All Questions
Tagged with computer-architecture computers
58 questions
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Are my assumptions on NMOS voltage at drain correct?
If voltage at gate is ground and voltage at source is ground, then voltage at drain is VDD
If voltage at gate is ground and voltage at source is VDD, then voltage at drain is floating
If voltage at ...
- 59
0
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2
answers
109
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1-bit computing with true one-instruction set architecture
Even though MC14500B is considered as 1-bit computing where it accepts 1-bit data to perform operation, the instruction set itself consisted with 4-bit instruction which leads having 16 total ...
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6
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What can be done with all of the extra address lines in a ROM? Why were they designed to have so few outputs compared to possible inputs?
I am a student in an introductory Digital Logic and Computer Systems course. We have been learning about ROMS, but often we just use them to basically just map truth tables onto them. We have been ...
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1
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3
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317
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Electrical/physical difference between Primary Memory and Secondary Memory connection to CPU
It is said that the difference between primary memory and secondary memory is that primary memory is "directly accessible by CPU", while secondary memory is "not directly accessible by ...
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2
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182
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What is the most important CPU price factor [closed]
I have two intel CPUS with distinct features.
intel i7 8550U
intel i5 8300H
Which have big performance difference with the cheaper 8300H being higher in memory ...
- 99
2
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1
answer
164
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Doubt in pipelining forwarding in MIPS
I am fairly new to computer architecture and having a tough time solving problems based on pipelining. I was trying to solve a problem from this pdf I found on Google
I have a doubt in part ...
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3
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155
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Has there been any deliberate implementation of combinational logic soft error correction in any consumer-level product, like a CPU/microcontroller? [closed]
Prologue
It is well known that many error detection, mitigation, and correction methods, such as parity or ECC, have been available in large memory banks, like for RAM, for decades now, and even in ...
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1
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1
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How can I modify single-cycle MIPS processor to implement jal command?
Hello Stack exchange community
I was wondering which modification should I have to make in order to enable single-cycle MIPS processor to run a jal(jump and link) command?
My most pressing confusion ...
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6
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7
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7k
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Why do computer circuits tend to have so many resistors and capacitors? [duplicate]
As someone who has a decent understanding of computer architecture (but not of electrical engineering) I've always wondered why computer circuits tend to have so many resistors, capacitors, and other ...
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5
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2k
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How does a microprocessor control its transistors? [closed]
Or in other words, what is the more fundamental building block of an IC below transistors? When I load a code onto my microprocessor, how (fundamentally, sure some people here could write books about ...
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3
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566
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Getting CPU clock signal out of computer (as to measure externally) [closed]
I've been searching on the internet some clock generator module capable of reaching up to 1GHz, when I just realized that the machine I'm using to search has one CPU with its own 2.5-3.0 GHz clock... ...
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1
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1
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602
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How does the computer's BIOS change the clock speed?
A computer's BIOS can change either the multiplier value or the (FSB) clock frequency to overclock or underclock a CPU. While overclocking by changing the multiplier value is easier and in more often ...
- 155
6
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5
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5k
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Why are DIMMs not equipped with a heat sink like a CPU?
I know that a DIMM is composed of a set of chips that contain control logic managing the decode and prefetching memory operations. According to a product specification, I found that newer RAM works at ...
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4
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0
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106
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Can anyone tell me what other computers used this floating-point format?
I have discovered that the DEC PDP-10 used a floating-point format that differed from IEEE-754 in an interesting way.
IEEE-754 is like sign-magnitude representation. The only difference between a ...
- 1,695
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2
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3k
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Understanding what sign extension does
Sign-extension works this way: You pad with zeros for a positive number and pad with ones for a negative number, because of two's complement, and left or right depends on endianness.
Did I ...
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4
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4
answers
4k
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Homebrew Redundant PC Power Supplies
I'd like to have redundant power supplies to power an array of four hard drives. Each drive uses 5V at .6A (3W) and 12V at .45A (5.4W), for a total of less than 10W each. The four drives will have ...
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66
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12
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How can we be sure that computers will never accidentally switch a 0 by a 1?
I've read a bit about the construction of a digital computer in Shocken/Nisan's: The Elements of Computing Systems. But this book says nothing about certain electrical aspects in computers, for ...
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1
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465
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Is depth and number of stages the same measure for a CPU pipeline?
Is it true that the depth of a CPU pipeline and the number of stages of a computer pipeline are different measures? There is not much info about it if I google or look in my books. I think that depth ...
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2
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5
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2k
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Is it possible to replicate the ENIAC using logic gates
Can one rebuild a small scaled model of the original ENIAC computer using only logic gates?
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2
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208
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Could a computer technically run without time measurement?
I just asked myself if a computer could technically run without time measurement?
With time measurement I mean the human-invented method to measure season and day/night cycles: a year has 365 days,...
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25
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4
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7k
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Why do CPU's typically connect to only one bus?
I found a motherboard architecture here:
This looks to be the typical layout of motherboards. EDIT: Well, apparently it's not so typical anymore.
Why does the CPU connect to only 1 bus? That front-...
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1
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Confused what computer architecture is in real [closed]
I am quite sure that this is a question which will be marked as "primarily opinion-based" but I would still like to ask it here only as you do not get so many intellectual, experienced and skilled ...
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4
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How can a powersupply have a large input volt range
I see that computer power supplies that can take a voltage input of anything between 90V and 260V at a frequency between 47Hz and 63Hz.
Meanwhile it can output power at a very precise voltage.
How ...
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1
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Error-Detecting Code and ASCII Character Code?
As ASCII character code uses seven bit to encode 128 characters and most computers manipulate an eighth-bit quantity as one byte and ASCII characters are stored one per eight bit, and an additional ...
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3
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3k
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How are alphabetic characters programmed into a computer?
I'm no cs student, I'm a programmer. I have a couple of questions and a few assumptions that I will make here (correct me if I'm wrong please).
From my understanding is that all the sequences of 1 ...
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1
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548
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How much faster would optical computation be?
If (when) we could figure out a way to do computations with light as opposed to electrons within circuits, how much faster would our computers be?
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2
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136
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Is it OK to use the USB 5v pin as power source?
I am doing some stuff in my case and I need a power source for one LED from inside my case.
I looked up and there are two +5v pins on a USB header inside my case. Is it OK to use them as power source?...
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0
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353
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find cache hit rate for direct mapped cache memory
I have this practice exam problem which I am having trouble with. I have gone over many slides but haven't been able to really get it. The question is
I currently have an 8 block main memory with 2 ...
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1
answer
2k
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multicycle datapath vs single cycle datapath
I have a fairly simple question but have not been able to find a good answer googling.
I understand how pipelining works by having 1 cycle per step, each instruction takes 5 cycles and they start ...
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1
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Micro and Nano Memory, Calculate Reducing Bits?
I ran into a question:
in digital system with micro-programmed control circuit, total of 32 distinct pattern operation signal is ...
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1
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Which are the spec bits in this cache?
I have a direct mapped cache of size S with the line size L. The cache is physically indexed and tagged. The physical address is 50 bits, numbered from 0 to 49 (with 0 being the least significant bit)....
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1
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What is the difference between a virtually tagged and a physically tagged memory system?
I study computer architecture and this question came. What is the difference between a virtually tagged and a physically tagged memory system?
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3
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1
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adding two 64-bits number with m-bit carry ripple adder and multiplexer, a questions?
I ran into a question from computer architecture class. The professor says that for adding two 64-bit numbers A and B we use m-bit carry ripple adders and multiplexers such as following:
and that for ...
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2
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411
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Where is the best place I can go to learn everything about the electronics-side of computers? [closed]
Throughout my childhood, I grew up learning about electronics and computers. I am starting to get to the point where I want to incorporate my knowledge of both into a single project. I have tried ...
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2
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Determining memory address width from memory size
Given a computer A with 1024 x 16 memory and a computer B with 16K x 32 memory, how big are the registers of an Accumulator, program counter, instruction, temporary register, address register, data ...
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3
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532
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Curious how does ALU addressing work like in Assembly code?
When writing assembly code, say R1 = R2 + R3, it is pretty easy to understand the addressing procedure because all registers are close to the ALU. But I find it hard to see how does the ALU go to the ...
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1
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How do you reduce an 8 output ALU to a 4 or 3 output ALU?
I can implement the functions in the picture below, but then if I implement them independently, I would have 8 outputs to the mux. Our professors wants us to reduce the ALU to only 3 or 4 outputs, I ...
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2
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Average Cycles Per Instruction
We have two different computers with the same instruction set. There are three classes of instructions (A, B, and C) in the instruction set.
Computer M1 has a clock rate of 80 MHz and Computer M2 has ...
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1
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Why does Intel produce core i3, core i5 and core i7 processors; but not core i2, core i4 or core i6 processors? [closed]
Why does Intel produce core i3, core i5 and core i7 processors; but not core i2, core i4 or core i6 processors?
What is the reason behind this?
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3
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Is a digital bit represented by any two discrete signals?
I am trying to understand computers from the building blocks up. I know computers use transistors to amplify voltages, and this is used for arithmetic, such as a MOSFET.
However, what really makes ...
user44209
6
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8
answers
7k
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Why can computer circuits recognise only two states?
Computers can only understand binary (that is 0s or 1s). I want to know Is there any way that computers can understand more than 2 states. I know that It is much harder to build components that use ...
J.Smith.JJJ
2
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1
answer
279
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misunderstanding of a Computer Architecture
I have the following architecture , and the timing diagram below . my question is , it's seem that no 'relation' or dependency between control logic and Extender , but at timing diagram , the time of ...
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1
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Building a simple PC - looking for a CPU [closed]
I would like to build a computer. It is a child's dream that I had and now that I am at college, I finally gain the knowledge I need.
I want it to be simple. I admire the early designs of 1990's ...
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1
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198
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Ratio between register and primary memory access?
I've been doing research to find how much faster register access is compared to primary memory. I find the ration is about 100 times faster, can that be correct, has it always been about that number ...
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3
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2
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What's the difference between delayed branch and branch prediction?
I'm studying how delayed branch works and I'm trying to distinguish delayed branch from branch prediction. What is the difference? Is delayed branch a means to facilitate a control hazard?
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1
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How to calculate the address fields for a cache?
I've a homework question about 32-bit cache memories:
For a cache memory that has size 16kB (16384 byte) and blocksize 2
words, state the names and the sizes of each field of the address that
...
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2
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2
answers
4k
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What is the meaning of "Register.Rd"?
Reading Hennessy's book "Computer Organization and Design" it is mentioned "Register.Rd" and "Register.Rs" but what does it mean? The .Rd, .Rt and .Rs parts I can't understand, on page 365:
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1
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How is sign extension used in practice?
In wikipedia it says what sign extension is but it doesn't say what it's used for or when it is used. I read Hennesy's book "Computer Organization and Design" and it has a sign-extension mechanism ...
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3
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1
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What does RWM mean?
I'm studying computer hardware and the acronym "RWM" appears, so I wonder what it means? It has to do with LOADs and STOREs of instructions.
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1
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Electrical Engineering vs Computer Engineering? [closed]
I am trying to decide whether to major in EE or CE. To my knowledge, computer engineering has the same core focus as electrical engineering but with an emphasis on digital logic and microprocessors. ...
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