Bct2201:Computing And Communication Question Paper
Bct2201:Computing And Communication
Course:Bachelor Of Business Information Technology
Institution: Meru University Of Science And Technology question papers
Exam Year:2011
1
a. Discuss the four main structural components of computer system. (4 Marks)
b. What is computer bus? State two features of computer buses. (3 Marks)
c. Von Neumann architecture is a programmable machine with additional specifications. Draw the structure
and mention the four specifications. (6 Marks)
d. In context of computer system where hierarchical nature is essential to both design and descriptions. State
and discuss five levels of computer descriptions or views. (5 Marks)
e. Convert the following to binary (3 Marks)
i. 45310
ii. IC516
iii. 568
f. Distinguish between the following: (4 Marks)
i. RAM and ROM
ii. RISC and CISC
g. Clearly describe the hierarchical memory organization. (5 Marks)
QUESTION TWO – 20 MARKS
a. Using an appropriate illustrative diagram, outline internal organization of the CPU showing components
(CU, ALU, Internal Bus and Registers. (4 Marks)
b. Discuss the functions of CU, ALU and registers PC, IR. (4 Marks)
c. Analyze how the diverse I/O devices are interfaced to computer CPU and buses for the following methods:
(8 Marks)
i. Programmed I/O
2
ii. Interrupt-driven I/O
iii. DMA
iv. I/O Processor
d. Outline the instruction fetch cycle. (4 Marks)
QUESTION THREE – 20 MARKS
a. What is the role of cache memory in computer system? (2 Marks)
b. Explain the cache hit. (1 Mark)
c. Using an illustration describe the cache and main memory internal organization. Comment on how transfer
of data takes place between main memory, cache and CPU. (7 Marks)
d. Explain cache memory management policies; placement, replacement and update. Describe policies under
each. (10 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR – 20 MARKS
a. Outline the internal organization of the hard disk storage medium using the terms cylinder head, track and
sector. (5 Marks)
b. Describe instruction pipelining. Explain clearly the performance advantage expected of a four stage
pipelined instruction unit over a non pipelined unit. (5 Marks)
c. Explain the benefits of using the SCSI disk interface system (as compared to IDE/ATA) for PC based
server system. (5 Marks)
d. Super scalar architecture is said to attempt to exploit instruction level parallelism while vector processing
attempts to exploit data processing. Explain. (5 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE – 20 MARKS
a. A peripheral device connects to the host via I/O module. Provide reasons why peripheral device requires
I/O module. (4 Marks)
b. Explain three factors affecting performance of CPU. (3 Marks)
c. CPU speeds have improved over time; explain three speed enhancement techniques that have been
employed. (6 Marks)
d. Describe the distinguishing characteristics of the following memory types and further, explain with
justification their possible areas of application (within a typical computer system). Memory types: PROM,
EPROM, FlashROM, DRAM, SRAM. (5 Marks)
e. Distinguish between SRAM and DRAM. (2 Marks)
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