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← Computer Science notes
Edexcel ·Computer Science·Cambridge AS & A Level Computer Science

Hardware & the Processor

17 min read

The von Neumann architecture, registers, the system buses, the fetch–execute cycle, factors affecting performance, interrupts and assembly language.

The von Neumann architecture

In the von Neumann model, a single memory holds both program instructions and data (the stored-program concept), and the CPU fetches and executes instructions one at a time. The CPU has a Control Unit (CU), an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) and registers, connected to memory and I/O by the system buses.

CPU (CU+ALU) Main memory I/O devices
Von Neumann architecture — CPU, memory and I/O linked by the three buses.

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