CSCI 2150
Test 3 -- Study Guide

First of all, a number of old tests with answers have been provided to help you study. When you look at these old tests, be sure to check if the topic that a particular question addresses is included in the list of topics below. Do not panic when you see a question that doesn't make sense or if you think it pertains to an earlier test.

The following is a table of the topics you will be responsible for on Test 3. Only the topics listed below will be on the test.

Topic Reading
Introduction to memory and terminology Sections 12.1 through 12.3 and 12.5 Note: Make sure you understand the concepts of memory space and chip select design. Be able to compare and contrast DRAM and SRAM as far as their characteristics and applications.
Memory hierarchy Section 13.1
Hard drives Sections 13.2 and 13.3
RAM caches Section 13.4 (Note: Tests before Spring 2005 used the direct mapping algorithm. We will be using the fully associative mapping algorithm.)
Introduction to processor architecture Sections 15.1 through 15.5
Pipelined architectures Sections 15.8
Interrupts and DMA Sections 15.9.3 and 15.9.4
Bitwise operations Section 9.1
Parity Section 9.3
Checksums Section 9.4 Note: We were not able to get too deep into this topic. Just be sure you can say in general what a checksum is.
Cyclic Redundancy Check

Section 9.5 Note: We were not able to get too deep into this topic. Just be sure you can answer questions like:

  • Why is a CRC better than a checksum?
  • What is the mathematical equivalent of a CRC?
  • Why is a bitwise XOR (borrowless subtract) used to compute the CRC?
Hamming Codes Section 9.6 Note: Only test 3 from Fall 2007 has questions on Hamming codes. Be able to correct errors in Venn diagrams such as those shown in Figure 9-13 of the textbook. Also, last fall's test does not refer to the overall parity bit used to check for double errors. Make sure you know how this works.
Serial protocols Chapter 14