Big A-Level Quiz

Match the following registers with their purpose

• MAR

• Holds the current instruction.

• CIR

• Holds the memory location of the next instruction to be fetched.

• ACC

• Holds the result of the current instruction.

• PC

• Holds the memory location from which or to which data will be read or written.

• MDR

• Holds data that has been read from memory or is about to be written to memory.

Put these into the correct order.

• Retrieve the instruction stored at the memory address specified by MAR via the data bus.

• Send the address from MAR over the Address Bus to memory.

• Decode the instruction stored in the Current Instruction Register (CIR).

• Load the address of the next instruction from the Program Counter (PC) into the Memory Address Register (MAR).

• Transfer the fetched instruction into the Current Instruction Register (CIR) for decoding.

​ (a)   ​ in CPUs is a technique used to enhance efficiency by ​ (b)   the execution of multiple instructions. In a pipelined processor, the execution of an instruction is divided into several stages, allowing multiple instructions to be processed ​ (c)   . As one instruction progresses through the pipeline stages, the CPU can initiate the execution of the next instruction, resulting in better ​ (d)   .​

• pipelining
• overlapping
• concurrently
• throughput
• in parallel
• caching
• stopping
• forcing

Sort these statements as to whether they describe Harvard or Von Neumann Architecture.

Groups:

(a) Harvard

,

(b) Von Neumann

• Single memory space for both data and instructions.

• Typically slower execution of instructions.

• Widely used in general purpose computers.

• Parallel access speeds up execution.

• Used in embedded systems.

• Separate memory spaces for instructions and data.

Sort these statements into those that describe RISC and those that describe CISC.

Groups:

(a) RISC

,

(b) CISC

• Typically have higher power consumption.

• Has a simplified instruction set.

• Have large and diverse instruction sets.

• Supports pipelining

Using multiple cores allows for ________ processing.

Which of these is NOT an advantage of cloud storage?

• It provides easily scalable storage.

• It is accessible from anywhere with internet access.

• It allows for easy sharing and collaboration on files.

• It is more expensive than local storage.

Match the following scheduling techniques with their descriptions.

• FIrst Come First Served

• organises processes into multiple queues with different priority levels and adjusts priority based on recent CPU usage.

• Round Robin

• Selects the process with the shortest completion time first, prioritising smaller tasks to minimize waiting time and maximize throughput.

• Multi-Level Feedback Queues

• Allocates CPU time in fixed time slices to each process, allowing each process to run for a certain amount of time before switching to the next process in a circular manner.

• Shortest Job First

• Executes processes in the order they arrive, with the first process to enter the ready queue being served first until completion before moving on to the next process.

Using techniques like processor scheduling and pipelining allows for __________ processing.

Which of these is not a common type of operating system?

• Distributed

• Embedded

• Real Time

• Dedicated