C952 - COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
EXAM QUESTIONS WITH RIGHT
ACCURATE ANSWERS .
Personal computer (PC) - correct Answers -A computer designed for use by an individual,
usually incorporating a graphics display, a keyboard, and a mouse.
Server - correct Answers -A computer used for running larger programs for multiple users, often
simultaneously, and typically accessed only via a network.
Supercomputer: - correct Answers -A class of computers with the highest performance and cost;
they are configured as servers and typically cost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Embedded computer: - correct Answers -A computer inside another device used for running one
predetermined application or collection of software.
Personal mobile devices (PMDs) - correct Answers -are small wireless devices to connect to the
Internet; they rely on batteries for power, and software is installed by downloading apps.
Conventional examples are smart phones and tablets.
Cloud computing - correct Answers -refers to large collections of servers that provide services
over the Internet; some providers rent dynamically varying numbers of servers as a utility.
Software as a Service (SaaS) - correct Answers -delivers software and data as a service over the
Internet, usually via a thin program such as a browser that runs on local client devices, instead of
binary code that must be installed, and runs wholly on that device. Examples include web search
and social networking.
1
,Multicore microprocessor - correct Answers -A microprocessor containing multiple processors
("cores") in a single integrated circuit.
Acronym - correct Answers -A word constructed by taking the initial letters of a string of words.
For example: RAM is an acronym for Random Access Memory, and CPU is an acronym for
Central Processing Unit.
Terabyte (TB): - correct Answers -Originally 1,099,511,627,776 (240) bytes, although
communications and secondary storage systems developers started using the term to mean
1,000,000,000,000 (1012) bytes. To reduce confusion, we now use the term tebibyte (TiB) for
240 bytes, defining terabyte (TB) to mean 1012 bytes. The figure below shows the full range of
decimal and binary values and names.
Systems software: - correct Answers -Software that provides services that are commonly useful,
including operating systems, compilers, loaders, and assemblers.
Operating system - correct Answers -Supervising program that manages the resources of a
computer for the benefit of the programs that run on that computer.
Compiler - correct Answers -A program that translates high-level language statements into
assembly language statements.
Binary digit - correct Answers -Also called a bit. One of the two numbers in base 2 (0 or 1) that
are the components of information.
Instruction - correct Answers -A command that computer hardware understands and obeys
Assembler - correct Answers -A program that translates a symbolic version of instructions into
the binary version.
Assembly language - correct Answers -A symbolic representation of machine instructions.
2
,Machine language - correct Answers -A binary representation of machine instructions
High-level programming language - correct Answers -A portable language such as C, C++, Java,
or Visual Basic that is composed of words and algebraic notation that can be translated by a
compiler into assembly language.
Input device - correct Answers -A mechanism through which the computer is fed information,
such as a keyboard.
Output device - correct Answers -A mechanism that conveys the result of a computation to a
user, such as a display, or to another computer
Liquid crystal display: - correct Answers -A display technology using a thin layer of liquid
polymers that can be used to transmit or block light according to whether a charge is applied.
Active matrix display - correct Answers -A liquid crystal display using a transistor to control the
transmission of light at each individual pixel.
Pixel - correct Answers -The smallest individual picture element. Screens are composed of
hundreds of thousands to millions of pixels, organized in a matrix.
Integrated circuit - correct Answers -Also called a chip. A device combining dozens to millions
of transistors.
Central processor unit (CPU) - correct Answers -Also called processor. The active part of the
computer, which contains the datapath and control and which adds numbers, tests numbers,
signals I/O devices to activate, and so on.
Datapath - correct Answers -The component of the processor that performs arithmetic
operations.
3
, Control - correct Answers -The component of the processor that commands the datapath,
memory, and I/O devices according to the instructions of the program.
Memory - correct Answers -The storage area in which programs are kept when they are running
and that contains the data needed by the running programs.
Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) - correct Answers -Memory built as an integrated
circuit; it provides random access to any location. Access times are 50 nanoseconds and cost per
gigabyte in 2012 was $5 to $10.
Cache memory - correct Answers -A small, fast memory that acts as a buffer for a slower, larger
memory.
Static random access memory (SRAM): - correct Answers -Also memory built as an integrated
circuit, but faster and less dense than DRAM.
Instruction set architecture - correct Answers -Also called architecture. An abstract interface
between the hardware and the lowest-level software that encompasses all the information
necessary to write a machine language program that will run correctly, including instructions,
registers, memory access, I/O, and so on.
Application binary interface (ABI) - correct Answers -The user portion of the instruction set plus
the operating system interfaces used by application programmers. It defines a standard for binary
portability across computers.
Implementation - correct Answers -Hardware that obeys the architecture abstraction
Volatile memory - correct Answers -Storage, such as DRAM, that retains data only if it is
receiving power.
Nonvolatile memory - correct Answers -A form of memory that retains data even in the absence
of a power source and that is used to store programs between runs. A DVD disk is nonvolatile.
4
EXAM QUESTIONS WITH RIGHT
ACCURATE ANSWERS .
Personal computer (PC) - correct Answers -A computer designed for use by an individual,
usually incorporating a graphics display, a keyboard, and a mouse.
Server - correct Answers -A computer used for running larger programs for multiple users, often
simultaneously, and typically accessed only via a network.
Supercomputer: - correct Answers -A class of computers with the highest performance and cost;
they are configured as servers and typically cost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Embedded computer: - correct Answers -A computer inside another device used for running one
predetermined application or collection of software.
Personal mobile devices (PMDs) - correct Answers -are small wireless devices to connect to the
Internet; they rely on batteries for power, and software is installed by downloading apps.
Conventional examples are smart phones and tablets.
Cloud computing - correct Answers -refers to large collections of servers that provide services
over the Internet; some providers rent dynamically varying numbers of servers as a utility.
Software as a Service (SaaS) - correct Answers -delivers software and data as a service over the
Internet, usually via a thin program such as a browser that runs on local client devices, instead of
binary code that must be installed, and runs wholly on that device. Examples include web search
and social networking.
1
,Multicore microprocessor - correct Answers -A microprocessor containing multiple processors
("cores") in a single integrated circuit.
Acronym - correct Answers -A word constructed by taking the initial letters of a string of words.
For example: RAM is an acronym for Random Access Memory, and CPU is an acronym for
Central Processing Unit.
Terabyte (TB): - correct Answers -Originally 1,099,511,627,776 (240) bytes, although
communications and secondary storage systems developers started using the term to mean
1,000,000,000,000 (1012) bytes. To reduce confusion, we now use the term tebibyte (TiB) for
240 bytes, defining terabyte (TB) to mean 1012 bytes. The figure below shows the full range of
decimal and binary values and names.
Systems software: - correct Answers -Software that provides services that are commonly useful,
including operating systems, compilers, loaders, and assemblers.
Operating system - correct Answers -Supervising program that manages the resources of a
computer for the benefit of the programs that run on that computer.
Compiler - correct Answers -A program that translates high-level language statements into
assembly language statements.
Binary digit - correct Answers -Also called a bit. One of the two numbers in base 2 (0 or 1) that
are the components of information.
Instruction - correct Answers -A command that computer hardware understands and obeys
Assembler - correct Answers -A program that translates a symbolic version of instructions into
the binary version.
Assembly language - correct Answers -A symbolic representation of machine instructions.
2
,Machine language - correct Answers -A binary representation of machine instructions
High-level programming language - correct Answers -A portable language such as C, C++, Java,
or Visual Basic that is composed of words and algebraic notation that can be translated by a
compiler into assembly language.
Input device - correct Answers -A mechanism through which the computer is fed information,
such as a keyboard.
Output device - correct Answers -A mechanism that conveys the result of a computation to a
user, such as a display, or to another computer
Liquid crystal display: - correct Answers -A display technology using a thin layer of liquid
polymers that can be used to transmit or block light according to whether a charge is applied.
Active matrix display - correct Answers -A liquid crystal display using a transistor to control the
transmission of light at each individual pixel.
Pixel - correct Answers -The smallest individual picture element. Screens are composed of
hundreds of thousands to millions of pixels, organized in a matrix.
Integrated circuit - correct Answers -Also called a chip. A device combining dozens to millions
of transistors.
Central processor unit (CPU) - correct Answers -Also called processor. The active part of the
computer, which contains the datapath and control and which adds numbers, tests numbers,
signals I/O devices to activate, and so on.
Datapath - correct Answers -The component of the processor that performs arithmetic
operations.
3
, Control - correct Answers -The component of the processor that commands the datapath,
memory, and I/O devices according to the instructions of the program.
Memory - correct Answers -The storage area in which programs are kept when they are running
and that contains the data needed by the running programs.
Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) - correct Answers -Memory built as an integrated
circuit; it provides random access to any location. Access times are 50 nanoseconds and cost per
gigabyte in 2012 was $5 to $10.
Cache memory - correct Answers -A small, fast memory that acts as a buffer for a slower, larger
memory.
Static random access memory (SRAM): - correct Answers -Also memory built as an integrated
circuit, but faster and less dense than DRAM.
Instruction set architecture - correct Answers -Also called architecture. An abstract interface
between the hardware and the lowest-level software that encompasses all the information
necessary to write a machine language program that will run correctly, including instructions,
registers, memory access, I/O, and so on.
Application binary interface (ABI) - correct Answers -The user portion of the instruction set plus
the operating system interfaces used by application programmers. It defines a standard for binary
portability across computers.
Implementation - correct Answers -Hardware that obeys the architecture abstraction
Volatile memory - correct Answers -Storage, such as DRAM, that retains data only if it is
receiving power.
Nonvolatile memory - correct Answers -A form of memory that retains data even in the absence
of a power source and that is used to store programs between runs. A DVD disk is nonvolatile.
4
