that either contains a current or does not

used as a means of representing the off/on state of a computer switch, or bit.

a series of circuits whose patterns of off/on current is converted into strings of binary digits called binary numbers

is a group of eight bits and is the method of representing one character of data, such as the essential numbers (0-9)

1 quadrillion

1 quintillion bytes

1 sextillion bytes

1 septillion bytes

A number system, referred to as base-16, that uses the numbers 0-9 and the letters A through F to represent a binary string in a shorter, more compact form

A notation standard, created by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and used to represent numbers with fractional parts. There is no fixed number of digits before or after the decimal point, so the computer can work with very large and very small numbers PHEWWW

most widely used character code, which is used in minicomputers, personal computers, and computers that make information available over the internet. ASCII uses seven bits and thus represents 128 (2^7=128)

uses eight bits and allows 128 additional characters, like the fractions 1/2l and 1/4; and logical symbols such as ><, for a total of 256 (2^8= 256)

is a boxlike case that comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, and houses the computer's main hardware components.

amount of physical space used by a device

a system unit case designed to sit on the floor next to a desk

A smaller version of the tower that has less internal room for components is called a minitower case

is a specification for how internal components, such as the motherboard, are mounted inside the system unit

is a bracelet that has a cord attached to a grounded object.

keeps the system unit cool

one of the components inside a computer's system unit, typical useful for emitting beeps and other low-fidelity sounds

accommodates the computer's disk drives, such as the hard disk drive, CD or DVD drive, and portable drives

receptacles that accept additional circuit boards or expansion cards

contain the circuitry for peripherals that are not normally included as standard equipment

is a large flat piece of plastic or fiberglass that contains thousands of electrical circuits etched onto the board's surface.

carries an electric current and contains millions of transistors.

is an electronic switch (or gate) that controls the flow of electrical signals through the circuit

special material that transistors are made out of in layers

Eight-bit code that IBM mainframe computers and some midrange systems use; ordered using a low-to-high sequence starting with punctuation, lowercase letters, uppercase letters, and then numbers.

uses 16-bit  and can represent over 65,000 characters, and can symbolize all the world's written languages; the first 128 codes in the Unicode system represent the same characters in the ASCII system

for short an integrated circuit chip is that is capable of processing electronic signals.

These processors are designed and programmed to perform only the tasks intended to be done by that device

a heat dissipating component that drains heat from the chip

a processor's list of instructions

A program  that is compatible with a given processor and therefore capable of running on that processor

A four-step process performed in the central processing unit (CPU) that involves the fetch, decode, execute, and store operations

under the direction of an embedded program, switches from one stage to the next and performs the action of that stage.

The portion of the central processing unit that performs arithmetic operations, which return numeric values, and logical operations, which return a value of true or false.

One of two groups of operations performed by the arithmetic unit (ALU). The arithmetic operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. An arithmetic operation returns to the value of the operation

One of two groups of operations performs by the arithmetic logic unit (ALU). An example of logical operation is the comparison of data items to determine whether the first number is greater than the second Logical operations return a value of true or false

are temporary storage areas located within the microprocessor.

fetch and decode

execute and store

the maximum number of bits the CPU can process at once

is an electronic circuit that generates rapid pulses to synchronizes the computer's internal activities, including the movement from one stage of the machine cycle to another

billions of cycles per second

The speed of the internal clock of a microprocessor that synchronizes and sets the pace of the computer's internal activities, including the movement from one stage of the machine cycle to another.

refers to the design of any CPU that can execute more than one instruction per clock cycle

a technique that feeds a new instruction into the CPU at every step of the processing cycle so that four or more instructions are worked on simultanesouly

if the CPU needs the results of a completed instruction to process the next one

is a set of parallel wires that acts as an electronic highway on which data travels between computer components

the width of a CPU's data bus

the processor executes and temporarily stores the next instruction in case it proves useful

the processor tries to predict what will happen (with surprisingly high degree of accuracy).

a technique that uses more than one processor to execute a program

a process by which the CPU gives the user the illusion of performing instructions from multiple programs at once when in reality the CPU is rapidly switching between the programs and instructions

which is a collection of chips that work together to provide the switching circuitry needed by the microprocessor to move data throughout the computer

refers specifically to the pathway that extends beyond the microprocessor to communicate with input and output devices.

a slower bus that connects devices like hard drives and sound cards to the faster microprocessor system bus

refers to the chips, located on the motherboard or within the CPU, that retain instructions and data to be accessed by the CPU

volatile memory, which means it is not permanent and its contents are erased when the computer's power is switched off

-Receive and hold program instructions and data while being used by the system

-Provide those instructions and data to the CPU when needed

-Hold the results of the CPU's processing until an instruction is received to transfer it to a printer or permanent storage device

(in binary form) enables the location to be found and the content within to be accessed directly

a small circuit board that holds several RAM chips and fits into special slots on the motherboard

what most RAM are today; have 168-pin connector and a 64-bit data transfer rate

used a 72-pin connector and a 32-bit data transfer rate

the amount of RAM the program uses while it operates

a term used to refer to a portion of the hard drive that the operating system treats as a portion of RAM when RAM is full

is a small unit of ultrafast memory built into or near the processor  that stores frequently or recently accessed program instructions and data

is a unit of 4KB to 16KB of ultrafast memory included in the microprocessor chip that runs at approximately 10 nanoseconds. Primary cache is the fastest memory

is a unit of up to 512KB of ultrafast memory that can be located within the microprocessor, but further from registers than lvl. 1 cache, or on a separate cache chip located on the motherboard

one-billionth of a second

is found on systems with newer microprocessors, like Intel's Xenon processor, that are located in some servers and workstations.

a type of nonvolatile memory in which instructions  are prerecorded and not erased when the system shut down

the first code run when a system is powered on. It checks and initializes such devices as the keyboard, display screens and disk drives

controls a variety of actions including starting the power-son self test and verifying that other components of the system are functioning correctly

a program that locates and loads the operating system into RAM

a program that is run when the system is started. It checks the circuitry and RAM, marking any locations that are defective so that they do not get used

can be written on only once, but requires a special writing device. It is used to hold startup programs that are bug free and are never meant to be changed.

electrically programmable read-only memory is erasable PROM that can be reused many times.

electrical erasable programmable read-only memory that can be rewritten many times while the chip is on the computer

similar to EEPROM except that flash EPROMs are erased in blocks, whereas regular EEPROMs are erase one byte at a time.

indicates your hard drive is accessing data

which indicates whether the power is on

is a physical receptacle located on the system unit or on an expansion card that is visible on the outside of the unit

small screws that are usually attached to the plug and and are used to connect the plug to the system unit or the expansion card extender to prevent an accidental disconnect

can connect a variety of devices, including keyboards, mice, printers, and digital cameras, and were designed to replace older parallel and serial ports

is the ability to connect and disconnect devices without shutting down your computer

refers to a set of standards, jointly developed by the Intel Corporation and Microsoft, which enable a computer to automatically detect the brand, model, and characteristics of a device when you plug it in and configure the system accordingly

a device that plugs into an existing USB port and contains four or more additional ports

an interface Apple created and standardized as the IEEE 1394 High Performance Serial Bus specification

the name of FireWire on non-Apple systems

a 15-pin male connector that works with standard monitor cables

lets LCD monitors use digital signals

video circuitry that is built into the motherboard on some computers

is a credit card-sized adapter that fits into a designated  slot to provide expanded capabilities such as wireless communication, additional memory, multimedia, or security features

is an older technology, device, or application that is being phased out in favor of new advances in technology

were one of the earliest types of ports and were often used dial-up modems to achieve two-way communication

were commonly used to connect a PC to a printer but have been replaced by USB ports and Ethernet ports

were typically used for mice and keyboards, but were not interchangeable.

small computer interface ports were a type of parallel interface that enabled users to connect  up to 15 SCSI-compatible  devices, such as printers, scanners, and digital cameras, in a daisy-chain series