Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
school/company policy, remove the outside cover of a comput
er. Looking inside, try to locate the CPU, main memory, expan
sion slots, etc. What other components can you identify?
5.
Technological considerations typically limit how much cir
cuitry can be jammed into a single chip. Thus, if one part of
a chip is enlarged to increase its capacity, then another part
often must be decreased with corresponding loss of function.
Looking at the PowerPC 603 CPU chip in Figure 1.4, esti
mate what fraction of the chip is devoted to each of the main
components:
a.
operation processing
b.
identifying and locating information
c.
cache
d.
interactions with the bus
Then determine the relative sizes of the different sections of
this CPU chip.
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Exercises
1.
Using your own words, give a careful definition for each of
the words or phrases identifed in the summary “Terminology
from This Chapter.”
2.
This chapter introduces basic concepts of hardware and software.
a.
Give a careful definition of these two terms. Be sure that
your definitions clarify how these two ideas differ.
b.
Consider “hardware,” “software,” and “other” as three
main categories for topics discussed in this chapter. Then
place each of the other words or phrases listed in the sum
mary “Terminology from This Chapter” under its appro
priate category. Briefly justify your classification.
3.
In cities, busses transport people, with specified stops along a
fixed route. Consider the extent to which busses within a
computer fill a similar role. How are the two types of busses
similar? Are there differences? Explain.
4.
Make a field trip to a computer store to inquire about the
availability of expansion slots within computers. What can
