Von NEUMANN ARCHITECTURE
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3752 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
The set of basic concepts for sequential data processing.
Practically all data processing machines are stil based on the following principles, proposed initially by J.von NEUMANN:
- a central processing unit
- a store of data that must be at the disposal of the central processing unit
- a set of instructions (or program) that can be applied to data in order to obtain certain predefined results, within the limits of the content of the program.
This is a purely algorithmic concept: The machine is enabled to do anything that is programmed, within the limits of the existing data, but cannot do anything else. In particular, it cannot learn anything.
The new connection machines, based on parallel distributed processing through small individual units, on the contrary, may learn by using rules.