| List the 6 ways in which the processor performance can be affected | Number of cores
Clock speed
Word length
Address bus width
Cache memory
Data bus width |
| Describe wat a interrupt service routine is | A series of instructions for handling the interrupt that is specific to the type of interrupt |
| Describe the 4 steps for an interrupt to be dealt with via the vectored interrupt method | 1. An interrupt is detected as a change in the content of the status register between the execute and fetch stages of the fetch-execute cycle
2. The processor stops executing the current program and places the content of its registers onto the system stack
3. It loads the appropriate interrupt service routine
4. Restores the backed up previous data and carries on |
| How are interrupts checked? | Status register is checked for changes that could signify the
occurrence of an interrupt |
| Why does increasing the amount of cores increase performance | Because cores complete the Fetch-Execute
The more of them, the more cycles can be completed independently |
| Why does more cache make the processor faster? | Cache is quick access storage and so the more of it, the more fast access storage for the processor |
| Explain how increasing the address bus width increases the processor performance | Increases the amount of addressable memory |
| Explain how increasing the data bus width increases the processor performance | Because it increases the volume of data that can be transferred
over the bus at any one time |
| How does word length increase or decrease processor performance? | The bigger the word length the more bits can be manipulated as one |
| Describe the way in which the volatile environment while an interrupt is being serviced is kept in check | The processor stops executing the current program and places the content of its registers onto the system stack |
| Describe why there is a need to save the volatile environment while the interrupt is being serviced | So the current instruction isnt lost |
| How is the processor made aware of an interupt from another part of the computer? | A signal sent to the processor by another part of the computer requesting the attention of the processor |
| Whats the role of interupts | Stop errors occuring which could potentially break the device |
