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3.1.1aStored program concept and von Neumann architecture

Edexcel GCSE Computer Science (1CP2) · Computers › Hardware

Practise Stored program concept and von Neumann architecture. 11 exam-style questions on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.

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Quick recall

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State the name of the component that fetches and executes program instructions.
The CPU (processor)
In the von Neumann architecture, the instructions of a program are normally executed sequentially. Define the term 'executed sequentially'.
One after another, in the order they are stored.
State the name of the bus that carries instructions from main memory to the CPU.
data bus

Sample questions

Written for this site in the style of Edexcel exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.

Question 1Easy3 marks
(a) Identify a feature of the stored program concept.[1]
  • Program instructions and data are stored together in main memory
  • Programs run directly from secondary storage without being loaded into memory
  • The CPU stores every program in its registers
  • Each program needs its own processor
(b) State the name of the component that fetches and executes program instructions.[1]
(c) State the form in which program instructions are stored in main memory.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a) Answer: Program instructions and data are stored together in main memory
(b) Answer: The CPU (processor)
  • the CPU / processor / central processing unit
(c) Answer: Binary (machine code)
  • binary / machine code
Question 2Medium4 marks
(a) Describe the stored program concept.[3]
(b) Give one advantage of the stored program concept compared with early computers that had to be rewired to carry out a different task.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a) Answer: Instructions are held in binary in main memory alongside the data; the CPU fetches and executes them one at a time.
  • program instructions are stored in main memory (RAM)
  • together with / in the same memory as the data that the program uses
  • instructions are stored in binary (machine code)
  • the CPU fetches the instructions from memory one at a time and executes them in sequence
(b) Answer: A new task only needs a new program loaded into memory, not rewiring.
  • a different program can be run just by loading it into memory, without changing the hardware / the same computer can carry out many different tasks
Question 3Hard4 marks
A user opens a photo-editing app that is stored on the computer's solid-state drive.
(a) Explain why the app must be copied into main memory before it can run.[2]
(b) Describe what happens when the CPU starts to run the app. Use the stored program concept in your answer.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a) Answer: The CPU only fetches instructions from main memory, which is far faster than the SSD.
  • the CPU can only fetch instructions directly from main memory (RAM), not from secondary storage
  • RAM is much faster to access than secondary storage, so the CPU does not have to wait as long for each instruction / item of data
(b) Answer: The CPU fetches the app's instructions from main memory one at a time, decoding and executing each in turn.
  • the CPU fetches the first instruction of the app from its address in main memory
  • it decodes and executes that instruction, then fetches the next one, repeating the fetch–decode–execute cycle

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