SLR2

Question 1

What is at the core of all computers

Answer 1

The instruction set, which is the set of instructions written in machine code that can be recognised by a CPU

Question 2

What are the 2 types of processor

Answer 2

CISC & RISC

Question 3

Main memory has 10 what

Answer 3

Location addresses named
0000
0001
0010
0011
0100
0101
0110
0111
1000
1001

Question 4

What does the execution unit operate on

Answer 4

The data loaded into one of the 6 registers labelled
r000
r001
r010
r011
r100
r101

Question 5

What does CISC stand for

Answer 5

Complex Instruction Set Computer

Question 6

How does CISC work

Answer 6

Aims to complete the task in as few line of code as possible

Question 7

How does CISC achieve completing code in as few lines as possible

Answer 7

Having higher quality hardware and circuity as it needs to be able to understand and execute a series of operations

Question 8

How would a CISC processor execute a MULL (multiplication) instruction

Answer 8

It would load all the values into registers then multiply them together store the result and then output it

Question 9

How much work does the complier have to do in a CISC processor? And what does it do?

Answer 9

Very little
Translate the high level language into assembly code

Question 10

How many clock cycles does a CISC processor take to execute a line of code

Answer 10

As many as it needs but the lowest being 1

Question 11

Where are CISC processors found today

Answer 11

In desktop Computers and Laptops but still very uncommon

Question 12

What are the 2 disadvantages of CISC processors

Answer 12

1. CISC processors are physically larger than RISC
2. CISC can’t make use of pipelining

Question 13

What does RISC stand for

Answer 13

Reduced Instruction Set Computer

Question 14

What is the aim of a RISC processor

Answer 14

To use simple instructions that can be executed within one clock cycle

Question 15

What doesn’t exist within RISC processors

Answer 15

Complex commands
E.g. MULL

Question 16

How are bigger commands executed in a RISC processor? E.g. MULL

Answer 16

They are separated into smaller simpler commands

Question 17

In a RISC processor how much work does the compiler have to do

Answer 17

A lot more than in a CISC processor

Question 18

In a RISC processor why is more RAM needed

Answer 18

To store assembly instructions

Question 19

What is a major benefit of RISC processors

Answer 19

Each instruction can be completed in a single clock cycle

Question 20

Why do RISC processors have more space left for general purpose registers and cache

Answer 20

Less space is required for complex hardware

Question 21

In a RISC processor. Why is pipelining possible?

Answer 21

All instructions are a uniform size

Question 22

Do RISC processors have a lower energy requirement than CISC

Answer 22

Yes

Question 23

What type of processors use RISC

Answer 23

ARM processors make up over 90% of all processors

Question 24

What devices use RISC processing

Answer 24

Handheld devices such as phones and tablets

Question 25

What does GPU stand for

Answer 25

Graphical Processing Unit

Question 26

What do CPUs call the GPUs

Answer 26

A co-processor

Question 27

What does a GPU do

Answer 27

Takes a load off of the CPU

Question 28

Are GPUs still used for graphical processing

Answer 28

No

Question 29

How does a GPU take load off of the CPU

Answer 29

Co-processors / GPUs are designed for specialised tasks that can be executed extremely fast

Question 30

How many stream processors do GPUs have and how do they work compared to CPUs

Answer 30

Thousands and typically they run slower

Question 31

What sort of operations are CPUs good at

Answer 31

Complex operations with small amounts of data

Question 32

What sort of operations are GPUs good at

Answer 32

Simple operations on a large amount of data

Question 33

What sort of processor are GPUs classed as

Answer 33

SIMD

Question 34

What tasks are GPUs typically good at

Answer 34

1. 3D arithmetic using XYZ calculations
2. Storing XYZ positions
3. RGB colour calculations

Question 35

What is one benifit of doing calculations on a GPU

Answer 35

Can be done in parallel and doesn’t rely on other calculations

Question 36

What are GPUs commonly used for

Answer 36

1. Gaming
2. Statistical analysis
3. Oil explorations
4. Stock predictions
5. Weather modelling
6. Machine learning
7. Linear algebra
8. Crypto mining

Question 37

What is a multicore processor

Answer 37

A single chip containing 2 or more independent processing units

Question 38

What can each core do

Answer 38

It’s own fetch decode and execute cycle

Question 39

What is a CPU with multiple cores in it called

Answer 39

CMP

Question 40

What does CMP stand for

Answer 40

Chip Multi Processor

Question 41

What is the name of a processor with 2 cores

Answer 41

Dual-core

Question 42

What is the name of a processor with 4 cores

Answer 42

Quad-core

Question 43

How can a multicore processor be further enhanced

Answer 43

1. Inter-core communication
2. On-chip shared cache

Question 44

Does a multicore system process multiple instructions faster than a single core system

Answer 44

Yes

Question 45

How does parallel processing work

Answer 45

Processing program instructions by dividing them between multiple processors or processor cores

Question 46

How do the two ways of parallel processing work

Answer 46

1. One core fetches the instruction the next core decodes it and the third executes it
2. One core that fetch’s and decodes all the instructions and then all other cores execute these instructions

Question 47

How does the speed of parallel processing increase as you add more cores

Answer 47

It’s cumulative