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Bit 105: Computer Organization And Architecture Question Paper

Bit 105: Computer Organization And Architecture

Course:Bachelor Of Information Technology

Institution: South Eastern Kenya University question papers

Exam Year:2013

Question 1
a) Define the following terms: (4 marks)
i) Computer Architechture
ii) Interface
iii) registers
iv) virtual Memory
b) Outline the steps of execution of typical instruction cycle (3 marks)
c) Explain with justification the common areas of application (within a typical computer system) of each of the following memory types. EEPROM, DRAM, SRAM, PROM.) (4 marks)

d) In any given computer system explain the importance of bus speed to overall performance
(5 marks)

Question 2
a) State two configuration approaches for I/) module in computer systems architecture
(2 marks)
b) Using a diagram, outline the four basic functions that a computer can perform
(4 marks)
c) With tha aid of a diagram, outline the typical components of the process architecture
(4 marks)
d) Von Neumann architecrure has been the basis for virtually aoll computer design s since the first generation. highlight two characteristics of Von Neumann architecture (2 marks)
e) In the context of system processor architecture, explain the function of the control unit indicating its inputs and outputs and the dependency of outputs on inputs

SECTION B(39 Marks)

Question three
a) In the context of system interconnection structure, identify the system components that need to be interconnected and describete bus interconnection structure (3 marks)
b) Explain the factors that affect the bus performance. (6 marks)
C) Differentiate between sing and multiple bus hierachies (4 marks)

Question four
a) List two advantages and two disadvatages of Pipelining (4 marks)
b) Describe the IDE channels (4 marks)
c) Briefly explain what is meant by the following terms: (2 marks)
i) Superscalar Architecture
ii) Interrupts
d) A given microcomputer system is said to have 2IDE channels reffered to as the primary and secondary. How many hard disks can this system support? Explain the answer? (3 marks)

Question Five
a) Describe CISC and RISC architecture philosophies
b) The most universally accepted method of describing or classifying computer systems is Flynn''s Taxonomy developed in 1966. State four categories (4 marks)
c) Define peripheral devices (2 marks)
d) Distinguish between programmed I/O and interrupt driven I/O highlighting one advantage and any disadavantage (3 marks)

Question 6
a) In the contexxt of the CPU internal architecture, describe the impact of internal clock speed on performance.
What establishes the upper limit on the clock speed. (3 marks)
b) Explain the term an instruction pipelinning giving the impact of branch instructions on pipelinning
(3 marks)
c) One metric of computer system performance is the instruction through out, i.e the number of instructions the system can execute per second. In this regard, explain the influence of the CPU internal clock speed and the system bus clock on overall computer performance (5 marks)

a) Memory reference tend to be clustered in certain regiuons in within the computer syste. this featur is known as the principle of locality, and it occurs in three dimensions. Explain three dimensional factors(3 marks)
b) Explain four factors that will affect the performance of the Hard Drive. (4 marks)
c) Differentiate between:
i) Pipelinning and parallelism
ii) Cache hit and Cache coherency
d) During a computer academic trip, the tour guide explained that peripherals cannot be connected directly to the system bus. Outline two reasons he could have mentioned. (2 marks)

Bit 105: Computer Organization And Architecture Question Paper

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