3.

3 Example Questions

The questions in this section are meant to mirror the type and form of questions
that a candidate would expect to see in an exam paper. As before, the individual
questions are each followed up with comments from an examiner.

1. The Program Counter (Sequence Control Register) is a special register in the

processor of a computer.

a) Describe the function of the program counter. (2)

b) Describe two ways in which the program counter can change during the normal
execution of a program, explaining, in each case, how this change is initiated.
(4)

c) Describe the initial state of the program counter before the running of the
program. (2)

A. a) -The program counter stores the address…

-of the next instruction to be carried out in the sequence of the program. (2)

b) -P.C. is incremented…
-as part of the fetch execute cycle.
-P.C. is altered to the value being held in the address part of the instruction…
-When the instruction is one that alters the normal sequence of instructions in the
program.
-This second type of command involves the P.C. being reset twice in the same
cycle. (4)

c) -The P.C. will contain the address of the first instruction in the sequence to be
run…
-this must have been placed in the register by some external agent, the program
loader. (2)

Notes: Part (a) is often poorly understood by students. The majority believing
that the program counter is used to keep track of the number of programs running,
or the order in which programs have been called. There is obviously confusion
with the idea of a stack storing return addresses of modules when they have been
called.

Part (b) illustrates a characteristic of true examination questions. Most genuine

questions will have more mark points available than there are marks for the
question. This is not true of these sample questions. It should also be
remembered that these sample questions have not been through the rigorous
testing process that a genuine paper would have undergone, so any problems with
the content should not be repeated in the examination. Candidates find difficulty
 in making the distinction between different types of instruction, it may be of
value to spend some time talking about arithmetic/logic/jump/ command type
instructions as they all affect the cycle in different ways.
Part (c) refers back to the AS work in the need to understand that the loader will
initially set the value of the P.C. so that the program can begin.

2. Explain what is meant by the term Von Neumann Architecture. (2)

A. -A way of looking at the relationships between the various pieces of hardware in

a computer processor.
-A single memory used to store program instructions and the data for use with
those instructions.
-A single processor is used which follows a linear sequence of instructions. (2)

Notes: Many students will be content with the correct answer that VN
architecture is the ability to store the instructions and data in the same memory.
However, a look at the mark allocation shows that something else is required or
only one mark would have been available. Always look at the mark allocation
and think of the examiner, is there enough in the answer given to be able to award
the full number of marks?

3. Describe the fetch/decode part of the fetch/decode/execute/reset cycle, explaining

the purpose of any special registers that you have mentioned. (7)

A. -Contents of PC loaded into MAR

-PC is incremented
-Contents of address stored in MAR loaded into MDR
-Contents of MDR loaded into CIR
-Instruction in CIR is decoded.
-PC (program counter) stores the address of the next instruction to be executed.
-MAR (memory address register) holds the address in memory that is currently
being used
-MDR (memory data register) holds the data (or instruction) that is being stored
in the address accessed by the MAR.
-CIR (current instruction register) holds the instruction which is currently being
executed. (7)

Notes: The whole cycle may be asked for in some questions but it is more likely
that it would be split up in some way in order to make the question shorter and
more accessible. This is a difficult question because there is no splitting up of the
points asked for, the student must rely on their own interpretation of the
requirements of the question. There is a hint in the question because it asks for
two parts of the cycle specifically, but students should be aware that that becomes
a part of the question, in other words the answer must not contain any further
 information because it has been specifically ruled out in the question. A
candidate who describes the execution of particular types of instruction has
demonstrated that they cannot differentiate between the parts of the cycle and
would probably be penalised.

4. a) Describe how pipelining normally speeds up the processing done by a computer.

(2)

b) State one type of instruction that would cause the pipeline system to be reset,
explaining why such a reset is necessary. (3)

A. a) -All instructions have three phases…

-which are treated separately, by different parts of the processor…
-so that more than one instruction can be being dealt with simultaneously. (2)

b) -Jump instruction
-The instructions in the pipeline are no longer the ones to be dealt with next…
-so the pipeline has to be reset. (3)
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