Computing in Architecture

Question 1

In computer engineering, it is the conceptual design and fundamental operational structure of a computer system

Answer 1

Computer Architecture

Question 2

A blueprint and functional description of requirements and design implementations for the various parts of a computer, focusing largely on the way by which the CPU performs internally and accesses addresses in memory.

Answer 2

Computer Architecture

Question 3

The science and art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals.

Answer 3

Computer Architecture

Question 4

3 main sub-categories of Computer architecture

Answer 4

1. Instruction Set Architecture
2. Micro-architecture
3. System Design

Question 5

the abstract image of a computing system that is seen by a machine language programmer, including the instruction set, memory address modes, processor registers, and address and data formats

Answer 5

Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)

Question 6

also known as computer organization

Answer 6

Micro-architecture

Question 7

a lower level, more concrete and detailed, description of the system that involves how the constituent parts of the system are interconnected and how they interoperate in order to implement ISA

Answer 7

Micro-architecture

Question 8

includes all of the other hardware components within a computing system

Answer 8

System Design

Question 9

a process wherein the actual device needs to be designed into hardware

Answer 9

Implementation

Question 10

3 pieces of implementation

Answer 10

• Logic Implementation
• Circuit Implementation
• Physical Implementation

Question 11

design of blocks defined in the micro-architecture at the register-transfer and gate levels

Answer 11

Logic Implementation

Question 12

Transistor-level design of basic elements as well as of some larger blocks that may be implemented at this level, or even at the physical level, for performance reasons.

Answer 12

Circuit Implementation

Question 13

physical circuits are drawn out, the different circuit components are placed in a chip floor-plan or on a board and the wires connecting them are routed

Answer 13

Physical Implementation

Question 14

For CPUs, the entire implementation process if often called what?

Answer 14

CPU Design

Question 15

NUMA

Answer 15

Non-Uniform Memory Access

Question 16

The term “architecture” in computer literature can be traced to whose work?

Answer 16

Lyle R. Johnson
Frederick P. Brooks

Question 17

The art of determining the needs of the user of a structure and then designing to meet those needs as effectively as possible within economic and technological constraints.

Answer 17

Computer Architecture

Question 18

architectural layers that are more abstract than micro-architecture

Answer 18

Macro-architecture

Question 19

macro-architecture

Answer 19

Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)

Question 20

a smart assembler may convert an abstract assembly language common to a group of machines into slightly different machine language for different implementations

Answer 20

Assembly ISA

Question 21

higher level language tools such as compilers may define a consistent interface or contract to programmers using them, abstracting differences between underlying ISA, UISA, and microarchitectures

Answer 21

Programmer Visible Micro-architecture

Question 22

a family of machines with different hardware level microarchitectures may share common microcode architecture

Answer 22

Microcode Instruction Set Architecture (UISA)

Question 23

the set of functions that a microprocessor is expected to provide from the point of view of a hardware platform

Answer 23

Pin Architecture

Question 24

often described in terms of clock speed (MHz, GHz)

Answer 24

computer performance

Question 25

two main types of speed

Answer 25

Latency Throughput

Question 26

the time between the start of a process and its completion

Answer 26

Latency

Question 27

the amount of work done per unit time

Answer 27

Throughput

Question 28

the guaranteed maximum response time of the system to an electronic event

Answer 28

Interrupt latency

Question 29

another design criterion that factors in the design of modern computers

Answer 29

Power consumption

Question 30

holds the data that the computer will process and the instructions that indicate what processing is to be done

Answer 30

Storage/Memory

Question 31

types of storage devices

Answer 31

Registers Main Memory Secondary/Auxiliary Storage

Question 32

the fastest and most costly storage units

Answer 32

Registers

Question 33

normally contained within the processing unit

Answer 33

Registers

Question 34

holds the data to be processed and the instructions that specify what processing is to be done

Answer 34

Main memory

Question 35

two prevalent techniques for increasing effective speed

Answer 35

Interleaving and Cachering

Question 36

a popular way to increase the effective size

Answer 36

Virtual Memory

Question 37

involves the use of two or more independent memory systems, combined in a way that makes them appear to be a single, faster system.

Answer 37

Interleaving

Question 38

a small, fast memory system contains the most frequently used words from a slower, larger main memory

Answer 38

Cacheing

Question 39

a technique whereby the programmer is given the illusion of a very large main memory, when in fact it has only a modest size

Answer 39

virtual memory

Question 40

sometime called secondary storage

Answer 40

auxiliary memory

Question 41

the slowest, lowest-cost, and highest-capacity computer storage area

Answer 41

auxiliary memory

Question 42

two basic types of secondary storage

Answer 42

sequential and direct-access

Question 43

access secondary storage devices, f which magnetic tape is the most common, permit data to be accessed in a linear sequence

Answer 43

Sequential

Question 44

one of whose data may be accessed in any order

Answer 44

Direct-access

Question 45

one of the most important aspects of modern computer memory designs

Answer 45

memory mapping

Question 46

the method by which the computer translates between the computer's logical and physical address spaces

Answer 46

memory mapping

Question 47

another strategy for mapping

Answer 47

Paging

Question 48

this technique involves dividing both logical and physical address spaces into equal-sized blocks call pages

Answer 48

Paging

Question 49

consists of a control unit, which directs the operation of the system, and an arithmetic and logic unit, which performs computational operations

Answer 49

Processor

Question 50

two common approaches for connecting peripherals and secondary storage devices to the rest of the computer

Answer 50

Channel Bus

Question 51

essentially a wire or group of wires between a peripheral device and a memory device

Answer 51

Channel

Question 52

allows several devices to be connected to the same wire

Answer 52

Multiplexed channel

Question 53

a form of multiplexed channel that can be shared by a large number of devices

Answer 53

bus

Question 54

a technique by which the computer signals the device to transmit a block of data, and the data are transmitted directly to memory, without the processor needing to wait

Answer 54

Direct memory access

Question 55

a form of signal by which a peripheral device notifies a processor that it has completed transmitting data

Answer 55

Interrupts