Chapter 1.2

Question 1

Eight great ideas in computer architecture

Answer 1

1: Design for Moore’s Law
2: Use abstraction to simplify design
3: Make the common case fast
4: Performance via parallelism
5: Performance via pipelining
6: Performance via prediction
7: Hierarchy of memories
8: Dependability via redundancy

Question 2

1: Design for Moore’s Law

Answer 2

• Predicted that transistor capacity would double every 1.5 to 2 years
• Prediction has held true for 50 years

Question 3

2: Use abstraction to simplify design

Answer 3

Seeing the big picture

• Pushing details down to a lower level
• Concealing details
• Helps us design complex systems