What instructions are missing from microprocessor instruction sets? This question asks you to think about the type of operations computers perform, and to think about what primitives could usefully be incorporated to accelerate the calculation.

What will be an ideal response?


You could say that no instructions are missing because any program can be written using the instruction set of
any existing computer. However, if you are talking about efficiency you could argue that some instructions are
missing, in the sense that they would be useful. For example, ARM processors have a multiply and accumulate
instruction that performs X?Y + Z, which is useful in many areas of signal processing and multimedia.
Consequently, if your computer is going to be used in a specific domain where a certain operation or set of
operations are to be performed frequently, then the addition of those operations may be useful, provided they
do not unduly slow down the processor, or take up too much silicon area to be cost effective. For example,
some computers have provided operations to perform |a ? b| or max(a,b) or average(a,b).

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A(n) ____________________ font is one in which each letter takes exactly the same width in the line.

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

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After you test a theory to determine cause, you should establish a(n) ____________________ to resolve the problem and implement a solution.

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

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A die is rolled once. What is the probability that the number shown is greater than 6?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

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