30 Questions
What is the main contributor to the current technological advances in computer systems?
Academia and Industry
What is the approximate date of the invention of the abacus?
500 BC
What was the primary purpose of the Z3 computer?
Special-purpose machine for World War II
Who is credited with inventing the system that broke secret German military codes?
Alan Turing
What type of components were used in the Colossus system?
Vacuum Tubes
What was the name of the first program-controlled mechanical computer?
Z1
What is the primary challenge of adding more capabilities to CISC processors?
Increasing the complexity of computations within a single clock period
What percentage of instructions executed in a typical computer use assignments, conditional branching, and procedural calls?
80%
What is the main goal of the RISC philosophy?
To optimize the quality of architectures by speeding up frequently used operations
What is a consequence of using single clock instructions in RISC architecture?
Spending more transistors on memory registers
What has driven the rapid improvement in computer technology?
Advances in the fabrication technology of transistors
What is an example of a CISC processor?
Intel Pentium
What was the first general purpose computer available for commercial use?
UNIVAC I
What is the primary goal of computer architects?
To increase the performance of their architectures
What is the main philosophy behind Complex Instruction Set Computers (CISC)?
To do more in a single instruction, reducing the number of instructions needed
What was the consequence of using Complex Instruction Set Computers (CISC)?
Need for fewer memory read/write operations and eventual speedup of operations
What is the main difference between Shared Memory and Distributed Memory Systems?
Method of memory access
What substituted centralized servers in the 1980s and 1990s?
Network of computers
What is the current scale of integration in computer systems?
Wafer scale integration
What is the primary goal of performance analysis in computer systems?
To understand what factors in the architecture contribute to overall system performance
What is the term for the total work done per unit time in a computer system?
Throughput
What is the benefit of upgrading a machine with a new processor?
Increasing the throughput of the system
From a purchasing perspective, what is the goal of performance metrics?
To identify the machine with the best cost/performance
What is the term for the time it takes to execute a job in a computer system?
Response time
What is the primary reason for using the average number of clock cycles per instruction (CPI) as a performance measure?
To account for the varying execution times of different instructions
What is the formula for computing the overall effective CPI?
CPI = ∑(CPIi x ICi) / n
What is the unit of measurement for clock cycle time?
Seconds per cycle
What is the effect of a higher CPI on a program's performance?
It decreases the program's execution speed
What is the purpose of the performance equation CPU time = Instruction_count x CPI x clock_cycle?
To separate the three key factors that affect performance
What is the relationship between MIPS and CPI?
MIPS is inversely proportional to CPI
Study Notes
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The current technological advancements in computer systems are the result of efforts made by two forces: academia (universities and research centers) and industry (computer companies).
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Computers are general-purpose machines that can be programmed to perform a variety of tasks.
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The idea of a computing system is not new, dating back to 500 BC with the invention of the abacus by the Babylonians.
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The first mechanical calculator was developed, and the first program-controlled mechanical computer, Z1, was built in 1938, followed by Z2.
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In the 1940s, the first special-purpose machine, Z3, was invented and used by Germany during World War II.
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The first electronic computer, Colossus, was developed by Alan Turing in 1943 to break secret German military codes, using vacuum tubes.
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Examples of electronic computers include Intel Pentium, Motorola MC68000, and IBM & Macintosh Power PC.
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The development of computers led to the emergence of two major architectural styles: Complex Instruction Set Computers (CISC) and Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISC).
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CISC architecture aims to perform more in a single instruction, resulting in fewer memory read/write operations and increased speed.
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RISC architecture promotes the optimization of architectures by speeding up frequently used operations, reducing instruction complexities, and the number of addressing modes.
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Examples of RISC-based computers include Sun SPARC and MIPS machines.
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The development of computer technology has shown an unprecedented rate of improvement, driven by advances in transistor fabrication technology.
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The Harvard Architecture separates the storage and signal pathways for instructions and data.
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The first general-purpose computer available for commercial use was UNIVAC I, followed by developments from IBM, Intel, and Apple.
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In parallel with small-scale machines, supercomputers were developed, including the CDC 6600 in 1961, and commercial parallel computers became available in the 1980s and 1990s.
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Computer architects strive to increase performance by improving architectural designs, leading to the development of centralized servers and distributed networks.
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Performance metrics are essential for evaluating and comparing computer architectures, including response time, throughput, and clock cycles per instruction (CPI).
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The average number of clock cycles per instruction (CPI) is used as an alternate performance measure, and it can be computed using the equation: CPI = clock cycles / instructions.
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The overall effective CPI varies by instruction mix and can be computed by looking at the different types of instructions and their individual cycle counts.
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The performance equation relates the quantities of cycle time, clock rate, CPI, and MIPS (millions of instructions per second) to compute CPU time.
This quiz covers the introduction to computer systems, including the forces behind technological advancements, academia, and industry, as well as the concept of general-purpose machines. It also delves into the historical background of computing systems, from the mechanical age to modern times.
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