TOP 30 Computer Architecture Multiple Choice Questions and Answers pdf fresher and experienced

Read the most frequently asked 30 top Computer Architecture multiple choice questions and answers PDF for freshers and experienced. Computer Architecture objective questions and answers pdf download free..

Computer Architecture Multiple Choice Questions and Answers PDF Experienced Freshers
1. What are the basic components in a Microprocessor?
1)address lines to refer to the address of a block
2)data lines for data transfer
3)IC chips 4 processing data

2. What is MESI?
The MESI protocol is also known as Illinois protocol due to

its development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-

Champaign and MESI is a widely used cache coherency and

memory coherence protocol.
MESI is the most common protocol which supports write-back

cache. Its use in personal computers became widespread with

the introduction of Intel's Pentium processor to "support

the more efficient write-back cache in addition to the

write-through cache previously used by the Intel 486

processor"

3. What are the different hazards? How do you avoid them?
There are situations, called hazards, that prevent the next

instruction in the instruction stream from executing during

its designated clock cycle. Hazards reduce the performance

from the ideal speedup gained by pipelining.
There are three classes of Hazards:
1. Structural Hazards: It arise from resource conflicts

when the hardware cannot support all possible combinations

of instructions simultaniously in ovelapped execution.
2. Data Hazards: It arise when an instruction depends on

the results of previous instruction in a way that is

exposed by the ovelapping of instructions in the pipeline.
3. Control Hazards: It arise from the pipelining of

branches and other instructions that change the PC.

How to Avoid Hazards:
1. Structural Hazard: This arise when some functional unit

is not fully pipelined. Then the sequence of instructions

using that unpipelined unit cannot proceed at the rate of

one one per clock cycle. Another common way that it may

appear is when some resources are not duplicated enough to

allow all combination of instructional the pipeline to

execute. So by fully pipe lining the stages and duplicating

resources will avoid structural pipeline.

4. What is the pipelining?
A technique used in advanced microprocessors where the

microprocessor begins executing a second instruction before

the first has been completed. That is, several instructions

are in the pipeline simultaneously, each at a different

processing stage.

5. Cache Size is 64KB, Block size is 32B and the cache is

Two-Way Set Associative. For a 32-bit physical address,

give the division between Block Offset, Index and Tag.
64k/32 = 2000 blocks
2 way set assoc- 2000/2 = 1000 lines-> 10 bits for index
32B block-> 5 bits for block offset
32-10-5= 17 bits for tag

6. What is a Snooping cache?
DNS cache snooping is not a term the author just made up,

it is known and discussed by some notable
DNS implementation developers, and a few interested DNS

administrators have probably at least heard of it.

7. What is Cache Coherency?
Cache coherence refers to the integrity of data stored in

local caches of a shared resource. Cache coherence is a

special case of memory coherence. When clients in a system,

particularly CPUs in a multiprocessing system cache occurs.

8. What is Virtual Memory?
Virtual Memory is a way of extending a computers memory by

using a disk file to simulate add'l memory space. The OS

keeps track of these add'l memory addresses on the hard

disk called pages, and the operation in bringing in pages

is called page fault.

9. What are the five stages in a DLX pipeline?
The instruction sets can be differentiated by
? Operand storage in the CPU
? Number of explicit operands per instruction
? Operand location
? Operations
? Type and size of operands

10. What is a cache?
It turns out that caching is an important computer-science

process that appears on every computer in a variety of

forms. There are memory caches, hardware and software disk

caches, page caches and more. Virtual memory is even a form

of caching.
Caching is a technology based on the memory subsystem of

your computer. The main purpose of a cache is to accelerate

your computer while keeping the price of the computer low.

Caching allows you to do your computer tasks more rapidly.

Cache technology is the use of a faster but smaller memory

type to accelerate a slower but larger memory type. A cache

has some maximum size that is much smaller than the larger

storage area. It is possible to have multiple layers of

cache.
A computer is a machine in which we measure time in very

small increments. When the microprocessor accesses the main

memory (RAM), it does it in about 60 nanoseconds (60

billionths of a second). That's pretty fast, but it is much

slower than the typical microprocessor. Microprocessors can

have cycle times as short as 2 nanoseconds, so to a

microprocessor 60 nanoseconds seems like an eternity.
StumbleUpon
Digg
Delicious
Twitter
FaceBook
LinkedIn
Google
Yahoo
MySpace
Tell Your Friend

11. Convert 65(Hex) to Binary?
65 to decimal
65/16=4
remainder=1
==41 decimal
decimal to binary
101001

12. Convert a number to its twos compliment and back?
First convert a number into binary format. Then keep last

binary number as it is & complement all others.
Eg:- 1101001
2's Compl:0010111

13. The CPU is busy but you want to stop and do some other

task. How do you do it?
Arise a non maskable interrupt.
Then give jump instruction to required subroutine.

14. What is the difference between interrupt service

routine and subroutine?
Subroutine are the part of executing processes(like any

process can call a subroutine for achieve task),while the

interrupt subroutine never be the part.interrupt subroutine

are subroutine that are external to a process.

15. For a pipeline with "n" stages, whats the ideal

throughput? What prevents us from achieving this ideal

throughput?
With "n" stage pipeline the throughput should be "n"

instructions.
As the pipe stages can't be perfectly balanced ( time to

perform task in a pipeline stage), furthermore pipeline

does involve some
overheads.

16. How do you handle precise exceptions or interrupts?
Like java have a feature for handling exception handling

"prime catch".the exception like divide by zero,out of

bound.

17. Whats the difference between Write-Through and Write-

Back Caches? Explain advantages and disadvantages of each?
The comparison can be made out of two factors
1) Performance and
2) Integrity of Data
Write through is better in integrity as it will flush for

each writes.
Write back holds up the write till the same cache line has

to be used up for a read, which question the data integrity

when multiple processors access the same region of data

using its own internal cache.
Write Back - gives a good performance, as it save many

memory write cycles /write.
Write Through - Doesn't give this performance compared to

the write-back.

18. Explain What is Virtual Memory?
Virtual memory is a concept that, when implemented by a

computer and its operating system, allows programmers to

use a very large range of memory or storage addresses for

stored data. The computing system maps the programmer's

virtual addresses to real hardware storage addresses.

Usually, the programmer is freed from having to be

concerned about the availability of data storage.
In addition to managing the mapping of virtual storage

addresses to real storage addresses, a computer

implementing virtual memory or storage also manages storage

swapping between active storage (RAM) and hard disk or

other high volume storage devices. Data is read in units

called "pages" of sizes ranging from a thousand bytes

(actually 1,024 decimal bytes) up to several megabyes in

size. This reduces the amount of physical storage access

that is required and speeds up overall system performance.

19. Cache Size is 64KB, Block size is 32B and the cache is

Two-Way Set Associative. For a 32-bit physical address,

give the division between Block Offset, Index and Tag.
if block size is 32B,then block offset = 2^5 so 5 bits,

index has equation, cache size/(block size*associative) so

64K/(32*2) = 1K, 2^10, so index = 10 bits,now tag =

physical address-block offset-index, which is 32-5-10 =

17bits

20. What is the difference between Write-Through and

Write-Back Caches? Explain advantages and disadvantages of

each?
Writing in cache is possible through two method. 1. Write

back-update the cache memory along with main memory. 2.

Write through-writing in cache only, equivalent copy is

produce in main memory, when word is not updated from a

long time.
Writing in cache is possible through two method. 1. Write

back-update the cache memory along with main memory. 2.

Write through-writing in cache only, equivalent copy is

produce in main memory, when word is not updated from a

long time.

21. Explain What is a cache?
It turns out that caching is an important computer-science

process that appears on every computer in a variety of

forms. There are memory caches, hardware and software disk

caches, page caches and more. Virtual memory is even a form

of caching.
Caching is a technology based on the memory subsystem of

your computer. The main purpose of a cache is to accelerate

your computer while keeping the price of the computer low.

Caching allows you to do your computer tasks more rapidly.

Cache technology is the use of a faster but smaller memory

type to accelerate a slower but larger memory type. A cache

has some maximum size that is much smaller than the larger

storage area. It is possible to have multiple layers of

cache.
A computer is a machine in which we measure time in very

small increments. When the microprocessor accesses the main

memory (RAM), it does it in about 60 nanoseconds (60

billionths of a second). That's pretty fast, but it is much

slower than the typical microprocessor. Microprocessors can

have cycle times as short as 2 nanoseconds, so to a

microprocessor 60 nanoseconds seems like an eternity.
A computer is a machine in which we measure time in very

small increments. When the microprocessor accesses the main

memory (RAM), it does it in about 60 nanoseconds (60

billionths of a second). That's pretty fast, but it is much

slower than the typical microprocessor. Microprocessors can

have cycle times as short as 2 nanoseconds, so to a

microprocessor 60 nanoseconds seems like an eternity.
What if we build a special memory bank in the motherboard,

small but very fast (around 30 nanoseconds)? That's already

two times faster than the main memory access. That's called

a level 2 cache or an L2 cache. What if we build an even

smaller but faster memory system directly into the

microprocessor's chip? That way, this memory will be

accessed at the speed of the microprocessor and not the

speed of the memory bus. That's an L1 cache, which on a

233-megahertz (MHz) Pentium is 3.5 times faster than the L2

cache, which is two times faster than the access to main

memory.
Some microprocessors have two levels of cache built right

into the chip. In this case, the motherboard cache -- the

cache that exists between the microprocessor and main

system memory -- becomes level 3, or L3 cache.

22. What are Branch Prediction and Branch Target Buffers?
By vectoring technique.

23. Explain What are the different hazards? How do you

avoid them?
There are situations, called hazards, that prevent the next

instruction in the instruction stream from executing during

its designated clock cycle. Hazards reduce the performance

from the ideal speedup gained by pipelining. There are

three classes of Hazards:

1. Structural Hazards: It arise from resource conflicts

when the hardware cannot support all possible combinations

of instructions simultaniously in ovelapped execution.
2. Data Hazards: It arise when an instruction depends on

the results of previous instruction in a way that is

exposed by the ovelapping of instructions in the pipeline.
3. Control Hazards: It arise from the pipelining of

branches and other instructions that change the PC.

How to Avoid Hazards:
1. Structural Hazard: This arise when some functional unit

is not fully pipelined. Then the sequence of instructions

using that unpipelined unit cannot proceed at the rate of

one one per clock cycle. Another common way that it may

appear is when some resources are not duplicated enough to

allow all combination of instructionsin the pipeline to

execute. So by fully pipelining the stages and duplicating

resouces will avoid structural pipeline.

2. Data Hazards: A major effect of pipelining is to change

the relative timing of instructions by overlapping their

execution. This overlap introduce the data and control

hazards. Data hazards occur when the pipeline changes the

order of read/write accesses to operands so that the order

differs from the order seen by sequentially executing

instructions on an unpipelined processor. It can be

mimimized by simple hardware technique called forwarding or

by adding stalls.

3. Control Hazards: They are also know as Branch Hazards.

The simplest scheme to handle branches hazard is to freeze

or flush the pipeline, holding or deleting any instructions

after the branch until the branch destination is known. In

this case branch penalty is fixed and cannot be reduced by

software. The other scheme is predicted-not-taken or

predicted-untaken and delayed branch.

24. Explain What are the five stages in a DLX pipeline?
The instruction sets can be differentiated by
* Operand storage in the CPU
* Number of explicit operands per instruction
* Operand location
* Operations
* Type and size of operands

IF: Instruction Fetch ( from memory) ID: Instruction decode

and register read EX: Execution of the operation or address

calculation MEM: Data memory access ( i.e accessing the

operand) WB: Write Back ( the result)

25. For a pipeline with n stages, what is the ideal

throughput? What prevents us from achieving this ideal

throughput?
With "n" stage pipeline the throughput should be "n"

instructions.
As the pipe stages can't be perfectly balanced ( time to

perform task in a pipeline stage), furthermore pipeline

does involve some
overheads.

26. Convert 65(Hex) to Binary?
10000000 1's complement of it is 01111111 +1

------------------------------- 1000000

27. What is ACBF(Hex) divided by 16?
6 5 0110 0101

28. What are the components in a Microprocessor?
its a general purpose register. its components are one

processor along with external ROM, RAM, etc
MICROPROCESSOR IS A PROCESSOR(CPU) embedded in a single

chip BY VLSI DESIGN. RATHER,IT IS A CLOCK-DRIVEN,PROGRAM

CONTROLLED CHIP

29. Explain What is MESI?
MESI stands for a protocol which is followed in shared

processor systems. M - Modified E - Exclusive S - Shared I

- Invalid

30. Convert a number to its two?s compliment and back?
for example 5 is a decimal no converts it into binary

format is 0101 base 2 invert this binary value 1010 add 1

with this ans we will get 2's complement of this given no

is 1011

0 comments:

Post a Comment