Question 1: Describe the role of interrupt handling. Why are interrupts mainly used?
Question 2: Discuss system architectures issues in evolution of x86 Intel processor family (segmentation, virtual memory, paging unit, floating point hardware, instruction pipeline and so on).
Question 3: Discuss different assembly language issues including relationship between assembly language statements, binary codes, and segment: address offsets. Describe the effects on various registers of executing assembly language statements.
Question 4: Give four various kinds of interrupts? Explain what is special in each kind?
Question 5: How is an interrupt visible to the program in execution?
Question 6: How is an interrupt visible to the processor?
Question 7: How are interrupts processed?
Question 8: How does the system know whether some memory location contains an integer number, floating point number or a machine instruction? What occurs, if during an integer add instruction one encounters a floating point value in one of the argument registers?
Question 9: Which problem does the cache memory resolve? How is the solution implemented?
How can application programmer best persuade the proper operation of this solution?
Question 10: Which problem does the virtual memory resolve? How is the solution implemented? How can application programmer best persuade the proper operation of this solution?
Define, in your own words, each term:
• Binary number
• Signed integer
• Twos complement
• Normalized floating point numbers
• Byte
• Word
• Fetch-execute
• Error-correction
• Parity bit
• Gate
• Boolean algebra
• Combinational circuit
• Multiplexor
• Decoder
• Comparator
• Half adder
• Adder
• Shifter
• ALU
• Register
• Addressing modes
• Cache
• Instruction pipeline
• Interrupt handling