Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology
COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
Total Marks: 08
Obtained Marks:
Computer Architecture
Assignment # 02
Last date of Submission: 11 Oct 2019
Submitted To: Dr. Danish Mahmood
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Student Name: Sahibzada ShahabUllah
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Reg Number: 1712163 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Computer Architecture BS(CS)-5 SZABIST-ISB
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology
COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
Instructions: Copied or shown assignments will be marked zero. Late submissions are
not entertained in any case.
Question 1 (1+2+2 marks)
a) Explain hamming code.
Hamming code is a block code that is capable of detecting up to two simultaneous bit errors and
correcting single bit errors. It was developed by R.W. Hamming for error correction. In this coding
method, the source encodes the message by inserting redundant bits within the message. These
redundant bits are extra bits that are generated and inserted at specific positions in the message
itself to enable error detection and correction. When the destination receives this message, it
performs recalculations to detect errors and find the bit position that has error.
Encoding a message by Hamming Code
The procedure used by the sender to encode the message encompasses the following steps:
Step 1: Calculation of the number of redundant bits.
Step 2: Positioning the redundant bits.
Step 3: Calculating the values of each redundant bit.
Once the redundant bits are embedded within the message, this is sent to the user.
b) Consider a byte of data 10011010. Encode it using hamming code.
c) A receiver should have to receive 011100101010 (encoded 8 bit stream with hamming
code). Suppose the word that was received was 011100101110 instead. Calculate
which bit was wrong and correct it.
Question 2 (1.5 marks)
What operations can be performed on a single memory cell? Differentiate between
DRAM and SRAM
Operations that can be performed on a single memory cell are:
Reading
Writing
Storage
Difference between SRAM and DRAM:
1. SRAM is an on-chip memory whose access time is small while DRAM is an off-chip memory which
has a large access time. Therefore SRAM is faster than DRAM.
2. DRAM is available in larger storage capacity while SRAM is of smaller size.
3. SRAM is expensive whereas DRAM is cheap.
4. The cache memory is an application of SRAM. In contrast, DRAM is used in main memory.
5. DRAM is highly dense. As against, SRAM is rarer.
6. The construction of SRAM is complex due to the usage of a large number of transistors. On the
contrary, DRAM is simple to design and implement.
7. In SRAM a single block of memory requires six transistors whereas DRAM needs just one transistor
for a single block of memory.
8. DRAM is named as dynamic, because it uses capacitor which produces leakage current due to the
dielectric used inside the capacitor to separate the conductive plates is not a perfect insulator hence
require power refresh circuitry. On the other hand, there is no issue of charge leakage in the SRAM.
9. Power consumption is higher in DRAM than SRAM. SRAM operates on the principle of changing
the direction of current through switches whereas DRAM works on holding the charges.
Question 3 (1.5 marks)
What are the differences and commonalities between EPROM, EEPROM, and flash
memory?
Difference between EPROM, EEPROM and Flash Memory:
EPROM is read and written electrically; before a write operation, all the storage cells must be erased to the
same initial state by exposure of the packaged chip to ultraviolet radiation. Erasure is performed by shining
an intense ultraviolet light through a window that is designed into the memory chip.
EEPROM is a read- mostly memory that can be written into at any time without erasing prior contents;
only the byte or bytes addressed are updated.
Flash memory is intermediate between EPROM and EEPROM in both cost and functionality. Like
EEPROM, flash memory uses an electrical erasing technology. An entire flash memory can be erased in
one or a few seconds, which is much faster than EPROM. In addition, it is possible to erase just blocks of
memory rather than an entire chip. However, flash memory does not provide byte-level erasure. Like
EPROM, flash memory uses only one transistor per bit, and so achieves the high density of EPROM.
