WGU C952 - Computer Architecture |313 questions with
verified answers
Accumulator: Ans✓✓✓ Archaic term for register. On-line use of it as a synonym
for "register" is a fairly reliable indication that the user has been around quite a
while.
Acronym Ans✓✓✓ 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.
Active matrix display Ans✓✓✓ A liquid crystal display using a transistor to control
the transmission of light at each individual pixel.
Address Ans✓✓✓ A value used to delineate the location of a specific data
element within a memory array.
Address translation: Also called address mapping Ans✓✓✓ The process by which
a virtual address is mapped to an address used to access memory.
Addressing mode Ans✓✓✓ One of several addressing regimes delimited by their
varied use of operands and/or addresses.
Aliasing Ans✓✓✓ A situation in which two addresses access the same object; it
can occur in virtual memory when there are two virtual addresses for the same
physical page.
,Alignment restriction Ans✓✓✓ A requirement that data be aligned in memory on
natural boundaries.
Amdahl's Law Ans✓✓✓ A rule stating that the performance enhancement
possible with a given improvement is limited by the amount that the improved
feature is used. It is a quantitative version of the law of diminishing returns.
AND Ans✓✓✓ A logical bit- by-bit operation with two operands that calculates a
1 only if there is a 1 in both operands.
Antidependence: Ans✓✓✓ An ordering forced by the reuse of a name, typically a
register, rather than by a true dependence that carries a value between two
instructions.
Application binary interface (ABI) Ans✓✓✓ 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.
Architectural registers Ans✓✓✓ The instruction set of visible registers of a
processor; for example, in LEGv8, these are the 32 integer and 32 floating-point
registers.
Arithmetic intensity Ans✓✓✓ The ratio of floating-point operations in a program
to the number of data bytes accessed by a program from main memory.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) Ans✓✓✓ Hardware that performs addition,
subtraction, and usually logical operations such as AND and OR
,Assembler Ans✓✓✓ A program that translates a symbolic version of instructions
into the binary version.
Assembly language Ans✓✓✓ A symbolic language that can be translated into
binary machine language.
Assembly language Ans✓✓✓ A symbolic representation of machine instructions.
Asserted: Ans✓✓✓ The signal is logically high or true.
Basic block Ans✓✓✓ A sequence of instructions without branches (except
possibly at the end) and without branch targets or branch labels (except possibly
at the beginning).
Benchmark Ans✓✓✓ A program selected for use in comparing computer
performance.
Biased notation Ans✓✓✓ A notation that represents the most negative value by
00 ... 000two and the most positive value by 11 ... 11two, with 0 typically having
the value 10 ... 00two, thereby biasing the number such that the number plus the
bias has a non-negative representation.
Binary digit Ans✓✓✓ Also called a bit. One of the two numbers in base 2 (0 or 1)
that are the components of information.
Binary digit Ans✓✓✓ Also called binary bit. One of the two numbers in base 2, 0
or 1, that are the components of information.
, Bisection bandwidth Ans✓✓✓ The bandwidth between two equal parts of a
multiprocessor. This measure is for a worst case split of the multiprocessor.
Block (or line): Ans✓✓✓ The minimum unit of information that can be either
present or not present in a cache.
Branch address table Ans✓✓✓ Also called branch table. A table of addresses of
alternative instruction sequences.
Branch not taken or (untaken branch): Ans✓✓✓ A branch where the branch
condition is false and the program counter (PC) becomes the address of the
instruction that sequentially follows the branch.
Branch prediction buffer: Also called branch history table Ans✓✓✓ A small
memory that is indexed by the lower portion of the address of the branch
instruction and that contains one or more bits indicating whether the branch was
recently taken or not.
Branch prediction Ans✓✓✓ A method of resolving a branch hazard that assumes
a given outcome for the conditional branch and proceeds from that assumption
rather than waiting to ascertain the actual outcome.
Branch taken Ans✓✓✓ A branch where the branch condition is satisfied and the
program counter (PC) becomes the branch target. All unconditional branches are
taken branches.
verified answers
Accumulator: Ans✓✓✓ Archaic term for register. On-line use of it as a synonym
for "register" is a fairly reliable indication that the user has been around quite a
while.
Acronym Ans✓✓✓ 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.
Active matrix display Ans✓✓✓ A liquid crystal display using a transistor to control
the transmission of light at each individual pixel.
Address Ans✓✓✓ A value used to delineate the location of a specific data
element within a memory array.
Address translation: Also called address mapping Ans✓✓✓ The process by which
a virtual address is mapped to an address used to access memory.
Addressing mode Ans✓✓✓ One of several addressing regimes delimited by their
varied use of operands and/or addresses.
Aliasing Ans✓✓✓ A situation in which two addresses access the same object; it
can occur in virtual memory when there are two virtual addresses for the same
physical page.
,Alignment restriction Ans✓✓✓ A requirement that data be aligned in memory on
natural boundaries.
Amdahl's Law Ans✓✓✓ A rule stating that the performance enhancement
possible with a given improvement is limited by the amount that the improved
feature is used. It is a quantitative version of the law of diminishing returns.
AND Ans✓✓✓ A logical bit- by-bit operation with two operands that calculates a
1 only if there is a 1 in both operands.
Antidependence: Ans✓✓✓ An ordering forced by the reuse of a name, typically a
register, rather than by a true dependence that carries a value between two
instructions.
Application binary interface (ABI) Ans✓✓✓ 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.
Architectural registers Ans✓✓✓ The instruction set of visible registers of a
processor; for example, in LEGv8, these are the 32 integer and 32 floating-point
registers.
Arithmetic intensity Ans✓✓✓ The ratio of floating-point operations in a program
to the number of data bytes accessed by a program from main memory.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) Ans✓✓✓ Hardware that performs addition,
subtraction, and usually logical operations such as AND and OR
,Assembler Ans✓✓✓ A program that translates a symbolic version of instructions
into the binary version.
Assembly language Ans✓✓✓ A symbolic language that can be translated into
binary machine language.
Assembly language Ans✓✓✓ A symbolic representation of machine instructions.
Asserted: Ans✓✓✓ The signal is logically high or true.
Basic block Ans✓✓✓ A sequence of instructions without branches (except
possibly at the end) and without branch targets or branch labels (except possibly
at the beginning).
Benchmark Ans✓✓✓ A program selected for use in comparing computer
performance.
Biased notation Ans✓✓✓ A notation that represents the most negative value by
00 ... 000two and the most positive value by 11 ... 11two, with 0 typically having
the value 10 ... 00two, thereby biasing the number such that the number plus the
bias has a non-negative representation.
Binary digit Ans✓✓✓ Also called a bit. One of the two numbers in base 2 (0 or 1)
that are the components of information.
Binary digit Ans✓✓✓ Also called binary bit. One of the two numbers in base 2, 0
or 1, that are the components of information.
, Bisection bandwidth Ans✓✓✓ The bandwidth between two equal parts of a
multiprocessor. This measure is for a worst case split of the multiprocessor.
Block (or line): Ans✓✓✓ The minimum unit of information that can be either
present or not present in a cache.
Branch address table Ans✓✓✓ Also called branch table. A table of addresses of
alternative instruction sequences.
Branch not taken or (untaken branch): Ans✓✓✓ A branch where the branch
condition is false and the program counter (PC) becomes the address of the
instruction that sequentially follows the branch.
Branch prediction buffer: Also called branch history table Ans✓✓✓ A small
memory that is indexed by the lower portion of the address of the branch
instruction and that contains one or more bits indicating whether the branch was
recently taken or not.
Branch prediction Ans✓✓✓ A method of resolving a branch hazard that assumes
a given outcome for the conditional branch and proceeds from that assumption
rather than waiting to ascertain the actual outcome.
Branch taken Ans✓✓✓ A branch where the branch condition is satisfied and the
program counter (PC) becomes the branch target. All unconditional branches are
taken branches.
