Question 1
What is the primary objective of an Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)?
To define the hardware implementation of the processor
To specify the set of instructions a processor can execute and their format
To design the microarchitecture of a processor
To optimize the processor clock speed
Question 2
Which of the following best distinguishes Microarchitecture from ISA?
ISA deals with implementation, Microarchitecture deals with software
ISA is the physical layout of circuits, Microarchitecture is the instruction set
ISA is a programmer-visible interface; Microarchitecture is the internal organization of the processor
Microarchitecture defines instruction formats; ISA defines control signals
Question 3
Which type of ISA is characterized by a large number of simple instructions and fixed instruction length?
RISC
CISC
VLIW
Stack-based
Question 4
What is a major advantage of VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) ISA over traditional RISC?
Reduced code size due to variable-length instructions
Explicit instruction-level parallelism encoded in a single long instruction word
Uses a stack for operand management
Better backward compatibility with older ISAs
Question 5
Which addressing mode allows an instruction to directly specify the memory address of the operand?
Immediate
Register indirect
Direct
Indexed
Question 6
Which of the following instruction formats contains no operand fields?
Zero-address format
One-address format
Two-address format
Three-address format
Question 7
Why is the instruction format important in CPU organization?
It determines how many registers are available
It influences how instructions are fetched, decoded, and executed
It fixes the clock speed of the CPU
It decides the power consumption of the processor
Question 8
EPIC is designed primarily to:
Simplify compiler design
Exploit instruction-level parallelism explicitly by the compiler
Reduce the number of instructions executed
Support stack-based operations
Question 9
Compared to CISC, one characteristic of RISC ISA is:
Complex addressing modes
Variable-length instruction formats
Few instruction formats, mostly fixed-length
More micro-operations per instruction
Question 10
In a CPU instruction format, the opcode field:
Specifies the operation to be performed
Indicates the addressing mode
Contains the data to operate on
Stores the result of the operation
There are 10 questions to complete.