Computer Organization & Architecture Previous Year Questions

Explanation

Samples needed = sampling rate × time = 100,000 per second × 0.1 s = 10,000 samples, so the acquisition memory must hold at least 10K.

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Following Stallings' list of Intel processors, the Intel Core was the first x86 microprocessor with a dual core, meaning two processors on a single chip. Core 2 Duo came later.

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32 MB = 32 × 2²⁰ bytes = 2⁵ × 2²⁰ = 2²⁵ bytes, so 25 address bits are needed.

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128 MB = 2²⁷ bytes. With 8 bytes (2³) per word that is 2²⁷/2³ = 2²⁴ words, so 24 bits are needed.

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In cycle stealing, the DMA controller takes the system bus from the CPU for a memory cycle at a time, so it steals cycles from the CPU.

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An interrupt is a hardware signal that a device sends to the CPU to request attention. Polling and busy-waiting are software checks made by the CPU.

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Non-volatile memory, such as ROM or flash, keeps its contents when power is lost. RAM (main memory) is volatile.

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Seek time is the time to move the read/write head to the correct track. Rotational latency is the wait for the sector to rotate under the head, and access time is the two combined.

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ROM keeps its contents when power is off, so it is non-volatile. RAM and cache lose their data when power is removed.

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Capacity = tracks per side × sides × sectors per track × bytes per sector. So sectors per track = 21,504,000 ÷ (600 × 2 × 512) = 21,504,000 ÷ 614,400 = 35.

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Corrected: the book's key says (a). Interrupts are sent by I/O devices and received by the CPU.

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MOV is a data transfer instruction. JMP and CALL change the flow of control, and CMP is used with jumps to make decisions, so these are program control instructions.

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A CD-ROM stores data as pits along one continuous spiral track running from the centre outward, while hard disks and floppy disks use concentric circular tracks.

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RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) keeps only a small set of simple, essential instructions that run in about one clock cycle each, which increases speed. CISC uses many complex instructions.

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EAT = 0.8 × 100 + 0.2 × 400 = 80 + 80 = 160 ns.

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A Von Neumann machine runs one instruction stream on one data stream at a time, which in Flynn's classification is SISD.

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(A) is wrong because ROM is non-volatile. (C) is wrong because RAM includes both static and dynamic RAM. (B) and (D) are true.

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Automatically giving the boy an airplane, a toy assumed to be "for boys", reflects a gender stereotype.

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In powers of 1024: yottabyte (2⁸⁰) > zettabyte (2⁷⁰) > exabyte (2⁶⁰) > petabyte (2⁵⁰) > gigabyte (2³⁰) > megabyte (2²⁰).

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Required capacity is 128K × 8 bits. Each chip is 16K × 1 bit, so (128K/16K) × (8/1) = 8 × 8 = 64 chips.

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The control unit directs and coordinates every other part of the computer by sending control signals, just as the nervous system coordinates the body.

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Best fit: 10 KB→12 KB (2 KB left), 2 KB→the 2 KB hole, 14 KB→15 KB, so all three fit. First, next and worst fit put 10 KB into the 15 KB block, leaving no block for 14 KB.

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The frame buffer (refresh buffer) is the memory that stores the intensity/colour value of every pixel of the screen image.

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In Flynn's taxonomy, MISD means Multiple Instruction stream, Single Data stream.

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Teaching and instruction are planned and organised activities meant to develop learners' thinking power.

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64K = 2¹⁶ words, so 16 address lines are needed. Each word is 8 bits wide, so 8 data lines are needed.

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In indirect addressing, the first memory access reads the operand's effective address and the second fetches the operand itself. That is 2 memory references.

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ADD R1, A, B names three operands, a destination R1 and two sources A and B (R1 ← A + B), so it is a three-address instruction.

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2K = 2048 = 2¹¹ words, so 11 address lines are needed, and each word is 16 bits, so 16 data lines.

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Pseudo-instructions (assembler directives such as ORG, END, DEC) are commands to the assembler. They are not translated into machine instructions.

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Free memory = 500 − (100 + 130) = 270 KB. With compaction, all of it can be joined into one block, so any request up to 270 KB succeeds and the smallest request that can be denied is 271 KB.

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.NET programs are compiled to Intermediate Language (MSIL/CIL), a CPU-independent instruction set that the JIT compiler later turns into native code.

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Internal fragmentation is wasted space inside an allocated partition, when the partition is larger than the process placed in it.

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Disabling (masking) an interrupt means setting a mask bit so the CPU ignores that interrupt until it is unmasked.

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General-purpose OSs have files that grow and shrink, which causes external fragmentation with contiguous allocation. So they use linked or indexed allocation instead.

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2 bytes = 16 bits. An unsigned integer has no sign bit, so it holds 0 to 2¹⁶ − 1 = 0 to 65535.

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16 KB = 2¹⁴ bytes, so 14 address lines, A0 to A13, are needed to select every location.

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The Intel 8085 is an 8-bit microprocessor. The 8086 and 68000 are 16-bit processors, and the 80386 is 32-bit.

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In a microprogrammed control unit, control memory stores the microprograms (sequences of microinstructions) that create the control signals.

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The ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) performs arithmetic such as addition and subtraction, and logical operations such as AND, OR and comparisons.

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EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) can be written and erased with electrical signals. EPROM needs UV light to erase, and mask ROM is fixed at manufacture.

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The memory unit (main memory) holds the program instructions and data while they are being executed. The CPU fetches them from there.

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Best Fit chooses the smallest hole that fits, so the leftover pieces are tiny and often too small to use, causing external fragmentation. It also searches the entire list, so it is not faster.

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In a microprogrammed control unit, the control memory (usually ROM) holds the microprograms, i.e. sequences of microinstructions whose bits generate the control signals.

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The ALU performs arithmetic, logical, bitwise and comparison operations. Memory addressing is handled by the control unit and address registers/MMU, not the ALU.

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After defining a macro, you invoke it by writing its name (with any arguments) as if it were an instruction; the assembler then expands the macro body in place. CALL is for procedures, not macros.

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The CPU processes all instructions and controls the other components, so it is called the brain of the computer. RAM, ROM and HDD are memory and storage.

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A gender-equitable curriculum for marginalised girls gives literacy and life-skill education that builds self-esteem and empowers them to change their lives, rather than reinforcing gender norms.

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The control unit directs the instruction cycle: it fetches each instruction, decodes it and generates the control signals that carry out its execution.