Paper 1 - Computer Systems
Paper 2 - Computational Thinking, Algorithms, and Programming

1.1 Systems Architecture

This is the first of the theory sections in the GCSE and introduces the internal hardware of the computer as well as different types of computer system

TopicI should be able to…
1.1Describe what actions occur at each stage of the fetch-execute cycle
Understand the role/purpose of each component and what it manages, stores, or controls during the fetch-execute cycle
Explain the purpose of each register, what it stores (data or address)
Describe the difference between storing data and an address
Understand characteristics of:
o Clock speed
o Cache size
o Number of cores
Understand the effects of changing any of the common CPU characteristics on system performance, either individually or in combination
Identify what embedded systems are
Describe the typical characteristics of embedded systems
Describe a range of different embedded systems