Sample questions on COA

Part I: True/False Questions (10 Marks)

1. The Memory hierarchy system consists of all storage devices employed in a computer
system from the slow but high capacity auxiliary memory to the high speed processing logic.
2. DRAM consists essentially of internal flip flops that store the binary information and the
stored information remains valid as long as power is applied to the unit.
3. A RAM chip is better suited for communication with the CPU if it has one or more control in-
puts that select the chip only when needed.
4. A stack is a storage device that stores information in such a manner that the item stored last
in the first item retrieved.
5. The concept of Complex Instruction Set Computer architecture involves an attempt to reduce
execution time by simplifying the instruction set of the computer
6. When programs not residing in main memory are needed by the CPU, they are brought in
from auxiliary memory.
7. The operations executed on data stored in registers are called database-operations.
8. Random Access Memory mode is a fast and efficient addressing mode because the data is
accessed directly from the register, without needing to fetch it from memory.
9. Implied addressing mode is a type of addressing mode where no operand (data or memory
location or register) is specified in the instruction.
10. The most commonly used Instruction Formats in commercial computers is three-address instruc-
tion formats.
PART II: Multiple choice (20 marks)
Instruction: from the given alternatives, write the letter of your choice on the answer table pro-
vided.
1. When a cache hit occurs
A. data and address buffers are disabled
B. data and address buffers are enabled
C. data and address buffers are not affected
D. none of the above
2. Which one of the following CPU register holds the “memory address” of the instruction to be
executed next

A. MAR B. PC C.IR D. MBR

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3. Stores both the address and data of the memory word.
A. Associative mapping
C. Set-associative mapping
B. Direct mapping
D. Virtual memory
4. In a connection to digital computer, which microoperation is extremely useful in serial
transfer of data
A. Logical microoperation C. Shift microoperation
B. Arithmetic microoperation D. Register microoperation
5. The memory unit that communicates directly with the CPU is
A. Main Memory
C. RAM
B. Primary memory
D. All of the above
6. Which register holds the current instruction to be executed?

A. IR B.PC C. Control Register D. None of these

7. stores a cache of recently used mappings from the operating system's page table.
A. LRU
C. MMU
B. FIFO
D. OPTICAL DISK

8. Which register holds the next instruction to be executed?

A.IR B.PR C. PC D. None of these

9. provides a mechanism for translating program generated addresses into correct main memory
locations.
A. Associative mapping C. Set-associative mapping
B. Direct mapping D. Virtual memory
11. The holds the contents of the accessed memory word.
A. MAR B. MBR C. PC D. IR
12. Which of the following is not a visible register?
A. General Purpose Registers B. Address Register C. Status Register D. MAR
13. To speed up the processor operations, the processor includes some internal memory
storage locations, called
A. Drives B. Memory C. CU D. Registers
14. Which of the following register can interact with the secondary storage?
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A. PC B.MAR C. MDR D. IR
15. Which of the following is a group of bits that tells the computer to perform a particular operation?
A. Accumulator B. Register C. Instruction code D. None of the above
16. The hierarchical arrangement of storage in current computer architectures is called
A. Processor hierarchy
C. address hierarchy
B. memory hierarchy
D. all of the above
17. if At=1010110010 and B=0011001101, then what is At+1 in SELECTIVE CLEAR
Microopera- tion?
A. 1000100010 C. 1000110010
B. 1000010010 D. None of the above
18. which one of the following operation is the transfer of information from a memory word to
the outside environment
A. write B. Read C. select D. Mask
19. The average time required to reach a storage location in memory and obtain its contents is called
A. access time
C. through put
B. band width