lesson 7 Flashcards
(20 cards)
: What is the primary function of the ALU in a processor?
- A) Fetch instructions from memory
- B) Decode instructions
- C) Perform arithmetic and logical operations
- D) Control the flow of data
C) Perform arithmetic and logical operations
Question: Which of the following is NOT a stage in a typical instruction execution cycle?
- A) Fetch
- B) Decode
- C) Compile
- D) Execute
C) Compile
: What is pipelining in processor design?
- A) A technique to increase clock frequency
- B) A technique to execute multiple instructions simultaneously
- C) A technique to reduce power consumption
- D) A technique to increase cache size
A technique to execute multiple instructions simultaneously
What type of hazard occurs when an instruction depends on the result of a previous instruction still in the pipeline?
- A) Structural hazard
- B) Data hazard
- C) Control hazard
- D) Memory hazard
B) Data hazard
Which register holds the address of the next instruction to be fetched?
- A) Accumulator
- B) Program Counter
- C) Memory Address Register
- D) Instruction Register
B) Program Counter
: What is a superscalar processor?
- A) A processor that can execute more than one instruction per clock cycle
- B) A processor with a very high clock frequency
- C) A processor with a very large cache
- D) A processor with multiple cores
A processor that can execute more than one instruction per clock cycle
Which of the following is a control hazard in pipelining?
- A) Two instructions need the same functional unit
- B) An instruction depends on data from a previous instruction
- C) A branch instruction changes the program flow
- D) Cache miss delays instruction fetch
C) A branch instruction changes the program flow
What is the purpose of branch prediction in modern processors?
- A) To reduce power consumption
- B) To reduce control hazards in the pipeline
- C) To increase cache hit rate
- D) To improve memory access time
B) To reduce control hazards in the pipeline
Which of the following is NOT a common register in a typical processor?
- A) Program Counter
- B) Stack Pointer
- C) Memory Buffer Register
- D) Graphics Processing Register
D) Graphics Processing Register
What is the function of the control unit in a processor?
- A) Perform arithmetic operations - B) Store data temporarily - C) Generate control signals for instruction execution - D) Interface with external devices
C) Generate control signals for instruction execution
: What is a structural hazard in pipelining?
- A) When two instructions need the same hardware resource - B) When an instruction depends on the result of a previous instruction - C) When a branch instruction changes the program flow - D) When cache misses delay instruction execution
A) When two instructions need the same hardware resource
Which technique is used to handle data hazards in pipelining?
- A) Branch prediction - B) Forwarding (bypassing) - C) Out-of-order execution - D) All of the above
B) Forwarding (bypassing)
: What is the purpose of the Instruction Register (IR)?
- A) To hold the address of the current instruction - B) To hold the current instruction being executed - C) To hold the result of the ALU operation - D) To hold the address of the next instruction
B) To hold the current instruction being executed
: Which of the following best describes a VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) architecture?
- A) Instructions with variable length encoding - B) Multiple operations packed into a single instruction - C) Instructions that operate on vector data - D) Instructions with very complex addressing modes
B) Multiple operations packed into a single instruction
: What is the primary advantage of a hardwired control unit over a microprogrammed control unit?
- A) Easier to design - B) More flexible - C) Faster execution - D) Lower power consumption
: C) Faster execution
: What is instruction-level parallelism?
- A) Executing multiple programs simultaneously - B) Executing multiple threads of a program simultaneously - C) Executing multiple instructions of a program simultaneously - D) Executing multiple processes simultaneously
C) Executing multiple instructions of a program simultaneously
Which of the following is NOT a technique used in modern processors to improve performance?
- A) Branch prediction - B) Out-of-order execution - C) Register renaming - D) Increasing the number of pipeline stages indefinitely
D) Increasing the number of pipeline stages indefinitely
What is the purpose of the Memory Address Register (MAR)?
- A) To hold the data to be written to memory - B) To hold the address of the memory location to be accessed - C) To hold the data read from memory - D) To hold the current instruction being executed
: B) To hold the address of the memory location to be accessed
: What is speculative execution?
- A) Executing instructions before knowing if they will be needed - B) Executing instructions in a random order - C) Executing instructions only when all dependencies are resolved - D) Executing instructions based on user preferences
A) Executing instructions before knowing if they will be needed
: Which of the following is a characteristic of a RISC processor?
- A) Complex instruction set - B) Variable instruction length - C) Load/store architecture - D) Microprogrammed control unit
C) Load/store architecture
