Tagged Questions
7
votes
4answers
547 views
Why do computers only use 0 and 1?
Why do computers only use 0 and 1? Won't the addition of other numbers such as 2 or 3 speed up computers? Also, 2 and 3 can be used to shorten the bit-length of integers (2 and 3 can be used to end an ...
7
votes
2answers
536 views
Are 32-bit ALUs really just 32 1-bit ALUs in parallell?
I'm reading the high esteemed text Computer Organization where this picture is found that is supposed to represent a 32-bit ALU:
Is this technology really how it's done, just a lot of 1-bit ALUs, so ...
3
votes
3answers
254 views
Memory (RAM) of computers after shut down
After computer shuts down, is it possible to retrieve data in RAM? I heard that police was able to do that... so I felt that was somehow weird..
3
votes
1answer
236 views
What is CLK in UART/USART used for?
I'm studying computer architecture at my university and I've been recently asked a question: what is CLK used for in UART/USART? The first obvious thing is that it is used for dividing frequency when ...
2
votes
1answer
123 views
Electrical Engineering vs Computer Engineering? [closed]
I am trying to decide whether to major in EE or CE. To my knowledge, computer engineering has the same core focus as electrical engineering but with an emphasis on digital logic and microprocessors. ...
2
votes
1answer
165 views
Resources for IBM PC compatible motherboard / Intel 80486 development
I'm trying to find some resources on designing motherboards, but there doesn't seem to be much out there. I'm also looking for information about interfacing with an Intel 80486. I mostly understand ...
2
votes
1answer
168 views
How to calculate index and tag fields lengths for a cpu cache?
I study computer engeering notes for a cache memory and I try to understand what determines the length of the index and the tag fields. The first examples is for 64 bits and the second example is for ...
1
vote
3answers
306 views
address field and words of memory
"Consider as an example a typical computer of that era which might have had a 16 bit address field in its instructions and 4096 words of memory.A program on this computer could address 65536 words of ...
1
vote
1answer
85 views
What does RWM mean?
I'm studying computer hardware and the acronym "RWM" appears, so I wonder what it means? It has to do with LOADs and STOREs of instructions.
0
votes
2answers
53 views
What is the meaning of “Register.Rd”?
Reading Hennesy's book "Computer Organization and Design" it is mentioned "Register.Rd" and "Register.Rs" but what does it mean? The .Rd, .Rt and .Rs parts I can't understand, on page 365:
0
votes
1answer
66 views
How is sign extension used in practice?
In wikipedia it says what sign extension is but it doesn't say what it's used for or when it is used. I read Hennesy's book "Computer Organization and Design" and it has a sign-extension mechanism ...
0
votes
2answers
162 views
A Strange Computer : Cache based computer [closed]
In the Operating System class I heard from Professor that in some institute, researchers are working on cache based computer ( means the computer that don't have RAM and have a big cache ( probably 1 ...
0
votes
1answer
19 views
How to calculate the address fields for a cache?
I've a homework question about 32-bit cache memories:
For a cache memory that has size 16kB (16384 byte) and blocksize 2
words, state the names and the sizes of each field of the address that
...
-1
votes
0answers
15 views
Small space between Cooler and GPU - how to secure components [migrated]
I'm curious about how to secure my desktop computer setup.
I recently bought an Thermalright Macho CPU Cooler and a Gigabyte 7870 OC Windforce.
...
-2
votes
3answers
145 views
Do computers delete memory contents? [closed]
So, if the program is finished, and jobs done, do computers "physically" reset memory contents? If they don't, what are the reasons for not resetting memory contents?
