Question

1. What different types of data can be part of a machine language instruction?

2. What are some differences between RISC and CISC computers?

3. What is the general architecture of most modern computers: VonNeumann, Harvard, or Modified Harvard?

4. What descriptors from 2 and 3 above would you use to classify today's personal computers?

5. Why is it important to know whether a machine is Big-Endian or Little Endian when converting 16-bit or 32-bit data from one type of machine to another?

6. Is a programmer concerned with the types and number of buses inside a CPU?

7. How large of a memory can be supported by each of a 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit address bus ( both in K, M, G, and T and in the "real" number of addresses)?

8. Which addressing mode uses a register to specify the address of an instruction operand in memory: Indexed, Register, PC relative, or Immediate?

9. List 4 things that the processor's control unit does.

10. Why does a CPU need registers that are not accessible or programmable by a programmer?

11. List the steps that a CPU needs to go through in order to read a single data word from RAM.

12. What is the purpose of a bus inside of a CPU?

13. What type of special purpose computing device generally uses a Harvard architecture? Spell out the answer, an acronym is not enough

Answer 1