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Com 430E: Advance Computer Architecture Question Paper
Com 430E: Advance Computer Architecture
Course:Computer Architecture
Institution: University Of Eldoret question papers
Exam Year:2014
UNIVERSITY OF ELDORET
SCHOOL OF SCIENCE
BSC. IN COMPUTER SCIENCE 2014/2015 - FINAL PAPER
COURSE CODE: COM 430E
COURSE TITLE: ADVANCE COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
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INSTRUCTION TO CANDIDATES
Answer ALL questions from section A and any THREE from section B.
Duration of the examination: 3 hours
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SECTION A (31 Marks): Answer ALL questions in this section
Section A (Compulsory)
Question 1 (16 Marks)
a). Summarize the difference among simple pipelining, superscalar, and instruction level parallelism.
b). Compare uniprocessor systems with multiprocessor systems in the following aspects (4 Mks)
i. Ease of programming
ii. The need for synchronization
iii. Performance evaluation
iv. Run time system
c). List three engineering applications, with which you are familiar, for which SIMD is most efficient to use, and another three for which MIMD is most efficient to use. (6 Mks)
Question 2 (15 Marks)
a). What are the main principles used to construct a RISC machine? (4 Mks)
b). Construct the two approaches (the software and the hardware) used in RISC machines to minimize memory operations. (4 Mks)
c). A multiprocessor O/S must provide all the functionality of a multi-programming system plus additional features to accommodate multiple processors. To achieve the purpose major key design issues are considered. Discuss the key issues. (7 Mks)
Section B (Answer ant Three Questions)
Question 3 (13 Marks)
a). Multiple copied of the same data can exist in different caches simultaneously, and if the processor are allowed to update their own copies freely, an inconsistent view of memory can result. What are the policies used to remedy the above scenario? (6 Mks)
b). Outline for benefits that can be achieved by clustering. (4 Mks)
c). Briefly outline the chief characteristics of an SMP? (3 Mks)
Question 4 (13 Marks)
a). Suppose that we have two implementations of the same instruction set architecture. Machine A has a CPI of 8.0 for some program, and machine B has a CPI of 5 for the same program. What is the MIPS rating for the machine A and machine B assuming a clock rate of 200 MHz? Which machine is faster? (6 Mks)
b). Consider the execution of ten instructions 11-110 on a pipeline consisting of four pipeline stages: IF, ID, IE, and IS. Assume that the instruction 14 is a conditional branch instruction and that when it is executed, the branch is not taken, that is the branch condition is not satisfied. Assume also that when the branch instruction is fetched, the pipeline stalls until the result of executing the branch instruction is stored. Show the succession of instructions in the pipeline and the bubble created using Gantt. (7 Mks)
Question 5 (13 Marks)
a). Explain, with examples, the concept of register window and window overlapping. Suggest a different approach to achieve the same results as those achieved using register window and window overlapping.
(6 Mks)
b). The controversy of RISC versus CISC never ends. Suppose that you represent an advocate for the RISC approach; criticize the CISC approach showing its disadvantages while showing the advantages of the RISC approach. You may want to use real-life examples machine performance as a support for your support of RISC philosophy. (7 Mks)
Question 6 (13 Marks)
a). Suppose every instruction in a RISC subset can be implemented in at most 5 clock cycles. Suggest what might be the 5 clock cycles. (5 Mks)
b). Outline and provide a concise discussion on the suitability of each of the four attributes of interconnection networks, for each of the four different interconnection networks. Make sure that you justify the suitability of a given attribute to a given interconnection networks. (8 Mks)
Question 7 (13 Marks)
a). The use of different interconnection networks in a shared memory multiprocessor system leads to system with different characteristics/architecture. Discuss any three of those characteristics. (6 Mks)
b). Outline the mail Advantages and Disadvantages of shared-memory and message-passing paradigms.
(7 Mks)
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