NATIONAL HND EXAMINATION PAPER STRUCTURE FOR COMPUTER

ENGINEERING: HARDWARE MAINTENANCE

Paper: Computer Architecture

Specialty: Hardware Maintenance
Nature of the paper: Written
Parts: two (02) sections
Duration of the paper: 3hrs
Coefficient: 4

Objectives of the paper

By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Master and distinguish between buses
- Distinguish between processors starting from the 8086 to recent processors
- Explain and master the memory hierarchy
- Explain the internal structure of the motherboard
- Carry out general computer assembly
- Master the X86 processor based family programming
- Have basic introductory knowledge on real time control applications
- Master basic interfacing techniques (I/O techniques)
- Use Arduino starter kit as a control unit to interface with the PC and to be able to implement
A/D and D/A

Content of the paper

- Different types of buses
- The 8086 microprocessor and recent processors
- The different types of memory in a computer system
- Detail elaboration on all FRUs and NON-FRUs components
- Assembling of computers

Marks allocation for each section of the paper

Section A
This section is made up of MCQs question from both John Von Neumann and Harvard architecture.
These questions are made up of:
- 40% of the question paper
- 4 similar responses with only one correct answer
- Questions for this section can come from either architecture I or II or from both architecture I and
II

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Section B
This section is made up of structural questions from both Harvard and John Von Neumann computer
architecture and it constitutes 60% of the entire question paper. This 60% is further divided into:
- 30% of the questions from computer architecture I organization according to John Von Neumann
computer architecture and,
- 30% of the questions from computer architecture II organization according to Harvard computer
architecture.

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Paper: Computer Architecture Sample 1
Specialties: HM; SM; ICT
Coef: 4
Duration: 3hrs

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS PAPER

This paper contains two sections: Section A offers Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) and Section B
structural questions. Both sections are compulsory.

SECTION A: 20 MARKS (1mark for each question)

This section is made up of 20 MCQ questions. In this section, the candidate should first read the
questions carefully and mark an X only on the letter of the correct answer.
NB: Cancellation is not allowed!

1. The computer component that plays a role in the display of the computer system is called?
a) secondary memory b) primary memory c) tertiary memory d) none of the above

2. The processing speed of a computer is measured in

a) kilohertz b) megahertz c) gigahertz d) hertz

3. A routine check that will run when you powered on a computer is called:
a) BIOS b) CMOS c) NVRAM d) POST

4. Which of the following is a type of computer motherboard bus?

a) straight line bus b) circuit bus c) control bus d) none of the above

5. What is the full meaning of RISC?

a) registers instruction set complex b) read instructions set cycle
c) reduced instruction set computer d) reduced instructions setting computer

6. What is the full meaning of CMOS?

a) complex metal semiconductor oxide b) common metal of system
c) complementary metal oxide semiconductor d) complex metal oxide semiconductor

7. In Von Neumann computer architecture,

a) the system and data buses are almost the same
b) the system and data buses are directly connected
c) the system and the data buses are separately interconnected
d) none of the above

8. The memory capacity in every computer is:

a) always a modulus of the address bus size b) always a remainder of the address bus size
c) always a magnitude of the address bus d) always a multiple of the address bus size

9. To install RAM sticks in the computer system:

a) hold it firmly on both edges and push into the slot

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b) hold it firmly on the chip and push into the slot
c) hold it firmly with the two hands and push down into the slot
d) hold it firmly and push down into the slot

10. One method of erasing the content of a BIOS is by:

a) flushing b) flashing c) clearing d) sparking

11. A soldered chip on the motherboard comprising of both software and hardware is called:
a) freeware b) shareware c) firmware d) adware

12. The smallest logical storing capacity of an hard drive is:

a) bytes b) sector c) bit d) cluster

13. The CPU communicates with the north bridge through

a) RAM bus b) front side bus c) PCI bus d) ISA

14. Which of the following programming languages is closer to the machine language?
a) C programming language b) C++ programming language
c) python programming language d) assembly programming language

15. Which of the following is a computer motherboard form factor?

a) INTEL b) AMD c) ATX d) Cyrix

16. Stack pointer points to the top of the current stack in

a) CPU b) memory c) PC d) PSW

17. PSW stands for

a) Program Status World b) Program Status Word
c) Program Status Wide d) Program Status Wise

18. Ideally, a memory should be dirt cheap, abundantly large and

a) Extremely fast b) extremely slow c) USB d) SATA

19. The memory content of EEPROM is erasable

a) Electrically b) By UV c) Automatically d) none of the above

20. ISA stands for:

a) Industry Standard Area b) Industry Standard Architecture
c) Industry Standard Advanced d) none of the above

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SECTION B: 30 MARKS Be precise and brief in your answers.

1. List the various semiconductors RAMs? 1marks

2. Define Memory Access Time? 2marks

3. What is SCSI? 2marks

4. The processing power of a microprocessor is characterized by the rating MIPS.

- What does MIPS stands for? 1mark
- Which parameters are involved in its calculation? 2marks
- Give the formula that enables you to calculate this rating. 2marks

5. A microprocessor instruction code is made of two fields. With the help of an illustration distinguish
the two fields and precise which kind of information is contained in each field. 4marks

6. What is an addressing mode? Give two addressing modes. 4marks

7. Given the structural diagram of microprocessor as illustrated on figure 1 where the main parts have
been noted from 1 to 15 and subdivided in two principal blocs (in dash).
1

6
2

3 7 B 11
4 Figure 1
13
8
12
A
9 10
5
15
14

a) Label the parts annotated from 1 to 15. 4marks

b) Which types of instructions are carried out in each dash block? 2marks

8. A microprocessor usually runs an instruction in three steps: Name those steps and briefly explain
how and where each step is carried out. 6marks

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Paper: Computer Architecture Marking guide - Sample 1
Specialties: HM; SM; ICT
Coef: 4
Duration: 3hrs

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS PAPER

This paper contains two sections: Section A offers Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) and Section B
structural questions. Both sections are compulsory.

SECTION A: 20 MARKS (1mark for each question)

This section is made up of 20 MCQ questions. In this section, the candidate should first read the
questions carefully and mark an X only on the letter of the correct answer.
NB: Cancellation is not allowed!

SECTION A

1. b
2. d
3. d
4. c
5. c
6. c
7. b
8. d
9. a
10. b
11. c
12. d
13. b
14. d
15. c
16. b
17. b
18. a
19. a
20. b

SECTION B
1. List the various semiconductors RAMs? 1marks
i) Static RAM.
ii) Dynamic RAM

2. Define Memory Access Time? 2marks

It is the time taken by the memory to supply the contents of a location, from the time, it receives
“READ”.

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3. What is SCSI? 2marks
It is the acronym for small computer system interface. It refers to a standard bus defined ANSI.
Devices such as disks are connected to a computer via 50-wire cable, which can be up to 25 meters in
length and can transfer data at rate up to 55 megabytes/s.

4. The processing power of a microprocessor is characterized by the rating MIPS.

- What does MIPS stands for? 1mark
This rating represents the processing capability of a microprocessor
- Which parameters are involved in its calculation? 2marks
The parameters involved in its calculation are the CPI (cycle per instruction) and the FH (clock signal
frequency)

- Give the formula that enables you to calculate this rating. 2marks
MIPS=FH/CPI

5. A microprocessor instruction code is made of two fields. With the help of an illustration distinguish the two fields and
precise which kind of information is contained in each field. 4marks

The instruction code field contains the information related to the type of the instruction to run. The
operand code field contains the information on the location of the data (addressing mode) or the data
itself

6. What is an addressing mode? Give two addressing modes. 4marks

An addressing mode defines the way in which the microprocessor will fetch the operand of an instruction
Implicit addressing – direct addressing – immediate addressing- index addressing

7. Given the structural diagram of microprocessor as illustrated on figure 1 where the main parts have been noted from 1
to 15 and subdivided in two principal blocs (in dash).
a) Label the parts annotated from 1 to 15. 4marks
1 address Bus 6 address registers 11 Program
2 Accumulator 7 PC 12 Data
3 state Register 8 command bloc 13 command bus
4 ALU 9 instruction Register 14 data bus
5 data Register 10 instruction decoder 15 clock

b) Which types of instructions are carried out in each dash block? 2marks
A: Processing Unit B: Command Unit

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8. A microprocessor usually runs an instruction in three steps: Name those steps and briefly explain how and where each
step is carried out. 6marks

Research of the instruction to be processed: The PC points the next instruction’s address and this later
will find and load in the instruction register.
Decoding of the instruction and research of the operand: the instruction is decoded and the operand are
loaded in the appropriated register
Execution of the instruction: the micro-program constituting the instruction is run and the flags are
positioned.