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Computer Architecture And Design

Instructions:

Answer 38 questions in 15 minutes.
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Match each statement with the correct term.
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This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.

1. An example of an improvement that would impact throughput (but not response time).
Memory used to hold program while they are executing.
Add memory - additional processors to handle more tasks in a given time.
The total time required for the computer to to complete a task. (Includes disk accesses - memory accesses - I/O activities - OS overhead - and CPU execution time.)
Computers that are lodged in other devices where their presence is not immediately obvious.

2. What is secondary memory?
Non - volatile memory used to store programs and data between executions.
The combination of performance (measured primarily in therms of compute performance and graphics performance) and the price of a system.
Input - output - memory - datapath - control
Procedure call. Copies PC to $ra - # push $t0 - Subu $sp - $sp - 4 - sw $t0 - ($sp) - # pop $t0 - Lw $t0 - ($sp) - addu $sp - $sp - 4

3. What are the base units of GHz?
A faster processor to complete task sooner - a better algorithm to complete the program/task sooner.
10^9 cycles per sec
Desktop computer / laptop computer - server - super computer - embedded computer - mobile computing
High- level aspects of a computer's design - such as the memory system - the memory interconnect - and the design of the internal processor or CPU (central processing unit

4. An example of non - volatile memory
Magnetic disk - flash memory are examples of this type of memory.
Desktop computer / laptop computer - server - super computer - embedded computer - mobile computing
The most expensive computers - costing tens of millions of dollars. They emphasize floating- point performance.
Also called TLP. A form of parallelization of computer code across multiple processors in parallel computing environments - which focuses on distributing execution processes (threads) across different parallel computing nodes.

5. What are the classes of computing applications (five)?
Dedicated argument registers to reduce stack usage during procedure calls - consistently sized opcodes - separate instructions for store and load - improved linkage (jal and jr save $ra without using stack)
Computers that are lodged in other devices where their presence is not immediately obvious.
Desktop computer / laptop computer - server - super computer - embedded computer - mobile computing
Using fixed or variable length encoding.

6. What are embedded computers?
The number of tasks completed per unit of time.
Computers that are lodged in other devices where their presence is not immediately obvious.
Procedure call. Copies PC to $ra - # push $t0 - Subu $sp - $sp - 4 - sw $t0 - ($sp) - # pop $t0 - Lw $t0 - ($sp) - addu $sp - $sp - 4
The specifics of a computer - including the detailed logic design and the packaging technology of the computer

7. One reason why two's compliment is used as opposed to signed magnitude or one's compliment?
Instructions/unit time (e.g. - instructions/sec) - equal to 1/execution time
There does not exist the case of negative zero. - Can perform a- b as a+ (- b) without adjustments inside the CPU.
Procedure call. Copies PC to $ra - # push $t0 - Subu $sp - $sp - 4 - sw $t0 - ($sp) - # pop $t0 - Lw $t0 - ($sp) - addu $sp - $sp - 4
10^9 cycles per sec

8. What are the five classic components of a computer?
Input - output - memory - datapath - control
The most expensive computers - costing tens of millions of dollars. They emphasize floating- point performance.
Storage that retains data even in the absence of a power source.
High- level aspects of a computer's design - such as the memory system - the memory interconnect - and the design of the internal processor or CPU (central processing unit

9. What is a supercomputer?
Instructions/unit time (e.g. - instructions/sec) - equal to 1/execution time
Points to the next instruction to be executed.
The most expensive computers - costing tens of millions of dollars. They emphasize floating- point performance.
Algorithm - programming language - compiler - instruction set architecture

10. What are the hardware/software components affecting program performance?
Computers that are lodged in other devices where their presence is not immediately obvious.
Also called DLP. A form of parallelization of computing across multiple processors in parallel computing environments - which focuses on distributing the data across different parallel computing nodes.
Add memory - additional processors to handle more tasks in a given time.
Algorithm - programming language - compiler - instruction set architecture

11. Amdahl's Law
Memory used to hold program while they are executing.
The performance enhancement possible with a given improvement is limited by the amount that the improvement feature is used.
The most expensive computers - costing tens of millions of dollars. They emphasize floating- point performance.
Points to the address of an instruction that caused an exception

12. What are the industry standard benchmarks to measure performance (e.g. - with different vendor chips)?
1- response time 2- throughput - response time and throughput are directly proportional or only interrelated - Interrelated only.
(1) pipelining (2) multiple instruction issue
Points to the current top of the stack
When it is possible to occasionally miss the time constraint on an event - as long as not too many are missed.

13. What is included in the term organization?

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14. An example of volatile memory
Memory used to hold program while they are executing.
Points to the next instruction to be executed.
DRAM - RAM - Cache are examples of this type of memory.
Storage that retains data only if it is receiving power

15. What is thread- level parallelism?
Dedicated argument registers to reduce stack usage during procedure calls - consistently sized opcodes - separate instructions for store and load - improved linkage (jal and jr save $ra without using stack)
The combination of performance (measured primarily in therms of compute performance and graphics performance) and the price of a system.
Also called TLP. A form of parallelization of computer code across multiple processors in parallel computing environments - which focuses on distributing execution processes (threads) across different parallel computing nodes.
Points to the current top of the stack

16. What is main/primary memory?
Input - output - memory - datapath - control
Memory used to hold program while they are executing.
Storage that retains data even in the absence of a power source.
Magnetic disk - flash memory are examples of this type of memory.

17. What is response time?
The total time required for the computer to to complete a task. (Includes disk accesses - memory accesses - I/O activities - OS overhead - and CPU execution time.)
The combination of performance (measured primarily in therms of compute performance and graphics performance) and the price of a system.
An abstract interface between the hardware and the lowest level software that encompasses all the information necessary to write a machine language program that will run correctly - including instructions - registers - memory access - I/O - etc.
There does not exist the case of negative zero. - Can perform a- b as a+ (- b) without adjustments inside the CPU.

18. What is an Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)?
Non - volatile memory used to store programs and data between executions.
Instructions and data are stored in memory as numbers
The performance enhancement possible with a given improvement is limited by the amount that the improvement feature is used.
An abstract interface between the hardware and the lowest level software that encompasses all the information necessary to write a machine language program that will run correctly - including instructions - registers - memory access - I/O - etc.

19. An example of something typically associated with RISC architecture that is not typical in CISC architecture.
Storage that retains data only if it is receiving power
Input - output - memory - datapath - control
Algorithm - programming language - compiler - instruction set architecture
Dedicated argument registers to reduce stack usage during procedure calls - consistently sized opcodes - separate instructions for store and load - improved linkage (jal and jr save $ra without using stack)

20. What is volatile memory?
(1) pipelining (2) multiple instruction issue
Points to the current top of the stack
Storage that retains data only if it is receiving power
The specifics of a computer - including the detailed logic design and the packaging technology of the computer

21. What does jal <proc> do?
Non - volatile memory used to store programs and data between executions.
A faster processor to complete task sooner - a better algorithm to complete the program/task sooner.
Add memory - additional processors to handle more tasks in a given time.
Procedure call. Copies PC to $ra - # push $t0 - Subu $sp - $sp - 4 - sw $t0 - ($sp) - # pop $t0 - Lw $t0 - ($sp) - addu $sp - $sp - 4

22. What is the $pc register used for?
When it is possible to occasionally miss the time constraint on an event - as long as not too many are missed.
Also called TLP. A form of parallelization of computer code across multiple processors in parallel computing environments - which focuses on distributing execution processes (threads) across different parallel computing nodes.
An abstract interface between the hardware and the lowest level software that encompasses all the information necessary to write a machine language program that will run correctly - including instructions - registers - memory access - I/O - etc.
Points to the next instruction to be executed.

23. What is a real- time performance requirement?
When a segment of the application has an absolute maximum execution time.
1- response time 2- throughput - response time and throughput are directly proportional or only interrelated - Interrelated only.
A faster processor to complete task sooner - a better algorithm to complete the program/task sooner.
High- level aspects of a computer's design - such as the memory system - the memory interconnect - and the design of the internal processor or CPU (central processing unit

24. Stored Program Concept
Procedure call. Copies PC to $ra - # push $t0 - Subu $sp - $sp - 4 - sw $t0 - ($sp) - # pop $t0 - Lw $t0 - ($sp) - addu $sp - $sp - 4
Also called ILP. This is the potential overlap among instructions. There are two approaches: (1) hardware - and (2) software.
Instructions and data are stored in memory as numbers
(1) pipelining (2) multiple instruction issue

25. How can you encode an ISA?
High- level aspects of a computer's design - such as the memory system - the memory interconnect - and the design of the internal processor or CPU (central processing unit
Using fixed or variable length encoding.
(1) pipelining (2) multiple instruction issue
Non - volatile memory used to store programs and data between executions.

26. What is price performance?
The combination of performance (measured primarily in therms of compute performance and graphics performance) and the price of a system.
Dedicated argument registers to reduce stack usage during procedure calls - consistently sized opcodes - separate instructions for store and load - improved linkage (jal and jr save $ra without using stack)
Computers that are lodged in other devices where their presence is not immediately obvious.
A faster processor to complete task sooner - a better algorithm to complete the program/task sooner.

27. What is the $sp register used for?
Storage that retains data only if it is receiving power
Points to the current top of the stack
When it is possible to occasionally miss the time constraint on an event - as long as not too many are missed.
Memory used to hold program while they are executing.

28. What is soft real- time?
The specifics of a computer - including the detailed logic design and the packaging technology of the computer
Memory used to hold program while they are executing.
Using fixed or variable length encoding.
When it is possible to occasionally miss the time constraint on an event - as long as not too many are missed.

29. How is CPU performance measured?
Instructions/unit time (e.g. - instructions/sec) - equal to 1/execution time
Procedure call. Copies PC to $ra - # push $t0 - Subu $sp - $sp - 4 - sw $t0 - ($sp) - # pop $t0 - Lw $t0 - ($sp) - addu $sp - $sp - 4
Input - output - memory - datapath - control
High- level aspects of a computer's design - such as the memory system - the memory interconnect - and the design of the internal processor or CPU (central processing unit

30. Moore's Law
There does not exist the case of negative zero. - Can perform a- b as a+ (- b) without adjustments inside the CPU.
Computer speeds double every 18-24 months
Computers that are lodged in other devices where their presence is not immediately obvious.
Points to the next instruction to be executed.

31. What is instruction - level parallelism?
Memory used to hold program while they are executing.
A faster processor to complete task sooner - a better algorithm to complete the program/task sooner.
Also called ILP. This is the potential overlap among instructions. There are two approaches: (1) hardware - and (2) software.
Add memory - additional processors to handle more tasks in a given time.

32. What is non - volatile memory?
(1) pipelining (2) multiple instruction issue
An abstract interface between the hardware and the lowest level software that encompasses all the information necessary to write a machine language program that will run correctly - including instructions - registers - memory access - I/O - etc.
Magnetic disk - flash memory are examples of this type of memory.
Storage that retains data even in the absence of a power source.

33. What are two examples of instruction - level parallelism?
Procedure call. Copies PC to $ra - # push $t0 - Subu $sp - $sp - 4 - sw $t0 - ($sp) - # pop $t0 - Lw $t0 - ($sp) - addu $sp - $sp - 4
(1) pipelining (2) multiple instruction issue
Add memory - additional processors to handle more tasks in a given time.
Desktop computer / laptop computer - server - super computer - embedded computer - mobile computing

34. What is the $epc register used for?
The combination of performance (measured primarily in therms of compute performance and graphics performance) and the price of a system.
Input - output - memory - datapath - control
Points to the address of an instruction that caused an exception
Storage that retains data only if it is receiving power

35. An example of an improvement that would impact response time (but not throughput).
Storage that retains data only if it is receiving power
Using fixed or variable length encoding.
Procedure call. Copies PC to $ra - # push $t0 - Subu $sp - $sp - 4 - sw $t0 - ($sp) - # pop $t0 - Lw $t0 - ($sp) - addu $sp - $sp - 4
A faster processor to complete task sooner - a better algorithm to complete the program/task sooner.

36. What is throughput?
Algorithm - programming language - compiler - instruction set architecture
Storage that retains data even in the absence of a power source.
The combination of performance (measured primarily in therms of compute performance and graphics performance) and the price of a system.
The number of tasks completed per unit of time.

37. What does hardware refer to?
There does not exist the case of negative zero. - Can perform a- b as a+ (- b) without adjustments inside the CPU.
Also called TLP. A form of parallelization of computer code across multiple processors in parallel computing environments - which focuses on distributing execution processes (threads) across different parallel computing nodes.
Using fixed or variable length encoding.
The specifics of a computer - including the detailed logic design and the packaging technology of the computer

38. What is data- level parallelism?
Procedure call. Copies PC to $ra - # push $t0 - Subu $sp - $sp - 4 - sw $t0 - ($sp) - # pop $t0 - Lw $t0 - ($sp) - addu $sp - $sp - 4
The most expensive computers - costing tens of millions of dollars. They emphasize floating- point performance.
Also called DLP. A form of parallelization of computing across multiple processors in parallel computing environments - which focuses on distributing the data across different parallel computing nodes.
An abstract interface between the hardware and the lowest level software that encompasses all the information necessary to write a machine language program that will run correctly - including instructions - registers - memory access - I/O - etc.