UNIVERSITY EXAMINATION 2024/2025
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SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATICS
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY/ENTERPRISE COMPUTING
BIT/BBIT/BIS
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REGULAR
UNIT CODE: BIT1101 UNIT TITLE: COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
DATE: FRI 13TH DEC, 2024 2.00PM
C MAIN EXAM
INSTRUCTIONS: ANSWER QUESTION ONE AND ANY OTHER TWO QUESTIONS
TIME: 2 HOURS
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QUESTION ONE (30 MARKS)
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a) Explain the following terms; (4 Marks)
i) Pipeline
ii) DMA
iii) RISC
iv) MISC
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b) Find the value of the unknown(X,Y,Z) in the following ;
i) 1011111011012=X10 (2 Marks)
ii) F09A 16=Y2 (3 Marks)
iii) 1011100158 =Z10 (3 Marks)
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c) Draw the functional & Structural views of Computer System and explain in details
(4
Marks)
d) Explain different phases of an instruction cycle with flow diagram. (3 Marks)
e) Explain the characteristics of the MIPS Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) that
facilitate pipelined execution (4 Marks)
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f) Define the terms "spatial locality" and "temporal locality", and explain how caches
are used to exploit them for a performance benefit. Be specific in the different
ways that caches exploit these two phenomena (4 Marks)
g) Explain the bus interconnection scheme (3 Marks)
QUESTIONTWO (20 MARKS)
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a) Describe the Von Neumann Model and explain the functioning of its component
(5 Marks)
b) If a processor has 16 address lines what is the size of the physical memory
address space of this processor in megabytes? (3 Marks)
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c) Distinguish between computer organization and computer architecture.
(2
C
Marks)
d) A digital camera is used to input digital images into a computer system. The
computer system has a 400 Terabyte hard disk. Assuming that each image size is
400 kilobytes. Determine the exact number of images this computer system can
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store before the hard disk is full. (6 Marks)
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e) Convert the following to the specified base.
i) DCBA16 to Decimal and Octal (2 Marks)
ii) 432110 to Binary and Hexadecimal (2 Marks)
QUESTION THREE (20 MARKS)
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a) Explain how the use of transistors and integrated circuits led to the emergence of
smaller, cheaper and more powerful computers. (3 Marks)
b) When data is being sent to a printer an interrupt may occur. Define the term
interrupt and state two reasons why an interrupt may occur in this case.
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(4 Marks)
c) Describe the role of data bus and address bus and state the benefit of increasing
the width of the bus. (4 Marks)
d) Define the term operating system and differentiate between 32 bit and 64 bit
Microsoft windows operating system (3 Marks)
e) Explain any four types of memory and their relevance to the computer.
(4
Marks)
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f) Differentiate between first generation languages and second generation
languages. (2 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR (20 MARKS)
a) Describe of the following text codes
i) ASCII (2 Marks)
ii) Unicode (2 Marks)
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b) Express the following values in octal number system, hence arrange them in
ascending order: A5F16,81610, 421510 and 11100101102 (8 Marks)
c) Using appropriate diagrams, describe the following computer system views
i) Programmers view (2 Marks)
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ii) Architects view (2 Marks)
iii) Implementers view (2 Marks)
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d) Define the term register in the CPU stating its role in the computer system.
(2 Marks)
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QUESTION FIVE (20 MARKS)
a) Describe the standard POST during the boot sequence for computers.
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(3 Marks)
b) A student wants to upgrade her computer hardware system. State and explain
five factors she should consider. (5 Marks)
c) Computers use the binary number instead of the decimal number system; explain
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ONE reason that justify this decision. (2 Marks)
d) The CPU time of a program is defined as the product of the CPI (cycles per
instruction) for the processor on which it runs, the total number of instructions
executed (I), and processor clock period. Describe the major factors which
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influence CPI, I. (8 Marks)
e) Explain the concept of interrupts in system architecture. (2 Marks)
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