Ecen 350 Final questions with
complete solutions graded A+ passed
(T/F) The fastest path through the logic determines its critical path and therefore its clock
frequency. - correct answer ✔✔ F
The slowest path determines the critical path and clock frequency.
Fetch, _______ and Execute are the three phases of an instruction's life-cycle. - correct answer
✔✔ decode
T/F There are many different possible implementations of a particular ISA in hardware. - correct
answer ✔✔ T
T/F The B instruction does not require the register file at all. - correct answer ✔✔ T
T/F RTL defines the actions of an instruction in terms of operations performed on registers, with
the outcome being placed in another register. - correct answer ✔✔ T
T/F The register file must have three ports (two read and one write) in order to directly support
D-Type instructions. - correct answer ✔✔ F
D-Type instructions require at most two operands and so only two ports are needed. R-
Type require three operands (two read and one write) and so three ports are needed.
T/F
Hardware that is not in use for a given instruction (on the unified hardware) is removed until
needed to save power. - correct answer ✔✔ F
, Hardware always exists as defined. The common processor datapath must implement
the superset of all desired instructon functions in hardware. This hardware exists
regardless of whether it is used in a given cycle.
In the LDUR and STUR instructions, the ALU is used for effective __________ calculation. -
correct answer ✔✔ address
For the CBZ instruction, the ALU must be set to perform the "pass _________" operation. -
correct answer ✔✔ b
T/F For all D-Type instructions, Read Data 2 is connected to the ALU. - correct answer ✔✔ F
Read Data 2 is not connected to the ALU for LDUR, STUR
_______ are used to allow for different inputs to a given piece of hardware when it requires
different inputs when used by different instructions. For example, it is used on the input to the
registerfile's Write Address input to select between Rd and Rt depending on which instruction is
executing. - correct answer ✔✔ Muxes
T/F When an x is in the logic map for the control unit it means that the signal should not be
driven. - correct answer ✔✔ F
Logic is rarely "off" unless explicitly powergated (which takes extra logic and time). We
sometimes use an x to aid in logic minimization.
T/F 64-bit Processors are always faster than 32-bit processors. - correct answer ✔✔ F
64-bit machines have a larger memory address space.
Pipelining improves __ ___ at the potential cost of individual instruction __ ___. - correct
answer ✔✔ throughput latency
complete solutions graded A+ passed
(T/F) The fastest path through the logic determines its critical path and therefore its clock
frequency. - correct answer ✔✔ F
The slowest path determines the critical path and clock frequency.
Fetch, _______ and Execute are the three phases of an instruction's life-cycle. - correct answer
✔✔ decode
T/F There are many different possible implementations of a particular ISA in hardware. - correct
answer ✔✔ T
T/F The B instruction does not require the register file at all. - correct answer ✔✔ T
T/F RTL defines the actions of an instruction in terms of operations performed on registers, with
the outcome being placed in another register. - correct answer ✔✔ T
T/F The register file must have three ports (two read and one write) in order to directly support
D-Type instructions. - correct answer ✔✔ F
D-Type instructions require at most two operands and so only two ports are needed. R-
Type require three operands (two read and one write) and so three ports are needed.
T/F
Hardware that is not in use for a given instruction (on the unified hardware) is removed until
needed to save power. - correct answer ✔✔ F
, Hardware always exists as defined. The common processor datapath must implement
the superset of all desired instructon functions in hardware. This hardware exists
regardless of whether it is used in a given cycle.
In the LDUR and STUR instructions, the ALU is used for effective __________ calculation. -
correct answer ✔✔ address
For the CBZ instruction, the ALU must be set to perform the "pass _________" operation. -
correct answer ✔✔ b
T/F For all D-Type instructions, Read Data 2 is connected to the ALU. - correct answer ✔✔ F
Read Data 2 is not connected to the ALU for LDUR, STUR
_______ are used to allow for different inputs to a given piece of hardware when it requires
different inputs when used by different instructions. For example, it is used on the input to the
registerfile's Write Address input to select between Rd and Rt depending on which instruction is
executing. - correct answer ✔✔ Muxes
T/F When an x is in the logic map for the control unit it means that the signal should not be
driven. - correct answer ✔✔ F
Logic is rarely "off" unless explicitly powergated (which takes extra logic and time). We
sometimes use an x to aid in logic minimization.
T/F 64-bit Processors are always faster than 32-bit processors. - correct answer ✔✔ F
64-bit machines have a larger memory address space.
Pipelining improves __ ___ at the potential cost of individual instruction __ ___. - correct
answer ✔✔ throughput latency
