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GATE CS Computer Organization and Architecture questions

Practise Computer Organization and Architecture questions for GATE CS. Explore official PYQs and original subject-wise quizzes, check answers and view available solutions. Free, no sign-in.

Track address sizes, cache organisation and pipeline dependencies carefully. Write down the units and assumptions before computing memory access times or processor performance.

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Official PYQ2008Computer Organization and ArchitectureI/O Interface: Interrupt and DMA ModeMCQ · 1 mark
Which of the following statements about synchronous and asynchronous I/O is NOT true?
Official PYQ2008Computer Organization and ArchitectureMemory Hierarchy: Cache, Main Memory and Secondary StorageMCQ · 1 mark
In an instruction execution pipeline, the earliest that the data TLB (Translation Lookaside Buffer) can be accessed is:
Official PYQ2008Computer Organization and ArchitectureInstruction PipeliningMCQ · 1 mark
Which of the following are NOT true in a pipelined processor? Bypassing can handle all RAW hazards Register renaming can eliminate all register carried WAR hazards Control hazard penalties can be eliminated by dynamic branch prediction
Official PYQ2008Computer Organization and ArchitectureMachine Instructions and Addressing ModesMCQ · 1 mark
The use of multiple register windows with overlap causes a reduction in the number of memory accesses for: Function locals and parameters Register saves and restores Instruction fetches
Official PYQ2008Computer Organization and ArchitectureMemory Hierarchy: Cache, Main Memory and Secondary StorageMCQ · 1 mark
For inclusion to hold between two cache levels L1L_1 and L2L_2 in a multi-level cache hierarchy, which of the following are necessary? L1L_1 must be write-through cache L2L_2 must be a write-through cache The associativity of L2L_2 must be greater than that of L1L_1 The L2L_2 cache must be at least as large as the L1L_1 cache
Official PYQ2008Computer Organization and ArchitectureMachine Instructions and Addressing ModesMCQ · 1 mark
Which of the following must be true for the RFE (Return From Exception) instruction on a general purpose processor? It must be a trap instruction It must be a privileged instruction An exception cannot be allowed to occur during execution of an RFE instruction
Official PYQ2008Computer Organization and ArchitectureMachine Instructions and Addressing ModesMCQ · 1 mark
Which of the following is/are true of the auto-increment addressing mode? It is useful in creating self-relocating code If it is included in an Instruction Set Architecture, then an additional ALU is required for effective address calculation The amount of increment depends on the size of the data item accessed
Official PYQ2007Computer Organization and ArchitectureI/O Interface: Interrupt and DMA ModeMCQ · 1 mark
Consider the following program segment. Here R1, R2\text{R1, R2} and R3\text{R3} are the general purpose registers. …
Official PYQ2007Computer Organization and ArchitectureI/O Interface: Interrupt and DMA ModeMCQ · 1 mark
Consider the following program segment. Here R1, R2\text{R1, R2} and R3\text{R3} are the general purpose registers. …
Official PYQ2007Computer Organization and ArchitectureMemory Hierarchy: Cache, Main Memory and Secondary StorageMCQ · 1 mark
Consider a machine with a byte addressable main memory of 2162^{16} bytes. Assume that a direct mapped data cache consisting of 3232 lines of 6464 bytes each is used in the system. A 5050 x 5050 two-dimensional array of bytes is stored in the main memory starting from memory location 1100H1100H. Assume that the data cache is initially empty. The …
Official PYQ2007Computer Organization and ArchitectureMemory Hierarchy: Cache, Main Memory and Secondary StorageMCQ · 1 mark
Consider a machine with a byte addressable main memory of 2162^{16} bytes. Assume that a direct mapped data cache consisting of 3232 lines of 6464 bytes each is used in the system. A 50×5050 \times 50 two-dimensional array of bytes is stored in the main memory starting from memory location 1100H1100H. Assume that the data cache is initially empty. The …
Official PYQ2007Computer Organization and ArchitectureI/O Interface: Interrupt and DMA ModeMCQ · 1 mark
Consider the following program segment. Here R1, R2\text{R1, R2} and R3\text{R3} are the general purpose registers. …
Official PYQ2007Computer Organization and ArchitectureMachine Instructions and Addressing ModesMCQ · 1 mark
In a simplified computer the instructions are: …
Official PYQ2007Computer Organization and ArchitectureInstruction PipeliningMCQ · 1 mark
Consider a pipelined processor with the following four stages: IF: Instruction Fetch ID: Instruction Decode and Operand Fetch EX: Execute WB: Write Back The IF, ID and WB stages take one clock cycle each to complete the operation. The number of clock cycles for the EX stage depends on the instruction. The ADD and SUB instructions need 11 clock cycle and …
Official PYQ2007Computer Organization and ArchitectureMemory Hierarchy: Cache, Main Memory and Secondary StorageMCQ · 1 mark
Consider a 44-way set associative cache consisting of 128128 lines with a line size of 6464 words. The CPU generates a 20−bit20-bit address of a word in main memory. The number of bits in the TAG, LINE and WORD fields are respectively:
Official PYQ2006Computer Organization and ArchitectureMemory Hierarchy: Cache, Main Memory and Secondary StorageMCQ · 1 mark
Consider two cache organizations. First one is 3232 kBkB 22-way set associative with 3232 bytebyte block size, the second is of same size but direct mapped. The size of an address is 3232 bitsbits in both cases . A 22-to-11 multiplexer has latency of 0.6ns0.6 ns while a k−k-bit comparator has latency of k10ns\frac{k}{10} ns. The hit latency …
Official PYQ2006Computer Organization and ArchitectureMemory Hierarchy: Cache, Main Memory and Secondary StorageMCQ · 1 mark
A CPU has a 3232 KBKB direct mapped cache with 128128 byte-block size. Suppose AA is two dimensional array of size 512×512512 \times512 with elements that occupy 8−bytes8-bytes each. Consider the following two CC code segments, P1P1 and P2P2. P1P1: for (i=0; i<512; i++) { for (j=0; j<512; j++) { x +=A[i] [j]; } } P2: for (i=0; i<512; i++) …
Official PYQ2006Computer Organization and ArchitectureMemory Hierarchy: Cache, Main Memory and Secondary StorageMCQ · 1 mark
A CPU has a 32KB32 KB direct mapped cache with 128128 byte-block size. Suppose A is two dimensional array of size 512×512512 \times512 with elements that occupy 88-bytes each. Consider the following two C code segments, P1P1 and P2P2. P1: for (i=0; i<512; i++) { for (j=0; j<512; j++) { x +=A[i] [j]; } } P2: for (i=0; i<512; i++) { for (j=0; …
Official PYQ2006Computer Organization and ArchitectureMemory Hierarchy: Cache, Main Memory and Secondary StorageMCQ · 1 mark
Consider two cache organizations. First one is 32  KB  2-way32 \; \textsf{KB}\;2\text{-way} set associative with 32  byte32 \; \text{byte} block size, the second is of same size but direct mapped. The size of an address is 32  bits32\; \text{bits} in both cases . A 2-to-12\text{-to-}1 multiplexer has latency of 0.6  ns0.6 \; \text{ns} while a k-bitk\text{-bit} comparator has …
Official PYQ2006Computer Organization and ArchitectureMachine Instructions and Addressing ModesMCQ · 1 mark
Consider a new instruction named branch-on-bit-set (mnemonic bbs). The instruction “bbs reg, pos, label” jumps to label if bit in position pos of register operand reg is one. A register is 3232 -bits wide and the bits are numbered 00 to 31,31, bit in position 00 being the least significant. Consider the following emulation of this instruction on a …