The Computer Science, Research Paper Example

Describe Von Neumann architecture and explain why it is important

Von Neumann architecture is one of the design models used in digital computers with installed or stored-data. This digital computer makes use of a processing unit as an independent structure of storage and holding both data and instructions. This structure is named after a skilled computer guru and mathematician called John Von Neumann. The structure comprises of Turing machines together with the famous referential model when specifying the procedural architectures, different to the parallel structures (Shelly et al, 2011).

The outlook of Von Neumann architecture is as below:

The structure is modified in such a way that there is one shared memory for programs or instructions. Moreover, there is the data structure that has one data bus with instructions program. Besides the single data bus, the structure has one address bus sandwiched between the memory and processor. The data and instructions are fetched together in a process called von Neumann Bottleneck. This modeling enables the structure to limit the bandwidth operation. The key importance of the structure is that it uses the concept of stored data. The input and output nodes are controlled within one unit carrying the purposes of interpreting and executing instructions within the memory. The structure also enables the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) to operate on binary data. The instructions and data are all stored within a single memory of read-write status. Within the structure, the machine operates with programmed instructions. This makes the machine simple than the initial Harvard structure which has one particular dedicated address set. This makes the structure more useful and beneficial in the modern generation.

Explain what a system bus is and why it is needed

The inner parts of the computer processor are made up of a number of wires, which run from one section of the computer to another (one device to another). These are “buses” within the computer-processing unit. This set of wires is what constitutes the buses. They run and interconnect one computer part to another. Wires interconnect the devices within the central processing unit with chips plugged into them. These wires are what are collectively called data buses. The number of the wires interconnected in a working computer constitutes what is called the width of the bus. Therefore, the various lines of communication and modes of data transfer from one section of the CPU to the other constitute the computer data buses. For instance, most computers used at home are made up of 64 and 32 wires. These wires are used to serve much purpose as controlling and signaling (Barnbrook, 1996).

The CPU manages to communicate with the random access memory and other memories in the computer through the system buses. Data is transferred from the central processing unit to the random access memory through the data buses. In order to transfer data, the CPU takes control of the bus, encodes a certain language of sending the signal, and thereby sends data through the bus to the RAM’s address system (Shelly et al, 2011). An example of a system bus looks as the one below:

The system bus serves the computer in various ways. First, the system provides a line of communication between the various sections of the computer. Secondly, the system bus makes the computer a complete structure because the computer cannot be functional without it. The system buses interconnect the various sections of the computer within the input, output. These sections comprise of the CPU, memory, and the input/output sections (Henderson, 2009).

Summarize the use of Boolean operators in computer-based calculations.

The Boolean logic, or simply Boolean is a section of algebra used to create the truth and false statements in computers. These algebraic operations make use of various operators as AND, XOR, OR, and NOT while comparing values as they exemplify a “true” or “false” response. These Boolean operations have the following descriptions:

X AND y: these operations yield a “true” response if and only if x and y are true. However, if either one or both of x and y are false, the operation yields a “false” response.

X OR y: this operation returns a “true” response if either or both x and y yield “true.” However, the operation yields a “false” response if one of both of x and y are false.

X XOR y: this operation yields a “true” response if only x or y is true. However, it returns a false response if x and y are both false and true.

NOT x: this operation yields true if x is false or null. Nonetheless, the operation returns false if x happens to be true (Barnbrook, 1996).

Computers make use of binary digits (zeros and ones). This enables the computer language to be represented in Boolean logic. For instance, one refers to a “true” response while a zero refers to a “false” response. Some complicated computer programs require a combination of true/false responses. This means that most computer processors comprise of Boolean logic in their real making. The computer hardware and software make use of zeros and ones with Boolean responses being replicated at their use. This involves computer compartments as the keyboard, search engines, and other soft form syntax (Henderson, 2009).

Categorize the various types of memory and storage

Memory is a critical additive incorporated into a computer. All computers make use of memory chips whose aim is to store information and data being processed by the computer-processing unit. The memory has the capability to store applications and data randomly or permanently (Shelly et al, 2011). The various types of computer memories and storage devices are:

Random Access Memory RAM

This memory system stacks data away temporarily as the processor promptly accesses them. The information stored here is loaded from the hard disk as applications and operating system data.

Cache memory

This is a form of a RAM accessed by a computer in more regular basis than RAM. The CPU makes use of the cache memory before engaging the central memory. This leads to faster extraction of data and information.

Computer Hard Drive

These are storage devices installed in the central processing unit of a computer. They have varying capacities of memory for storage depending on the amount needed for certain data or user’s needs. They vary in capacity, which often range from exceptionally low gigabytes of 120 to 500.

Flash memory

This memory is non-volatile. It is a portable storage device often used to transfer data from one computer to another. The user can erase and reprogram data in this memory to fit his or her needs. They include memory chips as memory cards and USB flash drives.

References

Barnbrook, G. (1996). Computational Linguistics. Edinburgh: Univ. Press.

Henderson, H. (2009). Encyclopedia of computer science and technology. New York: Facts on File.

Shelly, G. B., Freund, S. M., & Vermaat, M. (2011). Introduction to computers. Boston, MA: Course Technology.