Review Questions
1.1 Explain whether an ISA is an element of computer organization or
computer
architecture.?
1.2 What, in general terms, is the distinction between a central
processing unit and a core?
1.3 What are the three functional elements of a CPU core?
1.4 What are the main components of the IAS structure?
1.5 List and briefly define the main structural components of a core.
1.6 What is a stored program computer?
1.7 Explain the Internet of Things.
1.8 List and briefly discuss the four versions of the Cortex-M series.
1.2 a. On the IAS, what would the machine code instruction look like to
store the
contents of an accumulator to memory address 8?
b. On the IAS, what would the machine code instruction look like to add
the contents
of memory address 16 to the accumulator?
1.3 The IAS operates by repetitively performing an instruction cycle,
which consists of
two sub cycles:
a fetch cycle and an execute cycle. On the IAS, describe in English the
tasks accomplished during the fetch cycle and those accomplished
during the execute
cycle.
1.4 The instruction format of the IAS computer includes two
instructions per word. Con-
sidering the design of the IAS computer, what benefits does this format
provide?
1.5 During the fetch cycle in Figure 1.7, why is an instruction always
taken from the IBR?
1.6 Under what conditions could the instruction format of the IAS
computer be
inefficient?
1.7 The relative performance of the IBM 360 Model 75 is 50 times that
of the 360 Model
30, yet the instruction cycle time is only 5 times as fast. How do you
account for this
discrepancy?
1.8 While browsing at Billy Bob’s computer store, you overhear a
customer asking Billy
Bob what the fastest computer in the store is that he can buy. Billy Bob
replies, “The
fastest computer in the store is a Pentium 4. It has a clock speed of up
to 1.8 GHz. The
second best is the Core 2 Duo, but it only has a clock speed of 1.2 GHz.”
Is Billy Bob
correct? What would you say to help this customer?
1.9 For each of the following examples, label them as either general-
purpose systems,
embedded systems, or deeply embedded systems.
a. university mainframe server
b. smart TV
c. smart fridge sensors
d. personal laptop
e. hearing aid
f. GPS Navigation Unit
1.10 The Cortex-R is an ARM CPU specifically designed for real-time or
safety-critical
systems. For each example in the list below, explain why the Cortex-R
may or may not
be appropriate.
a. self-driving car
b. environmental control system in an aircraft
c. blood gas analyzer
d. automated telephone communication switchboard
e. electrocardiogram machine
f. programmable keyboard
g. standard monitor for a desktop computer
h. video game console
i. electronic proximity key find
