Computer revision by Thomas

Computer system

1012424 — 2014-10-22 09:30:21 UTC

A computer system is a device or a collection of devices capable of taking in information, processing them, and then outputing data.

The importance of computer systems

1012424 — 2014-10-22 09:35:24 UTC

In the western world, computers have become an important part of communication and business. For instance, computers are now actively used to control funds in banks, and coodination of traffic. Computers are also used is somewhat less noticable ways- some types of washing machines could count as computers, although most people simply take them for granted.

CPU

1012424 — 2014-10-22 09:41:12 UTC

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) is an integral device to a computer system which processes data.

Reliability

1012424 — 2014-11-04 18:40:22 UTC

Due to the widespread use of computers in the modern world, there is a greater chance or things going wrong- errors in computer systems could lead to loss of important data, injury, or loss of life in extreme cases. In order to combat this, redundancy is implemented; hardware, data and software are replicated and replaced when the original fails.

Standards

1012424 — 2014-11-04 18:47:03 UTC

The need for professional standards in the computing industry is developed over many years by computing engineers. The knowledge from previous projects is used to improve new ones. Prototypes of system features are produced and tested, and the systems themselves are maintained by dedicated teams of people.

Ethical, legal and enviromental considerations

1012424 — 2014-11-04 20:03:07 UTC

Upon the creation of computer systems, it become apparent that some were not being used for their correct purposes. The 1990 Computer Misuse Act was set up to make the use of computers for crimes a criminal offence, along with the access and modification of computer material. The Data Protection Act was also created, which contains laws dealing with the access of other people's personal data.

In addition, the recycling of computers must be dealt with properly, as computers contain precious metals that can be re-used for other purposes.

Finally, ethics must be considered- some personal data may need to be kept for certain amounts of time, and the computing industry must continue to create jobs for people.

Fetch-decode-execute cycle

1012424 — 2014-11-04 20:03:53 UTC

Whilst operating, the CPU follows a cycle. First, it gets data from a register in the memory, and transports it to the CPU via a data bus. Next, the data is decoded following an instruction set. The translated data is then executed according to its instructions.

Features of a CPU

1012424 — 2014-11-04 20:04:39 UTC

The clock speed of the CPU is the rate at which the fetch-decode-execute cycle takes place, with one cycle per second otherwise being known as 1 Hertz. A higher clock speed means that the computer performs better, but it requires more power, and thus heats up quicker.

Adding cores is another way to improve performance. Adding a core is basically adds another CPU to the computer, thus spliting the work one CPU would have to do.

The Cache is a storage space nearer to the CPU than the RAM or the main memory. As it is closer to the CPU, it can be accessed quicker, and thus the computer runs faster. However, is the cache is not full, the CPU will idle, and information processing will not occur as fast.