Computer Organization online quiz on “Hazards of Processor Architecture”.
1. Any condition that causes a processor to stall is called as _________
a) Hazard
b) Page fault
c) System error
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: a
Clarification: An hazard causes a delay in the execution process of the processor.
2. The periods of time when the unit is idle is called as ________
a) Stalls
b) Bubbles
c) Hazards
d) Both Stalls and Bubbles
Answer: d
Clarification: The stalls are a type of hazards that affect a pipe-lined system.
3. The contention for the usage of a hardware device is called ______
a) Structural hazard
b) Stalk
c) Deadlock
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: a
Clarification: The processor contends for the usage of the hardware and might enter into a deadlock state.
4. The situation wherein the data of operands are not available is called ______
a) Data hazard
b) Stock
c) Deadlock
d) Structural hazard
Answer: a
Clarification: Data hazards are generally caused when the data is not ready on the destination side.
5. The stalling of the processor due to the unavailability of the instructions is called as ___________
a) Control hazard
b) structural hazard
c) Input hazard
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: a
Clarification: The control hazard also called as instruction hazard is usually caused by a cache miss.
6. The time lost due to the branch instruction is often referred to as ____________
a) Latency
b) Delay
c) Branch penalty
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: c
Clarification: This time also retards the performance speed of the processor.
7. The pipeline bubbling is a method used to prevent data hazard and structural hazards.
a) True
b) False
Answer: a
Clarification: The periods of time when the unit is idle is called a Bubble.
8. ____________ method is used in centralized systems to perform out of order execution.
a) Scorecard
b) Score boarding
c) Optimizing
d) Redundancy
Answer: b
Clarification: In a scoreboard, the data dependencies of every instruction are logged. Instructions are released only when the scoreboard determines that there are no conflicts with previously issued and incomplete instructions.
9. The algorithm followed in most of the systems to perform out of order execution is __________
a) Tomasulo algorithm
b) Score carding
c) Reader-writer algorithm
d) None of the mentioned
Answer: a
Clarification: The Tomasulo algorithm is a hardware algorithm developed in 1967 by Robert Tomasulo from IBM. It allows sequential instructions that would normally be stalled due to certain dependencies to execute non-sequentially (out-of-order execution).
10. The problem where process concurrency becomes an issue is called as ___________
a) Philosophers problem
b) Bakery problem
c) Bankers problem
d) Reader-writer problem
Answer: d