1415-IGCSE Computer Science

Von Neumann architecture and its main components (Same as the book but with
more explanation)

Memory
The computer memory is made up of partitions (like a
drawer). Each drawer consists of an address and its
contents.
The address will uniquely identify every location in the
memory and the contents will be the binary value stored in
each location.

address

contents

0000

00110000

0001

01011001

0010

11001100

0011

00011000

Processing Unit: It is made up of the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) and registers. The ALU
allows arithmetic (e.g. add, subtract, etc.) and logic (e.g. AND, OR, NOT, etc.) operations to be
carried out.
1100
10001000
Input/Output devices: They convert external data into a form the computer can understand
1101show11110001
and can then process (e.g. keyboards and microphones). Output devices
the results of
computer processing in a human readable form (e.g. printers and monitors).
1110
11000000
Control Unit: It controls the operation of the memory, processor and input/output devices. It
1111 The00010001
contains the current instruction register (CIR) and the program counter (PC).
CIR will
contain the current instruction during processing. The PC contains the address of the next
instruction to be executed.
Basically, the control unit reads an instruction from memory (the address of where the
instruction is found is stored in the PC) and then interprets this instruction, generating signals to
tell the other components in the computer what to do.

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