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COA 2nd Assignment 4 and 5

This document contains an online class assignment submitted by Kamran Ahmed. It includes answers to 8 questions about computer architecture and organization. The questions cover topics like I/O techniques, RAID levels, advantages of glass substrates for magnetic disks, functions of I/O modules, and advantages/disadvantages of variable-length instruction formats.

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Kamran Ahmed
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88 views7 pages

COA 2nd Assignment 4 and 5

This document contains an online class assignment submitted by Kamran Ahmed. It includes answers to 8 questions about computer architecture and organization. The questions cover topics like I/O techniques, RAID levels, advantages of glass substrates for magnetic disks, functions of I/O modules, and advantages/disadvantages of variable-length instruction formats.

Uploaded by

Kamran Ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Online Class Assignment

Computer Organization and Architecture


Date : 27 April 2020

Name Kamran Ahmed ID 13392


Subject Computer Architecture and organization Program BSCS
No of questions Eight Session
Faculty Miss Hira Farman
Q1) List and briefly define three techniques for performing I/O.
Answer
There are three mainly type of techniques for performing I/O which are further as follow.

 Programmed I/O: The processor issues an I/O command, on behalf of a


process, to an I/O module; that process then busy-waits for the operation to be
completed before proceeding. 

 Interrupt-driven I/O: The processor issues an I/O command on behalf of a


process, continues to execute subsequent instructions, and is interrupted by the I/O
module when the latter has completed its work. The subsequent instructions may be
in the same process, if it is not necessary for that process to wait for the completion
of the I/O. Otherwise, the process is suspended pending the interrupt and other work
is performed. 

 Direct memory access (DMA): A DMA module controls the exchange of data
between main memory and an I/O module. The processor sends a request for the
transfer of a block of data to the DMA module and is interrupted only after the entire
block has been transferred.

Q2) What common characteristics are shared by all RAID levels?

Answer

1. RAID is a set of physical disk drives viewed by the operating system as a single
logical drive. 

2. Data are distributed across the physical drives of an array. 

3. Redundant disk capacity is used to store parity information, which guarantees data
recoverability in case of a disk failure.
Q3) Briefly define the seven RAID levels

Answer

A RAID 1
its creates an exact copy of a set of data on two or more
disks. this is useful when read performance or reliability are more
important than data storage capacity.
A RAID 2
Its stirpes data at the bit level and uses a hamming code
for error correction.
A RAID 3
Its uses byte level striping with a dedicated parity disk.
it’s a very rare practice.
A RAID 4
its uses block level striping with a dedicated parity disk.
this allows each member of the set to act independently when only a
single block is requested.
A RAID 5
its uses block level striping with parity data distributed
across all member disks.it achieved popularity due to its low cost
of redundancy.
A RAID 6
its extends RAID 5 by adding an additional parity
block.
A RAID 7
This isn't an open industry satndard.it is based on the
concepts used in RAID 3 and RAID 4 but greatly enhanced to address
some of the limitations of those levels. This increased performance

Q4) What are the advantages of using a glass substrate for a


magnetic disk?

Answer
The desired advantages of using glass substrate in the magnetic disk are as given
below:

 Disk reliability of magnetic disk is increased due to the improvement in uniformity


of magnetic film surface
 Glass substrates help reduces surface defects and read-write errors
 Glass substrates support lower fly heights
 Glass substrates in magnetic disks have better stiffness which helps in reducing
disk dynamics.
 Glass substrates help to withstand damages and shocks of magnetic desk. 

Q5) What are the major functions of an I/O module?

The major functions of an I/O module are as follows:

1. Control and Timing


2. Processor Communication
3. Device communication
4. Data buffering
5. Error Detection

Control and Timing

This function is used for synchronizing the traffic flow between an external device and
an internal resource. In order to understand how this function works, consider the
following example wherein the transfer of data between an external device and a
processor is controlled.
Processor Communication

This function performs the following operations:

The commands are retrieved by I/O module from the processor and then transmitted
onto the control bus as signals.

Example

Following are the commands which an I/O module of the disk drive can receive

1. Write sector
2. READ sector
3. SCAN record ID
4. SEEK track number

Device Communication

This function contains data, commands and status information. An I/O module should
be capable enough of performing this function.

Data Buffering

This function is one of the most prominent task of an I/O module. The rate at which the
data is transferred in or out of the processor is very high. However, in case of peripheral
devices, although the orders of magnitude is less, it still contains a wide range. The data
which is retrieved from the processor is transmitted to an I/O, module in an
instantaneous break. Buffering of this data is done and it is transmitted at its data rate
to a peripheral device.

Error Detection

This function of an I/O module is used for both detecting and reporting errors to a
processor. Generally, there are two classes of errors. The first class comprises of
electrical and mechanical malfunctions, which are identified by the device

Example

An IRA character code covers almost 7 bits of a byte, leaving 8 th bit vacant. This eighth
bit must be set in such a way that the total number of 1’s in the byte
Q7) What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a variable-
length instruction format?

Answer

Advantages

It easy to provide a large repertoire of opcodes, with different opcode lengths.


Addressing can be more flexible, with various combinations of register and memory
references plus addressing modes.  

Disadvantages

it’s an increase in the complexity of the CPU.

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