Some examples from this set of practice questions
1.
Does pipelining improve latency or throughput or both? Why?
Answer: Pipelining does not change the time it takes a given instruction to execute (latency) but it does allow more instructions to be pushed through the processor in a given time (throughput) as the stages are more fully utilised.
2.
Describe the three types of hazards that can reduce the effectiveness of pipelined processors.
Answer: • Structural Hazards - Hardware cannot support a combination of instructions in the same clock cycle, e.g. two simultaneous memory accesses. • Control Hazards - Loading instructions into the pipeline before the result of a decision is known, e.g. loading instructions after a branch. • Data Hazards - Instruction depends upon the results of a previous instruction still in the pipeline, e.g. compound math expressions.
3.
What type of hazard does the technique called Branch Prediction overcome in a pipelined processor? How does it achieve this?
Answer: It is a way of overcoming control hazards. Assume an outcome for decisions (e.g. branch always fails) and load pipeline accordingly. • If the prediction is correct then the pipeline remains full at all times and the decision costs nothing. • If the prediction is incorrect then the pipeline will stall (as before) and new instructions have to be loaded.
4.
What type of hazard does the technique called Delayed Decision overcome in a pipelined processor? How does it achieve this?
Answer: Delayed Decision rearranges instructions such that an instruction that does not affect the decision is executed after the decision filling the bubble that would occur if the pipeline were to stall. It may be useful to refer to the example in the lecture slides.
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