Questions and Answers of Computer Architecture

Consider the following code. Show how it might be compiled into generic assembly language assuming that the compiler unrolls the loop three times. All values are integers. Assume that register
The following fragment of code is to be executed on two different superscalar processors. The processors have two integer units and two load/store units (i.e., up to two memory accesses and two
What is the disadvantage of register renaming in a superscalar processor?
What is software pipelining?
How does the IA64 increase the efficiency of software pipelining?
Identify the types of register data dependencies in the following piece of code. L1: MUL r2, r3, r4 L2 ADD r3, r2, r4 L3: ADD r4, r2, r4 L4 SUB r3, r4, r3
A delayed branch can enhance the performance of a simple RISC processor, but it may not increase the performance of a superscalar processor. Why?
What is the difference between dispatching and scheduling?
Are VLIW and EPIC processors different or is EPIC just HP's term for VLIW?
The Alpha 21x64 family, the Motorola 68K family, and the AMD 29000 family demonstrate that a highquality architecture or superior performance does not guarantee commercial success. A company's
What is the role of a template in an IA64 ltanium instruction bundle?
What is the difference between a dedicated and general-purpose computer?
Is an aircraft's automatic pilot an example of a dedicated or a general-purpose computer?
We said that the pattern of ls and 1s used to represent an instruction in a computer has no intrinsic meaning. Why is this so and what is the implication of this statement?
Why is the performance of a computer so dependent on a range of technologies such as semiconductor magnetic, optical, chemical, and so on?
Modify the algorithm used in this chapter to locate the longest run of non-consecutive characters in the string.
I was once criticized for saying that Charles Babbage was the inventor of the computer. My critic argued that Babbage's proposed computer was entirely mechanical (wheels, gears, and mechanical
What is the effect of the following sequence of RTL instructions? Describe each one individually and state the overall effect of these operations. Note that the notation [x] means the contents of
What are the differences between RTL, machine language, assembly language, high-level language, and pseudocode?
What is a stored-program machine?
I would maintain that conditional behavior is the key element that makes a computer a computer. Conditional behavior is implemented at the machine level by operations such as BEQ XYZ (branch to
What are the relative advantages of one-address, two address, and three-address computer architectures?
What is the difference between a computer's architecture and its organization?
Can you think of other systems besides computers that may be said to have both an architecture and an organization?
What is the difference between an exo- and an endo-architecture?
Over the years, has more computer progress been made in computer architecture or computer organization?
What is the semantic gap and what is its importance in computer architecture? You will need to use the Internet or library to answer this question.
What is the difference between human memory and computer memory?
What is the von Neumann bottleneck?
Suppose Intel did not develop the first microprocessor. Was the microprocessor inevitable?
Identify as many enabling technologies as you can that were required before the computer could be constructed.
Suppose Babbage had succeeded in creating a general-purpose mechanical computer that could operate at, say, one operation per second. What effect, if any, do you think it might have had on Babbage's
Suppose you decided to try and make computers more 'human' and introduce the 'random element.' How would you do that?
Computers always follow blind logic. Executing the same program always gives the same results. That's what the computer books say. But is it true? My computer can appear to behave differently on
The value of X is 7. Some computer languages (or notations) interpret X + 1 as 8 and others interpret it as Y. Why?
Carry out the necessary research and write an essay on the history of the development of computer memory systems (e.g., CRT memory, delay-line stores, ferrite core stores, etc.)
Of all the early computers, which do you think should be called the first computer if you are judging the world by today's standards?
In what applications have computers been most successful? And in what applications have they been least successful or even useless?
Why is the bus so important to a computer?
Consider a representation of a work organization or school with which you are familiar. Identify the major components that characterize the primary operations within the organization and draw a
Name at least four alternative devices that can be used as sources of alphanumeric character input data.
Without writing a program, predict the ORD value for your computer system for the letter ‘‘A,’’ for the letter ‘‘B,’’ for the letter ‘‘C.’’ How did you know? Might the value
The steps that the Little Man performs are closely related to the way in which the CPU actually executes instructions. Draw a flow chart that carefully describes the steps that the Little Man follows
Draw side-by-side flow diagrams that show how the Little Man executes a store instruction and the corresponding CPU fetch-execute cycle.
Generally, the distance that a programmer wants to move from the current instruction location on a BRANCH ON CONDITION is fairly small. This suggests that it might be appropriate to design the BRANCH
What is a rename register? What is it used for?
Explain the hit ratio in cache memory.
Describe the trade-offs between the memory cache write-through and write-back techniques.
Explain the purpose of a buffer.
What is a context? What does it contain? What is it used for?
What does WORM stand for when it is used to describe an optical disk?
What is the difference between interlaced scan and progressive (or noninterlaced) scan?
A text display displays 24 rows of 80 characters on a 640-pixel by 480-pixel 15-inch monitor. Assuming four spaces for horizontal space between each row of characters, how big are the characters in
Name at least three user input devices in common use.
Explain what is meant by synergy.
What is a shared-nothing cluster?
Find a current example of a large-scale grid computing project and describe it in as much detail as you can. What is the purpose of the project? What is the problem being addressed? How is grid
TCP/IP is arguably the most important example of a protocol suite. Why is it called a suite? Name another protocol suite that could be used for networking.
Including the layers that are not ‘‘officially’’ part of TCP/IP, how many layers are there in the TCP/IP network model? Name and briefly describe each layer. Offer at least one specific
IP is described as a ‘‘best-effort delivery service’’. What does this mean?
What layer simply delivers a stream of bits from one node to another?
How many layers are there in the OSI model? What are the layers that are not found in TCP/IP called? What is their relationship to the layers in TCP/IP?
What is the more common name for a logical address?
Identify and briefly explain the four fundamental topologies used in networks.
What are the advantages of switched Ethernet over hub- or bus-based Ethernet?
What is a point of presence?
Describe the tasks that are performed by a hypervisor.
State at least three advantages that result from the use of virtual machines.
Explain deadlock. What are the three possible ways that an operating system can handle the issue of deadlock?
Describe at least three network services offered by most operating systems in addition to protocol services.
The not used recently page replacement algorithm stores two bits with each page to determine a page that is suitable for replacement. What does each bit represent? Which combination of bits makes a
Explain the concept of a working set.
Describe the process that takes place when a page fault occurs? What happens if there are no frames available when a page fault occurs?
Virtual storage makes it possible to execute a program that is larger than the available amount of memory. What obvious characteristic of program code makes this possible?
A program?s page table is shown in Figure 18Q.1. Assume that each page is 4KB in size. (4 KB = 12 bits). The instruction currently being executed is to load data from location 5E2416. Where is the
Explain how page translation makes it possible to execute a program that is stored in memory non-contiguously.
What are the contents of a page table? Explain how a page table relates pages and frames.
What is a frame in virtual storage? What is the relationship between a frame and physical memory?
Show in a drawing similar to Figure 18.18 how two different programs with the same logical address space can be transformed by virtual storage partially into the same part of physical memory and
What is a page in virtual storage? What is the relationship between a program and pages?
Show in a drawing similar to Figure 18.18 how two different programs with the same logical address space can be transformed by virtual storage into independent parts of physical memory. Figure
What is the basic problem that memory management is supposed to solve? What is the shortcoming of memory partitioning as a solution?
UNIX systems use a dynamic priority algorithm where the priority is based on the ratio of CPU time to the total time a process has been in the system. Explain how this reduces to round robin in the
Explain how the shortest job first algorithm can result in starvation.
Explain the first-in-first-out dispatch algorithm. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this algorithm. Is this a preemptive or non-preemptive algorithm?
What are the potential difficulties that can occur when non-preemptive dispatching is used in an interactive system?
What is an event-driven program?
What features characterize threads? How are threads used?
Draw and label the process state diagram used for dispatching work to the CPU. Explain each state and the role of each connector.
Explain the purpose of a spawning operation. What is the result when the spawning operation is complete?
What are user processes? What are system processes?
How does a process differ from a program?
What are the major items found in a process control block?
Where is the first stage of a bootstrap loader for a computer stored? What tasks does it perform?
What is the fundamental purpose of any operating system? What is the role of the file manager? What other basic functions must the operating system be able to perform?
You are given the directory tree in Figure 17E.1. Assume that you are currently located at the point indicated with the arrow labeled (A) in the diagram. What is the relative path name for the file
How does a storage area network differ from a client–server approach to storage?
Windows and Linux use two different methods to identify files on a network. Briefly describe each method.
What is the difference between a relative path name and an absolute path name? How does the system know which one a user is specifying at a particular time?
What is a path name?

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