2.6: Unit 2 Summary

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 14845

Harrison Njoroge
African Virtual University

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

At the end of this unit, the learners will be describe Amadahl’s law, Flynn Taxonom, multiprocessing and Scheduling. Short vector processing and multicore and multiprocessor is also covered. This is by learning how several processors can be integrated into one system to solve and allocate given tasks among themselves.

Unit Assessment

The following section will test the learners understanding of this unit Instructions
Answer the following questions

State Amdahls law and what is used for?
Explain two properties of vector processors
What is multicore processor?

Grading Scheme

The marks will be awarded as shown below

Question	Sub-question	marks Awarded
1	Stating and explaining award a mark each, maximum 6	6
2	Any two and their explanations 2mark, maximum 4 significances	4
3	Stating only 2 marks.	5
3	Each subsequent explanation listed award 1 mark (maximum 3)	5
Total		15

Feedback

1. Also known as Amdahl’s argument. It is used to find the maximum expected improvement to an overall system when only part of the system is improved, is law used to find the maximum expected improvement to an overall system when only part of the system is improved. It is often used in parallel computing to predict the theoretical maximum speedup using multiple processors.

2. Single vector instruction implies lots of work (loop)

Each result independent of previous result

Reduces branches and branch problems in pipelines
Vector instructions access memory with known pattern

3. It is a type of architecture where a single physical processor contains the core logic of two or more processors. A multicore CPU has multiple execution cores on one CPU.

This can mean different things depending on the exact architecture, but it basically means that a certain subset of the CPU’s components is duplicated, so that multiple “cores” can work in parallel on separate operations.