Semester: IV

Subject Name: Computer Organization and Architecture

Unit 5

1a. Explain the concept of instruction pipelining and its advantages.

Answer:

Instruction Pipelining:

• A technique used in CPUs to execute multiple instructions simultaneously by

breaking down the execution pathway into several stages.

Stages:

1. Instruction Fetch (IF): Fetch the instruction from memory.

2. Instruction Decode (ID): Decode the fetched instruction.
3. Execute (EX): Perform the operation.
4. Memory Access (MEM): Access memory if needed.
5. Write Back (WB): Write the result back to a register.

Diagram:

rust
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+------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +------
------+
| Instruction| | Instruction| | Instruction| | Instruction| |
Instruction|
| Fetch |-->| Decode |-->| Execute |-->| Memory |-->| Write
Back |
+------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +------
------+
| | | |
|
v v v v
v
+------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +------
------+
| Instruction| | Instruction| | Instruction| | Instruction| |
Instruction|
| Fetch |-->| Decode |-->| Execute |-->| Memory |-->| Write
Back |
+------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +------
------+

Advantages:

1. Increased Throughput: Multiple instructions are processed simultaneously,

increasing overall instruction throughput.
 2. Efficient CPU Utilization: Each stage of the pipeline is busy at any point in time,
leading to efficient use of CPU resources.
3. Reduced Instruction Latency: Instructions can be executed more quickly since the
next instruction starts before the previous one completes.

Disadvantages:

1. Pipeline Hazards: Issues such as data hazards, control hazards, and structural hazards
can occur.
2. Complexity: Handling hazards and maintaining the pipeline adds complexity to CPU
design.
3. Branching Problems: Branch instructions can disrupt the flow of the pipeline,
requiring additional mechanisms like branch prediction.

1b. Explain the different types of pipeline hazards and methods to resolve them.

Answer:

Pipeline Hazards:

1. Data Hazards: Occur when instructions that exhibit data dependency modify data in
different stages of the pipeline.
o Example: ADD R1, R2, R3 followed by SUB R4, R1, R5

Resolution Methods:

o Forwarding/Bypassing: Directly passing the output of one pipeline stage to a

previous stage that needs it.
o Pipeline Stalling: Introducing a delay until the required data is available.
2. Control Hazards: Occur due to branch instructions which alter the flow of
instruction execution.
o Example: JMP LABEL

Resolution Methods:

o Branch Prediction: Predicting the outcome of a branch to minimize stalling.

o Delayed Branching: Reordering instructions to fill the delay slot.
3. Structural Hazards: Occur when two or more instructions compete for the same
hardware resources.
o Example: Simultaneous instruction fetch and memory access.

Resolution Methods:

o Resource Duplication: Adding more hardware resources to handle

simultaneous demands.
o Pipeline Scheduling: Reordering instructions to avoid conflicts.
2a. Explain the concept of RISC and CISC architectures.

Answer:

RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer):

• Emphasizes a small set of simple instructions.

• Instructions are of fixed length and executed in a single clock cycle.
• Uses load/store architecture, where memory operations are separate from ALU
operations.

Characteristics:

1. Simple Instructions: Limited number of simple instructions.

2. Single Clock Cycle Execution: Most instructions execute in a single clock cycle.
3. Large Number of Registers: Reduces the need for memory access.
4. Fixed Instruction Format: Simplifies instruction decoding.

Example Processors: ARM, MIPS, SPARC

CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer):

• Emphasizes a larger set of more complex instructions.

• Instructions can vary in length and take multiple clock cycles to execute.
• Allows direct manipulation of memory.

Characteristics:

1. Complex Instructions: Large number of instructions, some very complex.

2. Variable Clock Cycle Execution: Instructions take multiple clock cycles.
3. Fewer Registers: More reliance on memory access.
4. Variable Instruction Format: More complex instruction decoding.

Example Processors: x86, VAX, IBM System/360

Comparison:

• RISC focuses on software complexity, reducing hardware complexity.

• CISC focuses on hardware complexity, reducing software complexity.
2b. Explain superscalar architecture with a neat diagram.

Answer:

Superscalar Architecture:

• A CPU design that allows the execution of multiple instructions per clock cycle by
using multiple execution units.

Diagram:

sql
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+------------+ +------------+ +------------+
| Instruction| | Instruction| | Instruction|
| Fetch |-->| Decode |-->| Execute |--> (Execution Units)
+------------+ +------------+ +------------+
| | |
v v v
+------------+ +------------+ +------------+
| Instruction| | Instruction| | Instruction|
| Fetch |-->| Decode |-->| Execute |--> (Execution Units)
+------------+ +------------+ +------------+

Components:

1. Multiple Fetch Units: Fetch multiple instructions simultaneously.

2. Multiple Decode Units: Decode multiple instructions simultaneously.
3. Multiple Execution Units: Execute multiple instructions simultaneously.
4. Instruction Scheduling: Dynamically schedules instructions to execution units.

Advantages:

1. Increased Throughput: More instructions are executed per cycle.

2. Parallelism: Exploits instruction-level parallelism within a single thread.
3. Efficiency: Better utilization of CPU resources.

Challenges:

1. Complexity: Increased complexity in instruction scheduling and dependency

resolution.
2. Power Consumption: Higher power consumption due to multiple active units.
3. Instruction Dependencies: Handling data and control dependencies effectively.
3a. Explain VLIW architecture and how it differs from superscalar architecture.

Answer:

VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) Architecture:

• A CPU design where each instruction word contains multiple operations that are
executed in parallel.
• The compiler is responsible for instruction scheduling and dependency resolution.

Characteristics:

1. Long Instruction Words: Each instruction word includes multiple operations.

2. Parallel Execution: Multiple operations within an instruction word are executed
simultaneously.
3. Compiler Responsibility: Compiler handles instruction scheduling and resolves
dependencies.

Diagram:

lua
Copy code
+--------------------+
| Instruction Word |
| +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ |
| | Op1 | | Op2 | | Op3 | |
| +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ |
+--------------------+
|
v
+--------------+ +--------------+ +--------------+
| Execution Unit 1| | Execution Unit 2| | Execution Unit 3|
+--------------+ +--------------+ +--------------+

Superscalar vs. VLIW:

1. Instruction Scheduling:
o Superscalar: CPU dynamically schedules instructions.
o VLIW: Compiler statically schedules instructions.
2. Hardware Complexity:
o Superscalar: More complex due to dynamic scheduling.
o VLIW: Simpler hardware, complexity shifted to the compiler.
3. Parallelism:
o Superscalar: Limited by CPU's ability to issue and execute instructions.
o VLIW: Limited by compiler's ability to find parallelism.
3b. Explain the concept of multithreading and its advantages.

Answer:

Multithreading:

• The ability of a CPU to execute multiple threads concurrently, sharing the same
resources.

Types:

1. Coarse-Grained Multithreading: Switches between threads after a long-latency

event, like a cache miss.
2. Fine-Grained Multithreading: Switches between threads every clock cycle.
3. Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT): Executes instructions from multiple threads
in the same cycle.

Diagram:

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+-----------+
| CPU Core |
| +-------+ |
| | Thread1| |
| +-------+ |
| | Thread2| |
| +-------+ |
+-----------+

Advantages:

1. Increased CPU Utilization: Keeps CPU units busy, reducing idle time.
2. Improved Throughput: Higher instruction throughput as multiple threads are
executed.
3. Latency Hiding: Masks latency by switching to another thread.

Challenges:

1. Resource Contention: Multiple threads compete for shared resources.

2. Complexity: Increased complexity in managing and synchronizing threads.
3. Performance Variability: Performance gains depend on the workload and thread
parallelism.
4a. Explain the concept of parallel processing and its types.

Answer:

Parallel Processing:

• The simultaneous use of multiple computing resources to solve a computational

problem.

Types:

1. Bit-Level Parallelism: Multiple bits are processed simultaneously in a single

operation.
2. Instruction-Level Parallelism (ILP): Multiple instructions are executed
simultaneously.
3. Data-Level Parallelism (DLP): Same operation is performed on multiple data
elements (vector processing).
4. Task-Level Parallelism (TLP): Different tasks are executed in parallel on different
processors.

Categories:

1. Single Instruction, Single Data (SISD): Traditional sequential execution.

2. Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD): Same instruction on multiple data
elements (e.g., GPU).
3. Multiple Instruction, Single Data (MISD): Different instructions on the same data
(rare).
4. Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data (MIMD): Different instructions on different
data (e.g., multi-core CPUs).

Advantages:

1. Speedup: Reduces computation time by dividing work among processors.

2. Scalability: Can handle larger problems by adding more processors.
3. Efficiency: Better utilization of resources.

Challenges:

1. Synchronization: Managing the coordination of parallel tasks.

2. Data Dependency: Handling dependencies between parallel tasks.
3. Load Balancing: Evenly distributing work among processors.
4b. Explain the concept of Flynn's taxonomy.

Answer:

Flynn's Taxonomy:

• A classification system for computer architectures based on the number of concurrent

instruction streams and data streams.

Categories:

1. Single Instruction, Single Data (SISD):

o Description: Sequential execution of instructions.
o Example: Traditional single-core processor.
o Diagram:

diff
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+-------------+
| Instruction |
| Stream |
+-------------+
|
v
+-------------+
| Data Stream |
+-------------+

2. Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD):

o Description: Executes the same instruction on multiple data elements
simultaneously.
o Example: Vector processors, GPUs.
o Diagram:

arduino
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+-------------+
| Instruction |
| Stream |
+-------------+
|
v
+-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+
| Data Stream | | Data Stream | | Data Stream |
+-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+

3. Multiple Instruction, Single Data (MISD):

o Description: Multiple instructions operate on the same data stream (rarely
used).
o Example: Fault-tolerant systems.
o Diagram:
 arduino
Copy code
+-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+
| Instruction | | Instruction | | Instruction |
| Stream | | Stream | | Stream |
+-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+
| | |
v v v
+-------------+
| Data Stream |
+-------------+

4. Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data (MIMD):

o Description: Multiple instructions operate on multiple data streams.
o Example: Multi-core processors, distributed systems.
o Diagram:

arduino
Copy code
+-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+
| Instruction | | Instruction | | Instruction |
| Stream | | Stream | | Stream |
+-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+
| | |
v v v
+-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+
| Data Stream | | Data Stream | | Data Stream |
+-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+

Applications:

• SISD: General-purpose computing.

• SIMD: Graphics processing, scientific computing.
• MISD: Redundant computation for fault tolerance.
• MIMD: Parallel computing, server farms, supercomputers.

BY Laxmikant S Doijode
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