2marks

UNIT 1
1. Define Computer Architecture
Computer Architecture refers to the attributes of system which are visible to the programmer.
They have impact on logical execution of program. They include instruction set, data types, number
of bits used for data, I/O mechanism, Addressing modes etc.
Example: Whether to do +,-,*, / of 2 numbers.
Computer Architecture is the study of the computer system from a designers point of view

2. Define Computer Organization
Computer Organization refers to the operation units and their interconnections that realize
tha architectural specifications. They are hardware details transparent to the programmer such as
control signals, interface between memory and I/O with computer. It decides the speed of operation,
cost, size etc.
Example : whether to do multiplication by successive addition or shift and add method or by
booths algorithm.
Computer Organization is a study of computer system from the user s point of view .

3. Define Compiler and Assembler
Compiler: A program that translates high-level language statements into assembly language
statements.
Assembler : A program that translates a symbolic version of instructions into the binary version

4. Define bit, byte, word
Bit: Binary digit also called a bit. One of the two numbers in base 2 (0 or 1) that are the
components of information.
Byte: A group of binary digits or bits (usually eight) operated on as a unit.
Word: It has usually referred to the number of bits used in a register. These days, typical registers
store 32 bits.

5. List the great ideas of Computer Architecture
Design for Moores Law
Use Abstraction to Simplify Design
Make the Common Case Fast
Performance via Parallelism
Performance via Pipelining
Performance via Prediction
Hierarchy of Memories
Dependability via Redundancy

6. What is liquid crystal display
A display technology using a thin layer of liquid polymers that can be used to transmit or block
light according to whether a charge is applied.

7. What is Active matrix display?
A liquid crystal display using a transistor to control the transmission of light at each individual pixel

8. What is pixel?
The smallest individual picture element. Screens are composed of hundreds of thousands to
millions of pixels, organized in a matrix.

9. What is datapath ?
The component of the processor that performs arithmetic operations.
10. What is flash memory?
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory. It is cheaper and slower than DRAM but more expensive
per bit and faster than magnetic disks. Access times are about 5 to 50 microseconds .

11. What is response time or execution time?
the time between the start and completion of a task. The total time required or the computer to
complete a task, including disk accesses, memory accesses, I/O activities, operating system
overhead, CPU execution time, and so on.
12. What is throughput or bandwidth?
The total amount of work done in a given time
It is the number of tasks completed per unit time.

13. Define CPU execution time ?
CPU execution time Also called CPU time. Th e actual time the CPU spends computing
for a specifi c task
CPU time can be further divided into2 types
1. user CPU time : the CPU time spent in the program
2. system CPU time CPU time spent in the operating system performing tasks on behalf of the
program

14. Define Clock cycle , clock period, clock rate ?
CLOCK CYCLE Also called tick, clock tick, clock period, clock, or cycle. Th e time for one
clock period, usually of the processor clock, which runs at a constant rate (Eg. 250 picoseconds or
250 ps)
CLOCK PERIOD Th e length of each clock cycle
CLOCK RATE: Inverse of clock period (4 gigahertz)

15. What is clock cycles per instruction (CPI) ?
Average number of clock cycles per instruction for a program or program fragment.
CPI = CPU Clock cycles / Instruction for a program
Specify the CPU performance Equation
CPU time = Instruction count x CPI x Clock cycle time
Instruction count = No of instruction executed by the program
CPI = Clock cycles per instruction

16. What is data transfer instruction?
A command that moves data between memory and registers.

17. What is address?
A value used to delineate the location of a specifi c data element within a memory array.

18. What is conditional branch?
An instruction that requires the comparison of two values and that allows for a subsequent
transfer of control to a new address in the program based on the outcome of the comparison.

19. What is basic block?
A sequence of instructions without branches (except possibly at the end) and without branch
targets or branch labels (except possibly at the beginning).

20. What is jump address table or jump table.
A table of addresses of alternative instruction sequences.

21. What is PC-relative addressing ?
An addressing regime in which the address is the sum of the program counter (PC) and a
constant in the instruction..

22. What is addressing mode?
One of several addressing regimes delimited by their varied use of operands
and/or addresses.

23. List the different types of addressing.
Immediate addressing
Register addressing
Base or displacement addressing
PC-relative addressing
Pseudodirect addressing

24. If computer A runs a program in 10 seconds and computer B runs the same program in 15
seconds, how much faster is A than B?

We know that A is n times as fast as B if

Thus the performance ratio is
15/10 = 1.5
and A is therefore 1.5 times as fast as B.

In the above example, we could also say that computer B is 1.5 times slower than computer
A, since

means that