IGCSE Cambridge (CIE) Computer Science 33 mins 11 questions

Exam Questions

Computer
Architecture
The CPU & Microprocessors / Von Neumann Architecture / The Fetch-Decode-
Execute Cycle / Characteristics of the CPU / CPU Instruction Sets / Embedded
Systems

Easy (3 questions) /6 Scan here to return to the course

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Medium (6 questions) /17

Hard (2 questions) /10

Total Marks /33

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Easy Questions
1 A computer has a Von Neumann architecture.

Circle three components that are part of the central processing unit (CPU) in this
computer.

Accumulator (ACC) Hard disk drive (HDD)

Memory address register (MAR) Program counter (PC)

Random access memory (RAM) Read only memory (ROM)

sensor Solid state drive (SSD)

(3 marks)

2 The computer has a single core CPU.

State one purpose of a core in a CPU.

(1 mark)

3 A student uses a laptop and a calculator for schoolwork.

The calculator has an embedded system.

Describe what is meant by an embedded system.

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 (2 marks)

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Medium Questions
1 A computer has a Von Neumann architecture

Describe the purpose of the control unit (CU) within this computer.

(2 marks)

2 A computer has a Von Neumann architecture

The computer has a single core CPU.

The computer is upgraded to a dual core CPU.

Explain how the upgrade can affect the performance of the computer

(2 marks)

3 A student uses a laptop and a calculator for schoolwork.

The laptop has a central processing unit (CPU) that performs the fetch–decode–execute
cycle.

The CPU has several components, including the memory data register (MDR) and the
arithmetic logic unit (ALU).

Describe how the MDR and the ALU are used in the fetch–decode–execute cycle.

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 (5 marks)

4 An office has an automated lighting system. When movement is detected in the office,
the lights are switched on. If movement is not detected for a period of two minutes, the
lights are switched off.

The system uses a sensor and a microprocessor

Describe what is meant by a microprocessor.

(2 marks)

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5 (a) A computer is designed using the Von Neumann model for a computer system.

The computer has a central processing unit (CPU)

Data is fetched from primary storage into the CPU to be processed.

The CPU performs a cycle to process data. Fetch is the first stage in this cycle.

State the names of the second and third stages in the cycle.

(2 marks)

(b) Identify two components within the CPU that are used in the fetch stage of the cycle

(2 marks)

6 Describe the difference between an opcode and an operand.

(2 marks)

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Hard Questions
1 An office has an automated lighting system. When movement is detected in the office,
the lights are switched on. If movement is not detected for a period of two minutes, the
lights are switched off.

The system uses a sensor and a microprocessor.

Describe how the sensor and the microprocessor are used in this automated lighting
system.

(6 marks)

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 Instruction Mnemonic Binary Command
Code
2

Add ADD 10100001 Adds a value to the value currently stored

in the accumulator (ACC)

Subtract SUB 00100010 Subtracts a value from the value stored in

the accumulator

Load LDA 10111111 Loads the value stored in a memory

location into the accumulator

Store STA 01100000 Stores the value in the accumulator in a

specific location in memory

Stop HLT 00000000 Stops the program

A program consists of the following sequence of instructions, written using the

mnemonics from the table:

1. LDA

2. ADD

3. STA

4. HLT

Explain what happens during the execution of this program, assuming it starts with an
initial value of 5 in the memory location loaded by the LDA instruction and the value to
add is 3.

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 (4 marks)

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