Created 06/17/03; edited: 07/26/15

Quiz on the MIPS Programming Model

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1. When a register is loaded what happens?

A.    The bits of the register are set to all ones.
B.    The bit pattern in the register is copied to a location in memory.
C.    A bit pattern at a memory location is copied to the register. The memory is set to all zeros.
D.    A bit pattern at a memory location is copied to the register. Memory is not changed.

2. When a register is stored what happens?

A.    The bits of the register are set to all ones.
B.    The bit pattern in the register is copied to a location in memory.
C.    A bit pattern at a memory location is copied to the register. The memory is set to all zeros.
D.    A bit pattern at a memory location is copied to the register. Memory is not changed.

3. By software convention, the machine instructions of a program are put in a designated section of memory. What is this section called?

A.    Data segment.
B.    Stack segment.
C.    Program segment.
D.    Text segment.

4. What general purpose register is permanently set to thirty-two zero bits?

A.    $0
B.    $1
C.    $31
D.    $32

5. What part of the processor chip performs arithmetic and logical operations?

A.    CPU
B.    ALU
C.    ROM
D.    PCI

6. Where do the operands for an arithmetic machine instruction come from?

A.    Both operands are registers.
B.    Both operands come from memory.
C.    One operands must be a register, the other one may be memory or a register.
D.    One operand must be a register, the other may be a register or may be part of the machine instruction.

7. What is an opcode?

A.    The part of a machine instruction that designates the data to be used.
B.    A bit field, part of a machine instruction, that designates a machine operation.
C.    The part of the processor chip that performs decoding operations.
D.    The part of a machine instruction that is used as data in an operation.

8. There are 32 general purpose registers. So a machine instruction must use a bit field of what size to designate a register?

A.    3
B.    4
C.    5
D.    16

9. What is the mnemonic name of a register?

A.    A register number like $0 or $31.
B.    A name that helps you remember the hardware characteristics of the register.
C.    The bit pattern that designates the register in a machine instruction.
D.    A name like $s0 that helps you remember the conventional software uses for the register.

10. What, in order, are the three steps of the machine cycle?

A.    fetch, increment, execute.
B.    Execute, fetch, increment.
C.    Fetch, exectue, increment.
D.    increment, fetch, execute.

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