Questions tagged [computer-architecture]

Questions about the organization and design of computer hardware.

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Is there any defined programming model for 'Self-Learning' NPUs?

Qualcomm is creating a Neuromorphic Processing Unit or an NPU called zeroth. IBM is also working on a brain inspired chip under Synapse program. Standford's Neurogrid might be a similar example. ...
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Is there a OSI model equivalent for describing the abstract layers present in performing a computation for an operating system?

In describing where a system vulnerability exists, I often find a need for a model that partitions a operating system and its components into abstraction layers. Similar to how the Open Systems ...
Gabriel Fair's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
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Load and Store Data hazard problem in 5-stages pipeline

Hi everyone and first of all thank you for been reading. I'm a little confused about data hazard dependences when a "Store" instruction is followed by a "Load" instruction. (Assume that we're working ...
apcarry 's user avatar
3 votes
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Is it possible to figure out cache size and associativity using the length of offset, index, tag fields?

I have a question where I am asked to find the size of a cache. I am given the following info: a) the length of a memory address b) the number of bits for offset, index, and tag fields. I know I ...
jeanette's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
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MIPS limited dual issue

Some of the MIPS processors like 5kc, 5kf have "limited dual issue". Searching online it seems that this means that the processor allows for a dual issue in only some selected cases, but it is not ...
user3901167's user avatar
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Does exist another models like CARDIAC, LMC and IPC?

I'm working with CARDIAC (Cardboard Illustrative Aid to Computation) that is a model created at Bell Labs in 1968 to explain students how the computers worked with the Von Neumann architecture to ...
Osvaldo Santos's user avatar
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Belt-based mechanical computers

I've seen a lot of mechanical computers based on gears and rigid rods, but none so far that consequently use belts (not chains) for transmission of information. Belts allow for easy negation (by ...
Hans-Peter Stricker's user avatar
2 votes
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Von Neumann mixed with Havard in modern CPU?

Modern CPUs (for a very wider range of "modern") use separate data- and instruction-caches. So at the core they (probably) have separate busses for data and instructions. Does that make the &...
kruemi's user avatar
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Why does CLRS refer to the disk parts as pages rather than blocks?

I recently decided to review the B-tree chapter (chapter 18, p 486 in 3ed) in Introduction Algorithms, and found that they call pages what I always referred to as blocks or clusters: In order to ...
2xMax's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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What do "JAMZ", "JAMN", and "JMPC" stand for in Mic-1?

I am wondering what do JAMZ, JAMN, and JMPC stand for in Tanenbaum's Mic-1 architecture. I ...
adder's user avatar
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Difficulty in understanding the concept of operand forward in pipeling and when to use split phase

Given below is a question from $\text{GATE } 2015 \text{ CS}$ paper, Consider the sequence of machine instruction given below: \begin{array}{ll} \text{MUL} & \text{R5, R0, R1} \\ \text{DIV} &...
Abhishek Ghosh's user avatar
2 votes
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Confused with an Instruction Cycle question

Here's the question The content of PC in the basic computer architecture (given below) is 3AF. The content of AC is 7EC3. The content of memory at address 3AF is A32E. The content of memory at ...
Sketchy's user avatar
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Finding the timestamps of processes implementing Lamport's clocks

I have been asked this question, but don't know how to go about answering it. Three process, which are implementing Lamport's clocks, are running and a lot of events are taking, place including some ...
Agent smith 2.0's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
78 views

What is "orthogonality" in the context of Instruction Encoding?

What does it mean by "orthogonality" in the context of Instruction Encoding? Why CISC Architecture is orthogonal while RISC is not?
David Roonie's user avatar
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Compiler optimization which does an SMT-like optimization in software?

Say I had two functions called one after the other: ...
user130558's user avatar
2 votes
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184 views

Regarding Amdahl's balanced system law

One of the paper titled "Rules of Thumb in Data Engineering" (Jim Gray et. el.) mentions some calculations based on Amdahl's balanced system law. Link to paper: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/...
user108161's user avatar
2 votes
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What is tag-only forced cache inclusion called?

Is there a commonly accepted term for caches that are guaranteed inclusive with respect to tags but not data? Inclusion can be helpful to simplify cache coherence, for which use only tags need to be ...
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2 votes
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Is there one or more Page Tables

I saw a question similar to this one, and it was answered but the answer was kind of vague and I'm looking for a little more detail than that. The question I'm referring to is this one. The answer ...
Koy's user avatar
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Single queue instruction issuing in computer architecture

I am working on this paper titled “the microarchitecture of superscalar processors by Smith and Sohi” and it says that there are 3 methods of organizing instruction queue. I know that the method “...
Navide's user avatar
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1 answer
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Number of MUX required for Cache Mapping

I have read that the number of multiplexers required is equal to the number of bits in the TAG field. Is it true? If yes then why? I know that the size of each multiplexer has to be S to 1, where S ...
Random Integer's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
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How to find percentage of CPU time consumed during DMA operation?

Q) Consider 1MBps hard-disk is interfaced to the processor in a cycle stealing mode of DMA whenever $64$ bytes of data is available in the buffer,then it is transferred to main memory (1 word = 64 ...
Sourajit's user avatar
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Pipelining without operand forwarding

I've been doing the HPC course from Udacity (https://classroom.udacity.com/courses/ud007/l) One of the problems is as follows (apologies for the image, as I was unable to format this using $\LaTeX$): ...
Gokul's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
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Where does the CPU scheduler sit in a layered OS design

In a layered approach to OS design, each layer can only access routines from the layers below itself. For example, say I had two levels: memory management and the CPU scheduler Where does the CPU ...
ethane's user avatar
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Write-To-Read Relaxation in Cache Consistency

Write-to-Read Relaxation means that for a processor: later reads can bypass earlier writes But what does that mean? What exactly is the difference between a read and a write for a Cache? An ...
Seen's user avatar
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CISC, RISC and anything else?

Is there a processor architecture that falls outside the CISC and RISC categories? I'm vaguely familiar with RISC and CISC; my research thus far indicates that either a processor is RISC or CISC, ...
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How is the size of a register related to the size of primary memory?

I understand that registers are temporary storage compartments which (usually) hold 8 bits, or 1 byte, of information at a time. This information is sent from a register into the Central Processing ...
Valentine's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
573 views

Given a program which when executed spawns two concurrent processes : semaphore X : = 0 ; Is it possible for process P1 and P2 to starve?

Given below is a program which when executed spawns two concurrent processes: ...
Display Name is missing's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
1k views

Why ternary computers like Setun didn't catch on?

Why ternary computers like Setun didn't become popular despite being cheaper and more reliable than binary computers, and also having important computational advantages? We could have had cheaper ...
arctifox's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
2k views

Will this address result in a cache hit or miss for these cache mapping functions?

The Problem: A CPU produces the following sequence of read addresses in hex.    Suppose the cache is empty to begin with and assuming an LRU replacement, determine whether each address ...
committedandroider's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
485 views

Future register file in computer architecture

Results from the execution units are written into the future file when they complete (may be out-of-order). Upon operand fetching, you fetch from the future file and not the architectural register ...
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Is there a prefered name for the “effective access time” formula?

Any CS class about caches will at some point address this classical formula (or a variant of it) Effective_access_time = hit_time + miss_penalty * miss_rate My ...
Gyom's user avatar
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1 answer
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How does RAID-5 algorithm locate the right device?

Please consider the following diagram of a RAID-5 array (Ignore the gray background): Now, given a logical address, how can one return the device number (0-3)? For example, DeviceByLogicalSector(50) ...
Arbel's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
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How can I connect a drive to a 16 bit custom intel 8088 system?

I'm embarking on a long-term project, aiming to build a computer based on the Intel 8088 architecture. This venture provides an excellent opportunity to deepen my understanding of computer hardware ...
Grizzly's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
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Learn computer architecture and organisation via an oversimplified machine

I wish to learn CO&A (computer organisation and architecture) from scratch via some toy system and its simulator. I found the following resource: Toy Machine developed at Princeton University. Toy ...
anurag's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
127 views

How does non-DMA transfers really work?

I recently discussed DMA and non-DMA with my OS professor. Here is my current understanding: disk controller has its own CPU, maybe own ISA, tiny program that simply handles reading from the disk (...
user129393192's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
41 views

Execution of instruction in MIPS on various parts of the clock cycle

I've recently learnt the execution of MIPS instruction set using single cycle processor. However I'm not getting one thing. Since one clock cycle is needed for the complete instruction we only have ...
ronak jain's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
49 views

Tomasulo's Algorithm: Is there one reservation station per functional unit?

In Tomasulo's algorithm, is there only one reservation station per functional unit (even with multiple same-function FUs like, say, 3 adders)? Can there be more?
zach's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
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What does it mean to have the processor ignore interrupt request line?

I was reading a textbook on COA, it says If the processor is going to ignore the interrupt request line till the execution of the first instruction of the ISR, how will it know which device to ...
Jacob P.J's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
143 views

Do all computers use parity checking? When does it happen?

I know that parity checking is testing for accurate data transmission between nodes in a communication network. When does this parity checking happen on a computer? Does it happen every time data is ...
gurung's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
24 views

Is there any video where I can see how different data rates impact daily activities?

I've been learning about data speed and width and the rate of the bus where information is transmitted between components. But I can't see or understand how fast is the transmission. For example, in ...
gurung's user avatar
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Why place of MA in MB then copy from MB to IR rather than going straight from MA to IR

During the fetch stage of the fetch-execute cycle, why are the contents of the cell whose address is in the MA (memory address register) placed in MB (memory buffer) then copied to IR (instruction ...
amroman's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
391 views

How the data is transferred from main memory to hard disk?

I understand that data is transferred from the main memory to the CPU and vise versa using the data bus. But, I am unable to understand, how the data is being transferred from the main memory to the ...
Twinkle's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
36 views

How can DRAM memory speeds be improved?

What are some ways with which we can improve the speed of dynamic RAMs?
TheInquirer's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
31 views

system architecture or software architecture

I was trying to get started with a small project but I quickly realized I had to do more research on the subject. Suppose, when creating a site, in production, there's a certain structure how the ...
BumbleBee's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
114 views

Number of stall cycles when there is only EX/MEM pipeline registers or only MEM/WB pipeline register

I am working on a problem which is related to The processor. The problem is the problem 4.12 in the book whose title is "Computer Organization and Design". The problem has the assumption as ...
Hoang Nam's user avatar
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1 vote
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How does virtual and physical memory affect cache structure?

Working with a question that states: Consider a hypothetical machine in which physical address space is of 512 words and virtual address space is of 2048 words. The page size is 8 words. What is ...
zaserman's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
50 views

Can old hardware be practically useful for CS problems of modern day?

Thinking about specific settings on WorldBuilding.SE, it turns out I need help from people who are more in touch with CS and Clusters. For those who curious about how it started, backstory here, ...
MolbOrg's user avatar
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1 vote
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K-Map Reduction Grouping Question

I have a simple question regarding reduction using K-Maps. My professor gave this example: While I somewhat understand that we can only group quantities of base 2 numbers, why did my professor group ...
jsmith003138's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
100 views

Were boolean logic used in the analog computers?

I began a simple collection of the events behind todays computers. My knowledege in these fields is so limited, and I read: "In the 1930s and working independently, American electronic engineer ...
Valter Ekholm's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
21 views

Is there any research on allocating memory across multiple non-contiguous regions?

From my understanding, malloc and-the-like allocate contiguous blocks of memory. It then returns to you the start address of the memory block. This (and other ...
Lance's user avatar
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