Practice question · Match the pairs
Match each layer or idea to its role in the whole machine.
- Encoding layer
- Data path
- Memory hierarchy
- Bottleneck
- The slowest stage the work must pass through
- Trades size against speed across several layers
- Decides what a given bit pattern means
- Routes operands to the ALU and results back
Hints
- Three of these are parts of the machine; one is a property of a workload running on it.
- Only one of them is about meaning rather than movement or speed.
Show the answer
- Encoding layer → Decides what a given bit pattern means
- Data path → Routes operands to the ALU and results back
- Memory hierarchy → Trades size against speed across several layers
- Bottleneck → The slowest stage the work must pass through
Why
Encoding governs meaning, the data path governs movement within the CPU, the hierarchy governs the size-versus-speed trade, and the bottleneck is the property of a particular workload that decides where optimisation is worth doing at all.
Practise Integrated Computer-System Reasoning
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