Energy-Efficient Computer Architectures: Master the Art of Power-Conscious Computing

Question 1

Which energy-efficient technique involves adjusting the voltage and clock speed of processors to reduce power consumption?

Accepted Answer

Dynamic Voltage Scaling

Answer

Power Gating

Answer

Clock Gating

Question 2

What is the primary purpose of power gating?

Accepted Answer

To disable unused components and save power

Answer

To increase the clock speed of the processor

Answer

To reduce the size of the processor die

Answer

To improve the reliability of the system

Question 3

Which factor has the most significant impact on the overall energy consumption of a processor?

Accepted Answer

Clock frequency

Answer

Cache size

Answer

Number of cores

Answer

Instruction set architecture

Question 4

What is the primary goal of architectural optimizations in energy-efficient computer designs?

Accepted Answer

Optimizing power consumption

Answer

Reducing instruction overhead

Answer

Increasing performance

Answer

Minimizing resource contention

Question 5

What is a key challenge in designing energy-efficient computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Balancing performance and energy consumption

Answer

Reducing manufacturing costs

Answer

Improving reliability

Answer

Increasing data throughput

Question 6

What is the primary role of voltage scaling in power optimization?

Accepted Answer

Adjusting voltage to minimize power consumption

Answer

Increasing voltage to enhance performance

Answer

Fixing voltage for improved stability

Answer

Reducing voltage below the threshold voltage

Question 7

Which technique involves temporarily disabling portions of a circuit to conserve power?

Accepted Answer

Clock gating

Answer

Branch prediction

Answer

Dynamic voltage scaling

Answer

Speculative execution

Question 8

What is a common approach to reducing energy consumption in high-performance computing systems?

Accepted Answer

Employing heterogeneous architectures

Answer

Limiting resource utilization

Answer

Increasing voltage to boost performance

Answer

Disabling power-saving features

Question 9

Which power-saving technique dynamically adjusts the voltage supplied to the processor based on its workload?

Accepted Answer

Dynamic voltage scaling

Answer

Power gating

Answer

Clock gating

Answer

Temperature throttling

Question 10

What is the primary advantage of using dynamic voltage scaling in computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Reduced energy consumption

Answer

Improved performance

Answer

Increased reliability

Answer

Enhanced security

Question 11

What is the purpose of power gating in energy-efficient computer architectures?

Accepted Answer

To selectively turn off unused portions of the chip

Answer

To regulate the voltage supplied to different parts of the chip

Answer

To monitor the temperature of the chip

Answer

To synchronize the operation of different components

Question 12

Which of the following is a potential drawback of using dynamic voltage scaling?

Accepted Answer

Performance degradation

Answer

Increased heat dissipation

Answer

Reduced reliability

Answer

Security vulnerabilities

Question 13

What is a key consideration for designing energy-efficient processors?

Accepted Answer

Optimizing instruction set architecture

Answer

Minimizing memory footprint

Answer

Reducing instruction latency

Answer

Maximizing processor clock speed

Question 14

Which of the following is a common metric used to evaluate the energy efficiency of computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Joules per instruction

Answer

Watts per square centimeter

Answer

Megaflops per watt

Answer

Bytes per second

Question 15

Which of the following is a software technique commonly used to reduce power consumption in computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Thread scheduling

Answer

Dynamic voltage scaling

Answer

Power gating

Answer

Clock gating

Question 16

What is the primary mechanism of dynamic voltage scaling (DVS)?

Accepted Answer

Adjusting the supply voltage to the processor

Answer

Changing the processor's operating frequency

Answer

Powering down unused processor components

Answer

Using low-power transistors

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT a benefit of power gating?

Accepted Answer

Improved processor performance

Answer

Significant power savings

Answer

Reduced heat dissipation

Answer

Increased energy efficiency

Question 18

What is the primary goal of architectural-level techniques for energy efficiency?

Accepted Answer

To minimize energy consumption while maintaining acceptable performance levels

Answer

To reduce the cost of manufacturing processors

Answer

To increase the lifespan of battery-powered devices

Answer

To improve the speed of processors

Question 19

Which of the following is a key component of a low-power memory system?

Accepted Answer

Low-leakage memory cells

Answer

Intelligent cache management algorithms

Answer

High-speed data transfer interfaces

Answer

Large memory capacity

Question 20

Which of the following metrics is commonly used to evaluate the energy efficiency of a computer system?

Accepted Answer

MIPS per watt

Answer

GHz per square inch

Answer

Transistors per dollar

Answer

Bytes per second

Question 21

What is the significance of the power wall in the context of computer architecture?

Accepted Answer

It represents the limit beyond which further performance improvements are constrained by energy consumption

Answer

It defines the maximum power consumption allowed by industry standards

Answer

It is a physical barrier that prevents the flow of electricity

Answer

It is the theoretical limit of energy efficiency that cannot be surpassed

Question 22

In computer architecture optimization, what is the fundamental trade-off between energy efficiency and performance?

Accepted Answer

Higher performance typically leads to increased energy consumption.

Answer

Energy consumption can be significantly reduced without sacrificing performance.

Answer

Energy consumption is independent of performance optimizations.

Answer

Performance can be improved without any increase in energy consumption.

Question 23

Which voltage scaling technique dynamically adjusts the supply voltage of a processor based on its workload?

Accepted Answer

Dynamic voltage scaling

Answer

Static voltage scaling

Answer

Clock gating

Answer

Power gating

Question 24

Which power gating technique involves turning off entire functional units of a processor when they are not in use?

Accepted Answer

Coarse-grained power gating

Answer

Fine-grained power gating

Answer

Clock domain crossing

Answer

Frequency scaling

Question 25

Which metric measures the energy consumed per instruction executed on a computer system?

Accepted Answer

Watts per instruction

Answer

Power density

Answer

Energy delay product

Answer

Core count

Question 26

What is the main objective of power gating?

Accepted Answer

Reducing leakage power consumption

Answer

Improving performance

Answer

Reducing area overhead

Answer

Minimizing voltage droop

Question 27

Which limitation of static voltage scaling is due to the trade-off between power consumption and performance?

Accepted Answer

Limited voltage reduction range

Answer

Increased switching power

Answer

Reduced operating temperature

Answer

Improved reliability

Question 28

Which research area in energy-efficient computer architecture holds the most promise for dramatically reducing power consumption in future computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Investigating new materials and device technologies for low-power computing

Answer

Developing specialized hardware for machine learning and AI applications

Answer

Optimizing software algorithms and data structures for improved energy efficiency

Answer

Enhancing power delivery and cooling systems for data centers

Question 29

In computer architecture, which principle is fundamental to minimizing energy consumption?

Accepted Answer

Implementing dynamic voltage and frequency scaling

Answer

Prioritizing high clock speeds

Answer

Incorporating large cache sizes

Answer

Utilizing multiple processor cores

Question 30

Which technique dynamically adjusts the processor's voltage and frequency to optimize energy consumption?

Accepted Answer

Dynamic voltage scaling

Answer

Power gating

Answer

Clock gating

Answer

Multi-core architecture

Question 31

Which component isolates power supply to unused circuit sections to reduce energy consumption?

Accepted Answer

Power gating switch

Answer

Clock gating switch

Answer

Voltage regulator

Answer

Cache memory

Question 32

What is the key advantage of using low-power transistors in processor design?

Accepted Answer

Reduced leakage current

Answer

Enhanced performance

Answer

Increased transistor count

Answer

Improved reliability

Question 33

Which architectural approach involves partitioning the system into distinct power domains for different components?

Accepted Answer

Domain-specific architecture

Answer

Power gating

Answer

Dynamic power management

Answer

Clock gating

Question 34

What is the primary metric used to evaluate the energy efficiency of computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Instructions per second per watt

Answer

Megaflops per watt

Answer

Joules per instruction

Answer

Watts per core

Question 35

Which statement accurately describes a drawback of dynamic voltage scaling?

Accepted Answer

Potential performance degradation

Answer

Reduced power consumption

Answer

Improved energy efficiency

Answer

Simplified thermal management

Question 36

What is the primary role of a voltage regulator in energy-efficient computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Regulate voltage supply to processor components

Answer

Convert AC power to DC power

Answer

Store electrical energy for peak usage

Answer

Monitor system power consumption

Question 37

Which technique involves selectively disabling portions of the memory hierarchy to conserve energy?

Accepted Answer

Memory gating

Answer

Cache bypassing

Answer

Page coloring

Answer

TLB flushing

Question 38

What is a primary design consideration for energy-efficient computer systems intended for mobile devices?

Accepted Answer

Battery life optimization

Answer

Maximizing processing power

Answer

Enhancing storage capacity

Answer

Increasing display resolution

Question 39

How do operating systems and software contribute to energy efficiency in computer architectures?

Accepted Answer

Optimizing code and algorithms to minimize energy consumption

Accepted Answer

Utilizing power-saving modes when the computer is inactive

Accepted Answer

Scheduling tasks to avoid high power consumption periods

Answer

Employing specialized hardware exclusively for energy-intensive tasks

Question 40

Which of the following is a key challenge in implementing dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) for energy efficiency in computer architectures?

Accepted Answer

The implementation of DVFS requires complex hardware and software coordination.

Answer

DVFS can significantly reduce energy consumption without compromising performance.

Answer

DVFS allows for complete elimination of power consumption in idle components.

Answer

DVFS is solely applicable to processors and not other system components.

Question 41

In approximate computing, which technique intentionally introduces controlled errors into calculations to enhance energy efficiency?

Accepted Answer

Error-Tolerant Computing

Answer

Arithmetic Optimization

Answer

Dynamic Voltage Scaling

Answer

Power Gating

Question 42

Which technique aims to reduce energy consumption in processors by adjusting the operating voltage dynamically?

Accepted Answer

Dynamic voltage scaling

Answer

Power gating

Answer

Multi-core processing

Answer

Virtualization

Question 43

What is the key advantage of dynamic voltage scaling in energy-efficient computer architectures?

Accepted Answer

Reduces power consumption while minimally impacting performance

Answer

Increases processor performance by enhancing clock speeds

Answer

Extends battery life in portable devices

Answer

Improves cache memory access efficiency

Question 44

When is power gating typically implemented in computer architectures?

Accepted Answer

When a processor is idle or executing low-priority tasks

Answer

When a processor is experiencing high utilization

Answer

When a processor encounters overheating

Answer

When a processor is in sleep mode

Question 45

What is the primary goal of research in the field of energy-efficient computer architectures?

Accepted Answer

Minimizing power consumption while maintaining or enhancing performance

Answer

Maximizing processor clock speeds

Answer

Reducing the number of transistors on a chip

Answer

Increasing the size of cache memory

Question 46

What is the primary function of power management policies in energy-efficient computer architectures?

Accepted Answer

Defining strategies for applying energy-saving techniques based on system conditions

Answer

Allocating resources to optimize performance

Answer

Detecting and preventing overheating

Answer

Monitoring system health and battery life

Question 47

Which of the following techniques is NOT typically used to reduce energy consumption in computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Increasing clock frequency

Answer

Thermal throttling

Answer

Dynamic voltage scaling

Answer

Power gating

Question 48

Dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) reduces energy consumption by:

Accepted Answer

Lowering the voltage supply to the processor when it's not fully utilized.

Answer

Disabling unused components through power gating.

Answer

Increasing the clock frequency for faster processing.

Question 49

Power gating is a technique that:

Accepted Answer

Completely cuts off power to unused components or modules.

Answer

Adjusts clock frequency based on workload demands.

Answer

Reduces voltage supply to components during idle periods.

Question 50

Which of the following is NOT a direct benefit of using energy-efficient computer architectures?

Accepted Answer

Increased processing speed

Answer

Reduced carbon footprint

Answer

Lower operating costs

Answer

Extended battery life for mobile devices

Question 51

A processor operating at a lower voltage consumes:

Accepted Answer

Less power

Answer

More power

Answer

The same power as at higher voltage

Question 52

Dynamic voltage scaling would be most effective in scenarios where:

Accepted Answer

The workload fluctuates frequently between high and low demands.

Answer

The system is always idle.

Answer

The workload is consistently high.

Question 53

How does thermal throttling contribute to energy efficiency?

Accepted Answer

By reducing processor speed to prevent overheating and excessive power consumption.

Answer

By disabling unused components through power gating.

Answer

By increasing clock frequency to handle demanding tasks.

Question 54

Which factor is crucial for the effectiveness of power gating?

Accepted Answer

The ability to accurately identify and isolate unused components.

Answer

The voltage supplied to the system.

Answer

The clock frequency of the processor.

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT a common low-power memory technology used in energy-efficient computer systems?

Accepted Answer

Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

Answer

Static RAM (SRAM)

Answer

Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM)

Answer

Phase-change memory (PCM)