Download 2 PROCESSING DATA

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PROCESSING DATA
Introduction
1 Most of the following abbreviations (initialisms) are used throughout this unit. Can you decipher
them? Which refers to permanent/temporary storage? Which refers to a set of connections, some
settings and norms on instruction types and data? Try to give detailed answers, explaining the terms.
BIOS, CPU, GPGPU, APU, CLU, ALU, RAM, ROM, IC, WLAN, I/O, API, FPGA, ISA
2 In pairs, ask and answer the following questions. Take it in turns.
a) Which are the basic components of a computer system?
b) Why does the processor generate waste heat?
c) How is a computer cooled? What are heat sinks?
d) What is the purpose of the internal clock? e) Which type of
memory is volatile: RAM or ROM? What are the implications?
f) What is the difference between a cache and a register?
g) What is the common term used for I/O devices? Name some of
these devices.
h) How is communication between computer components and I/O devices maintained?
i) What is a WLAN card and what does it allow you to do?
j) What does the computer’s speed depend on: CPU’s architecture, clock speed, word size, number
of cores, or anything else?
k) What do you think: will GPGPU replace CPU in mass-market computers or will the blending of
FPGAs, CPUs and GPGPUs take over? What is the reasoning behind your claim? How can designers
and manufacturers meet the demands for SWaP (size, weight and power)?
l) What may happen when you overclock your processor or other computer components? Is
overclocking still a relevant issue?
3 First, scan the text to get the gist of it. Then fill in the missing verbs. Try to do this without referring
to the box below the text!
THE COMPUTER PROCESSOR
The CPU (central processing unit) (1)_________ the processing of data entered in binary form and
(2)______________ instructions stored in memory. It operates at the speed of an internal clock, which
sends pulses called peaks. With each clock peak, the processor (3)________ an action that corresponds
to an instruction or its part. A measure called CPI (cycles per instruction) represents the average number
of clock cycles - the time between two adjacent pulses of the oscillator that (4)______ the tempo of a
microprocessor. The number of these pulses per second is known as the clock speed, which is usually
measured in GHz (gigahertz, or billions of pulses per second). The processor is made up of interrelated
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units: a control unit, which (5)__________ the incoming data and (6)_________ it to the execution unit;
an execution unit, which (7)______________ of an arithmetical and logic unit (ALU); a floating point
unit (FPU), which (8)__________ complex calculations that cannot be done by ALU; a status register
and an accumulator register as well as a bus management unit, which (9)_____________the flow of
incoming and outgoing information and which (10)___________ with the system’s RAM.
manage
set perform (2x)
decode
allow
send
execute
consist
interface
4 Finish the sentences based on what you already know.
The motherboard is a thin plate that holds ………………………………………………………….
The data stored in RAM disappears when ………………………………………………………….
If you do not have enough RAM, your computer……………………………………………………
Most computers have expansion slots on the motherboard that allow you to ………………….
If you often work with photos or digital art, you may need to …………………………….………
5 Fill in the missing verbs in the correct form using the pattern below. Choose from the following verbs:
plug in, hear, store, install, see, enter.
The CPU allows/enables numeric data to be processed.
A port allows peripherals ___________________.
An expansion slot enables adaptors and expansion boards ____________________ .
A memory unit allows data _________________.
An input device enables data ___________________.
A graphics card enables pictures___________________.
A sound card enables music and other sounds ___________________ .
6 Fill in the missing prepositions.
While L2 cache typically resides _____ a memory card near the CPU, in some microprocessors L1 and
L2 cache are built right _____ the chip. Data needed by the CPU are retrieved ___ the cache 95% of the
time. Caches are transparent ___ software. Registers are managed _____ compile time when the highlevel program is converted _____ machine-specific assembly.
Vocabulary
1 Choose the correct answer.
An electric circuit is protected from overheating by
a) a flex
b) a fuse
c) a filament
A piece of household equipment that usually needs to be plugged in is an
a) appliance
b) application
c) assembly
The company manufactures computer
a) particles
b) components
c) ingredients
To decrease the volume of your player, you turn it
a) off
b) down
c) out
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An electrical appliance can either run on batteries or on
a) electricity
b) power
c) the mains
Many modems are internal, which means that they are ____ into the computer.
a) fitted
b) mounted
c) joined
To ____ a cable to a network card, plug it into the connector.
a) add
b) switch
c) attach
To insert a CD into the drive, ________ the tray out.
a) pull
b) push
c) slide
To create a wired connection to your main router, plug one of the adaptors into a mains _______
in the room.
a) socket
b) plug
c) port
2 a) Match the left-hand side with the right-hand side to make collocations. Note that there are more
options!
to store
rapidly
to integrate
exponentially
to grow
simultaneously
to access
temporarily
to execute
directly
b) Which of the above collocations may apply to
parallel program processing
registers
processor power
L1 or (L2) cache
RAM?
MULTICORE VS. MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEMS
1 Discuss the following questions in pairs or groups of three.
a) What is the difference between a multicore and a multiprocessor system (apart from the structure)?
b) When would you recommend one and when the other?
c) Which of the two allows symmetric or asymmetric multiprocessing? What are the benefits?
Now read the text.
A multi-core processor is a single computing component that has a number of independent processing
units, which perform the program’s instructions. It is intended to lessen the heat coming off the CPU
and to increase the speed of processing instructions. However, programs have to be amenable to parallel
computing, i.e., instructions can be divided into smaller ones to be executed simultaneously. The cores
are usually integrated into a single IC (integrated circuit) die, or onto multiple dies but in a single chip
package.
In a multiprocessor system, two or more CPU’s are integrated into a single computer system. So
basically you have two or more CPU’s on a system. While one processor performs a program instruction,
the other simultaneously performs a different program instruction, speeding up the computing process.
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It is worth mentioning that you have the option of configuring your system either to treat your multiple
CPU’s equally, which is called symmetric multiprocessing; or you can configure them in a way where
the system’s resources are divided according to your instructions, which is called asymmetric
multiprocessing.
Discussion: GPGPU: WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS OF A GPU TO WORK AS A CPU?
1 Discuss the following questions in pairs or groups.
a) What does an Instruction Set Architecture involve?
b) What are the costs incurred by switching from serial processing to parallel processing?
c) What are the HW/SW challenges facing heterogeneous computing?
d) Considering the trade-off among computing power, speed and cost, which would you choose
eventually: a GPGPU, a many-core CPU, an APU or a multiprocessor computer?
e) How would you answer the question in the headline?
2 Which of the arguments in the following text do you consider the most relevant? The article was
written in July 2014. What has changed since?
GPUs were initially used for rendering graphics only; as technology advanced, the large number of
cores in GPUs relative to CPUs was exploited so that they could process many parallel streams of data
simultaneously. While GPUs can have hundreds or even thousands of stream processors, they each are
slower than a CPU core and have fewer features.
In other words, CPUs and GPUs have significantly different architectures that make them better
suited to different tasks. A GPU can handle large amounts of data in many streams, performing relatively
simple operations, but is ill-suited to heavy or complex processing on a single or few streams of data. A
CPU is much faster on a per-core basis (in terms of instructions per second) and can perform complex
operations on a single or few streams of data more easily, but cannot efficiently handle many streams
simultaneously. As a result, GPUs are not suited to handling tasks that cannot be parallelized, including
many common consumer applications such as word processors. Furthermore, GPUs use a fundamentally
different architecture, and significantly different techniques are required to program them such as new
programming languages, modifications to existing languages, and new programming paradigms.
The nature of GPUs make them most suited to highly parallelizable operations, e.g. scientific
computing; GPUs can also enable better physics simulation in video games, accelerate video encoding
and decoding, and perform other compute-intensive tasks. As technology continues to advance, we will
see an increasing degree of convergence of these once-separate parts, CPUs and GPUs.
Nonetheless, many tasks performed by PC operating systems and applications are still better suited
to CPUs, and much work is needed to accelerate a program using a GPU.
3 a) Fill in adverbs that mean the same as the following descriptions.
more and more – I_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ LY
at the same time – S_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ LY
to an important degree – S_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ LY
in the beginning – I_ _ _ _ _ _LY
very – H_ _ _ LY
radically, in central or primary respects – F_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _LY
a) Now use these adverbs to complete the sentences below.
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We
are
becoming
_______________
dependent
on
information
technology.
_____________, the number of transistors on a single chip was only a few thousand.
Robots’
visual
perception
capabilities
are
still
____________
unreliable.
A CPU cannot efficiently handle many streams ______________. These new printers feature
___________ better performance compared to the previous models. Human beings and digital machines
are _____________ different in terms of data processing and modes of operation.
Language points
CONNECTORS
1 Look at the expressions in the box below. Which of them
a) introduce some extra information?
b) express dissimilarity?
c) introduce some effect of the previously mentioned cause?
d) express contrast or contradiction?
e) How does “unlike” differ from the other expressions in the box with regard to its usage?
nevertheless
in addition
unlike
as a result
however
while
since
furthermore
consequently
hence
2 Connect the following sentences using the expressions from the above box.
a) When the speedup obtained by the GPU is less than one, we should consider turning the task back to
run on the CPU. ________________, porting computing tasks to the CPU entails inevitable overhead
such as data communication latency.
b) Further miniaturization of silicon transistors is becoming slower and more costly. _________, it
seems that unless new ways are found to overcome the existing technological problems, the
development of processors may stall for some time.
c) The PC’s performance is excellent. _____________, the price is really affordable.
d) __________ silicon, carbon can form chemical bonds with many kinds of atoms, which enables it to
conduct chemical reactions required for biological metabolism and propagation.
WITH SILICON PUSHED TO ITS LIMITS, WHAT WILL POWER THE NEXT
ELECTRONICS REVOLUTION? (by Mark Hopkinson, August 2016)
1 Discuss the following questions in pairs or groups.
a) What are the advantages of silicon? What are its intrinsic drawbacks?
b) Why are researchers and developers looking for other materials to replace silicon or improve its
properties? What is the problem with the shrinking integrated circuits?
2 Now read the text and compare your views. Fill in the missing connectors.
Silicon integrated circuits (IC) underpin practically everything in our interconnected digital
world.__________, silicon electronics faces a challenge: With circuits one atom wide (around 0.2nm),
their behaviour would become unstable and difficult to control.
Being abundant and relatively easy to process, silicon became the material of choice for electronics.
__________, the critical property – the speed of IC depends heavily on how easily electrons and electron
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holes are able to move. _______ electrons in silicon are quite mobile, they are much more so in other
semiconductor materials.
_________, modern ICs with billions of transistors generate considerable heat. Alternative
semiconductors cope much better at higher temperatures, which means they can be run faster.
Lastly, silicon is very poor at transmitting light. Lasers, LEDs and other photonic devices use alternative
compounds. _________, two distinct industries have evolved, silicon for electronics and compound
semiconductors for photonics. This situation has existed for years, but now there is a big push to combine
electronics and photonics on a single chip. For the manufacturers, that is quite a problem.
To improve silicon's electron hole mobility, a small amount of germanium is already added. Although
germanium was the first material used for semiconductor devices, re-aligning the established industry
around all-germanium transistors would be rather challenging.
The second solution is metal oxides. Silicon dioxide was used within transistors for many years, but the
layer of silicon dioxide has shrunk so thin that it has begun to lose its insulating properties, leading to
unreliable transistors. ________, the search is now on for new alternatives.
Most interesting, perhaps, is the use of so-called III-V compound semiconductors, which have electron
mobility up to 50 times higher than silicon. When combined with germanium-rich transistors, this
approach could provide a major speed increase.
3 Fill the gaps with the correct forms of the words in capitals.
CHOOSE
HOT
ABOUND
MOBILE
EVOLUTION
ADAPT
a) Compared to other semiconductor materials, silicon has poor electron ______________.
b) Electronics and photonics have _____________ as independent industries, based on silicon and
compound semiconductors, respectively.
c) Silicon is the Earth’s second most ______________ element.
d) With an increasing number of transistors, integrated circuits produce considerable ____________.
e) Development of complex systems involves new architectures for hardware systems as well as
____________ and scalable software.
f) In spite of its drawbacks, silicon has proved to be the best ___________ for fabrication of
miniaturized micro electronic and mechanical devices.
Discussion
1 Discuss the following questions in pairs or groups.
a) What is Moore’s Law? Does it still hold or is it facing its limit? Is the density of chips still
important?
b) What is “technological singularity”? Do you think it will happen?
c) Some claim that there is a reverse Moore's Law observable in software: As processors become
faster and memory becomes cheaper, software becomes slower and more bloated, using up all
available resources. Do you agree? If so, do you think RISC could be one of the culprits?
Moore's Law describes a long-term trend in computing hardware. The number of
transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two
years. This trend has continued in a smooth and predictable curve for over half a century.
In the long term, the ambition is to reduce the chip down to the size of individual atoms.
Further into the future, chips may become integrated directly with the brain, combining
AI/human intelligence and dramatically enhancing our cognitive and learning abilities.
Ultimately, Moore's Law could lead to a "technological singularity" – a point in time when
machine intelligence is evolving so rapidly that humans are left far, far behind.
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2 In pairs, read the following articles, then share what you have read with your partner and make any
adjustments to your previous claims. Take notes while reading, if necessary.
A. Intel's tweaking Moore's Law, like Moore's Law still matters
Exponential advances in semiconductor manufacturing that enable faster and cheaper computing and
storage every two years are now getting closer to a rate of every two and half years. Yet, Moore’s Law
is becoming less and less relevant. While the need to put more transistors on a chip is still important,
density no longer seems to be the most important aspect.
The traditional style of computing is good at jobs that require linear progression like spreadsheets or
word processors. And that remains a big part of computing today. But an increasing number of
computing jobs such as transcoding graphics, networking, or seismic simulations require parallel
computing that is much better handled by GPUs.
And as mobility became a top concern, Moore’s Law took another blow. Storage inside phones still
relies heavily on Moore’s Law, but when it comes to the brains for the handset, power consumption is
the priority. This means the emphasis is on assigning the right task for the right chip, which is why
graphics processors and specialized sensor processors are built into handsets.
The emphasis isn’t on a massive, super-dense semiconductor following Moore’s Law. And as we
progress into intensive real-time data processing and artificial intelligence, researchers are looking
beyond traditional architectures.
B. How carbon nanotubes could give us faster processors and longer battery life
Carbon nanotubes are full of dreamy applications, ranging from supercomputers to ultra-efficient
smartphones. The problem is, they are difficult to manufacture, and commercializing these applications
may require 10 or 15 years.
A nanotube is a tube-like molecular structure made of one element, usually carbon. Particularly carbon
nanotubes are known for their exceptional electrical and mechanical properties that arise from
nanotubes’ structure, where carbon atoms are organized in a helix made of hexagonal arrays.
S. Mitra, associate professor of Electrical engineering and Computer science at Stanford and his
colleague H.-S. Philip Wong are collaborating with other researchers to develop a new generation of
computers that have processors based on carbon nanotubes. “If you replace silicon transistors with
carbon transistors, the energy efficiency improvement could go up to 1000X,” Mitra said.
Smartphones are computers too, Mitra noted. “You can have millions of sensors collecting data, and the
smartphone can do massive computing on that. This new generation smartphone could be 30 times faster
than today, and would only need one charge a month.”
Yet, Mitra is eager to draw a line between research on carbon nanotubes and basic incorporation in
manufacturing. Even though research has seen progress, smartphone manufacturers don’t want to jump
into new things “unless they’re absolutely sure,” Mitra concluded.
Other universities are working on the solution as well. The lab of Rice University, for example,
discovered a process called Teslaforesis to create self-assembling carbon nanotubes.
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Revision
1 What do these abbreviations (initialisms) stand for? Match them with their descriptions.
CPU
non-volatile flash memory
VDU
“firmware”, built-in SW
HDD
volatile primary storage
RAM
processor
CD-ROM
electro-magnetic secondary storage
SSD
monitor
BIOS
read-only storage
2 a) Match a verb with an adverb to make natural-sounding collocations. You may combine
any verb with any adverb!
to converge
heavily
to depend
easily
to differ
badly
to degrade
increasingly
to run
fundamentally
to handle
smoothly
b) Now use the above phrases to fill the blanks in the following sentences.
Telecommunications and media seem to _____________ ____________ with the development of the
former.
GPUs and CPUs ____________ ______________ in architecture.
While the operating system lags upon first boot, it _________ ____________ upon restart
Do you think that this CPU can ________ next-generation games __________?
4 What is the hierarchy of the following units of memory: RAM, registers, L1 cache, L2 cache, L3 cache?
What is this hierarchy based on?
5 Give synonyms (S) or antonyms (A) to the underlined words as indicated.
a single die – m____________ dies (A)
to increase heat – to le________ heat (A)
electrical conductor - electrical in__________ (A)
a parallel process – a s_________ process (S)
neighbouring sectors – ad__________sectors (S) alternating current - d_____________ current (A)
a chemical element- chemical co__________ (A)
permanent storage – t___________ storage (A)
6 Choose the correct option. Use the target words in the appropriate form.
a) While an____________ method leads to the desired results, an ____________ method is one that
produces the results with the least waste of time and effort. EFFECTIVE / EFFICIENT
b) _______________ is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust. By contrast
______________, is a synthetic polymer made up of several elements. SILICON / SILICONE
c) The processor ________ an instruction from memory and then, depending on the instruction, executes
it. These days, more and more workers are_________ their personal devices -- laptops, phones, tablets
– to work. BRING / FETCH
d) The new staff will need three weeks of ______________ training. Given the wide range of similar
products on the market, purchasers are often under _____________ pressure to make the right choice.
INTENSE / INTENSIVE
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