Computer ScienceCode 9618
Processors, Parallel Processing and Virtual Machines
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- Demonstrate a grasp of processors built on Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISC) and processors built on Complex Instruction Set Computers (CISC)
- Understand how CISC and RISC processors handle interrupts
- Demonstrate a grasp of why pipelining and registers are important in RISC processors and how they are used
- Show that you understand the four basic types of computer architecture
- Demonstrate a grasp of the features that characterise massively parallel computers
- Demonstrate an understanding of what a virtual machine is
- Give examples of the function that virtual machines perform
- Understand the advantages and drawbacks of virtual machines