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08 - Von Neumann, Harvard and modern Architecture

 1. How was the early electronic computer Colossus programmed?
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  By changing switches and plugs

  By a stored program

  By a punch card

  By voice command

 2. What was one basic problem of pre-Von Neumann computer architecture?

  Re-programming took a very long time

  CPUs were slower

  Greater memory was required

  Computers were heavier

 3. Von Neumann proposed that both data and instructions could be stored in the same memory.

  TRUE

  FALSE

 4. What directs the operation of the processor in response to instructions?

  The keyboard

  The memory bus

  The random access memory

  The control unit

 5. What does the arithmetic logic unit do?
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  It performs arithmetic and logic operations on data

  It transfers data between different locations in the computer

  It stores data for the CPU

  It inserts logic statements into the program

 6. A register is …

  A form of secondary storage

  A temporary storage area

  An index of all memory locations

  A form of data bus

 7. Which of the following are examples of registers?
1. Program counter
2. Integer retrieval archive
3. Polynomial flux register
4. Current instruction register
5. Spare cloud index
6. Program minced word
7. Memory address register 
8. Memory buffer register 

  1, 4, 7 and 8

  All of these

  1, 3, 4, 7 and 8

  1, 3, 5, 6 and 8

 8. What is a Von Neumann bottleneck?
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  When the processor cannot keep up with the speed of incoming data

  When the data and program become corrupted

  When the data is stored in the wrong location

   When the speed of transfer between the CPU and memory is slower than the speed of the processor

 9. Which of these are steps that can be taken to mitigate the bottleneck?
1.Using a branch predictor
2. Using data compression
3. Using caches 
4. Limiting CPU stack
5. Editing data 

  All of these

  1, 2 and 3

  2, 4 and 5

  1, 3 and 4

 10. What is a RAMBUS?

  A form of RAM that can be moved around the computer

  A form of RAM built into the CPU

  The connection between the RAM and data bus

  A system combining RAM, the RAM controller and the bus

 11. What is PIM?

  Pliable Information Mode

  Processor Integral Memory

  Processing in Memory

  Preferable Information Manager

 12. Traditional Harvard architecture stores data and instructions in two different memories.

  FALSE

  TRUE

 13. Why do digital signal processing (DSP) systems tend to use Harvard architecture?

  Because the programmers generally attended Harvard University

  Because it is easier to operate

  Because speed is a priority

  Because it is cheaper to implement

 14. Modified Harvard architecture allows the instruction memory to be accessed as if it were data.
vonnharvard_q14.png

  TRUE

  FALSE

 15. What is an artifical neural network?

  A cloud system of networked consoles

  A constellation of satellites providing global wifi

  A computing system with architecture inspired by biological neural networks

  An architecture that uses more than two memories