Review of Essential Terms and Concepts

1. What is the difference between computer organization and computer architecture?

2. What is an ISA?

3. What is the importance of the Principle of Equivalence of Hardware and Software?

4. Name the three basic components of every computer.

5. To what power of 10 does the prefix giga- refer? What is the (approximate) equivalent power of 2?

6. To what power of 10 does the prefix micro- refer? What is the (approximate) equivalent power of 2?

7. What unit is typically used to measure the speed of a computer clock?

8. Name two types of computer memory.

9. What is the mission of the IEEE?

10. What is the full name of the organization that uses the initials ISO? Is ISO an acronym?

11. ANSI is the acronym used by which organization?

12. What is the name of the Swiss organization that devotes itself to matters concerning telephony, telecommunications, and data communications?

13. Who is known as the father of computing and why?

14. What was the significance of the punch card?

15. Name two driving factors in the development of computers.

16. What is it about the transistor that made it such a great improvement over the vacuum tube?

17. How does an integrated circuit differ from a transistor?

18. Explain the differences between SSI, MSI, LSI, and VLSI.

19. What technology spawned the development of microcomputers? Why?

20. What is meant by an "open architecture"?

21. State Moore's Law. Can it hold indefinitely?

22. How is Rock's Law related to Moore's Law?

23. Name and explain the seven commonly accepted layers of the Computer Level Hierarchy. How does this arrangement help us to understand computer systems?

24. What was it about the von Neumann architecture that distinguished it from its predecessors?

25. Name the characteristics present in a von Neumann architecture.

26. How does the fetch-decode-execute cycle work?

27. What is meant by parallel computing?

28. What is the underlying premise of Amdahl's Law?