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Computer Architecture Question Paper

Computer Architecture

Course:Bachelor Of Science Computer Science

Institution: Masinde Muliro University Of Science And Technology question papers

Exam Year:2013

MASINDE MULIRO UNIVERSITY OF
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(MMUST)

THIRD YEAR SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATION
FOR THE DEGREE OF BSC
IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

COURSE CODE: CSC321
COURSE TITLE:COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE

DATE 23RD APRIL 2013 TIME 9.00am-12.00noon

Instruction to candidates

Answer QUESTION ONE and ANY OTHER TWO QUESTIONS

QUESTION ONE(30MARKS)(COMPULSORY)

a)Explain Benchmark suites(4marks)

b)Suppose in a given microprocessor there is no hardware support for multiplication, so it takes 200 clock cycles to perform. In a newer version of the microprocessor there is hardware support and it takes 4 cycles.If a program spends 20% of its time doing multiplication, calculate the overall speed-up of the program(6marks)

c)Draw a circuit diagram to ADD or SUBTRACT 2 binary 4-bit numbers(8marks)

d)i)Convert unsigned binary integer 0b01101101 to decimal(2marks)

ii)Using 8-bit two''s complement integer arithmetic perform 47-29(2marks)

ii)Convert 9.125 to IEEE single precision floating point value(2marks)

e)Using sketch block diagram explain processor(6marks)

QUESTION TWO(20MARKS)

a)Explain 3 functions of an operating system software(4marks)

b)Explain(6marks)

i)context switching

ii)privilege mode(in multiprogramming)

c)Differentiate between Little Endian and Big Endian in handling of data in memory(10marks)

QUESTION THREE(20MARKS)

a)Explain 6 steps of instruction execution by processor(8marks)

b)On a system with 8-bit data words, what is the result of doing a LSH operation whose first input is 25 and second input is 2 (5marks)

c)On a system with 8-bitdata words two''s complement integer what is the result of doing a ASH operation whose first input is -15 and second input is 3.(7marks)

QUESTION FOUR(20MARKS)

a)Differentiate between LOAD instruction in Stack-based architecture and general purpose register architecture.(5marks)

b)(i)Write a stack-based program to perform the computation 4+(21/3)(7marks)

(ii)Write a general purpose register to do the same computation, assume there are 16 register,r0 is for 0,r15 is for PC(8marks)

QUESTION FIVE(20MARKS)

a)differentiate between RISC andCISC architecture(6marks)

b)Explain the memory hierarchy of the computer.(6marks)

c)Define pipeline processing and explain 2 factors that limit its full performance.(8marks)

Computer Architecture Question Paper

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