Instruction Formats and Types: A Comprehensive Guide for Computer Architecture Students

Question 1

Which instruction format is not commonly used in computer architecture?

Accepted Answer

Quad-address

Answer

Single-address

Answer

Two-address

Answer

Three-address

Question 2

In a RISC architecture, instructions typically have:

Accepted Answer

A simplified set of addressing modes

Answer

A complex set of addressing modes

Answer

Both simplified and complex addressing modes

Answer

Neither simplified nor complex addressing modes

Question 3

Which addressing mode allows an operand to be specified as a constant value within the instruction?

Accepted Answer

Immediate

Answer

Indirect

Answer

Register

Answer

Indexed

Question 4

What is the purpose of the program counter (PC) register?

Accepted Answer

To hold the address of the next instruction to be executed

Answer

To hold the current value of the stack pointer

Answer

To store the results of arithmetic operations

Answer

To store the contents of memory

Question 5

What is the primary purpose of a displacement field in an instruction format?

Accepted Answer

To specify the memory address to be accessed

Answer

To indicate the number of registers involved in the instruction

Answer

To hold the immediate operand value

Answer

To specify the addressing mode used

Question 6

Which instruction type performs an operation on two operands and writes the result to a specified register?

Accepted Answer

Arithmetic instruction

Answer

Load instruction

Answer

Store instruction

Answer

Logical instruction

Question 7

Which instruction format type uses a varying number of bits to represent different fields?

Accepted Answer

Variable-length format

Answer

Fixed-length format

Answer

Single-operand format

Answer

Multi-operand format

Question 8

What is the primary role of a program counter in the instruction execution cycle?

Accepted Answer

To store the address of the current instruction being executed

Answer

To hold the value of the next instruction to be executed

Answer

To track the number of instructions executed

Answer

To control the flow of instruction execution

Question 9

Which addressing mode is NOT supported in most contemporary computer architectures?

Accepted Answer

Symbolic addressing

Answer

Immediate addressing

Answer

Direct addressing

Answer

Indirect addressing

Question 10

Which instruction type commonly utilizes the register-register addressing mode?

Accepted Answer

Add

Answer

Load

Answer

Store

Answer

Jump

Question 11

What is the primary function of a branch instruction?

Accepted Answer

Altering the flow of execution within a program

Answer

Performing arithmetic calculations

Answer

Accessing data in memory

Answer

Terminating the program execution

Question 12

Which characteristic is unique to a variable-length instruction format?

Accepted Answer

Instructions can vary in their size

Answer

All instructions have a fixed length

Answer

Instructions are always aligned on word boundaries

Answer

Instruction decoding is faster than in other formats

Question 13

What is the purpose of the opcode field in an instruction?

Accepted Answer

Indicating the action to be performed

Answer

Specifying the destination register

Answer

Containing the address of the operand

Answer

Determining the instruction's length

Question 14

What is the fundamental difference between direct and indirect addressing modes?

Accepted Answer

Direct addressing accesses the actual value, while indirect addressing accesses the value's address

Answer

Indirect addressing accesses the actual value, while direct addressing accesses the value's address

Answer

Direct and indirect addressing modes are equivalent

Answer

Direct addressing is always faster than indirect addressing

Question 15

What is the primary function of a register file in a processor?

Accepted Answer

Storing frequently accessed data and instructions

Answer

Executing arithmetic and logical operations

Answer

Managing the flow of data and instructions

Answer

Interfacing with peripheral devices

Question 16

An instruction format with one operand and an opcode is called a:

Accepted Answer

One-address Instruction

Answer

Two-address Instruction

Answer

Three-address Instruction

Answer

Zero-address Instruction

Question 17

Indexed addressing mode calculates the operand's address by:

Accepted Answer

Adding an index value to the base address

Answer

Storing the address in a register

Answer

Including it in the instruction

Answer

Using the value of the program counter

Question 18

Superscalar instructions enable:

Accepted Answer

Multiple instructions to be executed simultaneously

Answer

Data dependencies to be eliminated

Answer

Registers to be renamed

Question 19

In register addressing mode, the operand's address is:

Accepted Answer

Stored in a register

Answer

Included in the instruction

Answer

Calculated during execution

Question 20

Instructions that do not require any operands are called:

Accepted Answer

Zero-address Instructions

Answer

Two-address Instructions

Answer

Three-address Instructions

Answer

One-address Instructions

Question 21

Program counter relative addressing mode calculates the operand's address based on:

Accepted Answer

The current program counter value

Answer

A register value

Answer

The stack pointer

Answer

An immediate value

Question 22

Which addressing mode directly accesses memory locations without using registers?

Accepted Answer

Direct Addressing

Answer

Immediate Addressing

Answer

Indexed Addressing

Answer

Register Indirect Addressing

Question 23

In which addressing mode is the operand's address explicitly included within the instruction itself?

Accepted Answer

Immediate Addressing

Answer

Indirect Addressing

Answer

Base Register Addressing

Answer

Register Direct Addressing

Question 24

Which addressing mode is particularly useful for efficiently accessing elements within an array?

Accepted Answer

Indexed Addressing

Answer

Register Indirect Addressing

Answer

Direct Addressing

Answer

Immediate Addressing

Question 25

What type of instruction format allows for varying operand sizes and addressing modes, providing greater flexibility?

Accepted Answer

Variable-Length Instruction Format

Answer

RISC Instruction Format

Answer

Fixed-Length Instruction Format

Answer

Stack-Based Instruction Format

Question 26

Which instruction format is commonly associated with Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) architectures?

Accepted Answer

Fixed-Length Instruction Format

Answer

Stack-Based Instruction Format

Answer

Variable-Length Instruction Format

Answer

CISC Instruction Format

Question 27

Which type of instruction directly manipulates data by performing operations like addition or subtraction?

Accepted Answer

Data Manipulation Instruction

Answer

Memory Access Instruction

Answer

Control Flow Instruction

Answer

Input/Output Instruction

Question 28

What type of instruction alters the normal sequence of program execution, such as jumps and conditional branches?

Accepted Answer

Control Flow Instruction

Answer

Memory Access Instruction

Answer

Data Manipulation Instruction

Question 29

Which addressing mode combines a base register with an offset to calculate the effective address?

Accepted Answer

Base Register Addressing

Answer

Immediate Addressing

Answer

Register Indirect Addressing

Question 30

What is the primary advantage of using a stack-based instruction format?

Accepted Answer

Simplified instruction decoding and execution

Answer

Improved code readability

Answer

Increased memory efficiency

Answer

Enhanced performance for complex calculations

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT a common characteristic of Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) architectures?

Accepted Answer

Simplified instruction set

Answer

Multiple instructions per cycle

Answer

Variable-length instructions

Answer

Complex addressing modes