Tech2920

Which of the following is not a function of how interrupts are used?

a.A completion signal b.An abnormal event indicator c.A means of allocating CPU time d.A way of buffering large amounts of data

Which of the following is an example of an interrupt being used as an external event notifier?

a.A keyboard input b.A program inadvertently attempts to divide by zero c.A time quantum has passed and the CPU is interrupted to start another task d.An application program requests service from the operating system using a software interrupt.

Which of the following is not a requirement for a computer system to handle I/O in a sufficient and effective manner?

a.Peripheral devices must be individually addressable. b.Peripheral devices must operate only in block mode. c.Peripheral devices can initiate communication with the CPU. d.Programmed I/O is suitable only for slow devices and individual word transfers.

The software interrupt is very similar to which type of instruction?

a.STORE b.LOAD c.IF-THEN-ELSE d.SUBROUTINE JUMP

The mnemonic for the x86 architecture instruction that simulates an interrupt is

a.SVC. b.INT. c.JMP. d.GTO.

Instructions that are intended for use by an operating system program, but not by an application program, are called

a.control instructions b.limited instructions c.prevalent instructions d.privileged instructions

The computer system provides an internal clock that sends an interrupt periodically to the CPU signaling that it's time to start processing another program or thread. The time between interrupt pulses is known as a(n)

a.delta. b.quantum. c.unit quantity. d.atomic quantity.

Since many interrupts exist to support I/O devices, most of the interrupt handling programs are also known as

a.device drivers. b.device handlers. c.peripheral handlers. d.peripheral controllers.

After interrupting a program in execution, and saving the program's context, the computer then branches to a special program known as the

a.driver routine. b.servicing program. c.program service program. d.interrupt handler program.

Internal interrupts caused by events related to problems or special conditions within the computer itself are sometimes called

a.exclusions. b.exemptions. c.special errors. d.traps or exceptions.

The program that determines the appropriate course of action in the event an interrupt occurs is called the

a.fault handler. b.device handler. c.interrupt handler. d.instruction handler.

Computers provide interrupt capability by providing one or more special control lines to the central processor known as

a.fault lines. b.address lines. c.interrupt lines. d.instruction lines.

External events like keyboard input, mouse clicks, printer "out of paper" messages, and power failures are handled by

a.interrupts. b.device handlers. c.peripheral controllers. d.suspension subprograms.

The method used to communicate events that need special attention to the CPU are known as

a.interrupts. b.I/O controllers. c.programmed I/O. d.device controllers.

Events related to problems or special conditions within the computer system itself, like divide by zero, or attempting to execute a nonexistent op code, are called

a.irregular events. b.unusual events. c.abnormal events. d.anomalous events.

From the perspective of a computer, the network

a.is just another I/O device. b.requires an Ethernet connection. c.is complex set of interconnected hosts. d.is addressable only in blocks of 32 bit addresses.

An important difference between the I/O requirements of keyboards and disk drives is that

a.keyboard input is fast while disk drives are slow. b.keyboards require constant monitoring, while disk drives do not . c.disk drives have I/O controllers and keyboards do not have I/O controllers. d.disk data is always transferred in blocks, never as individual bytes as with the keyboard.

Power failures, internal time-sensitive events, or external events that are time sensitive will trigger interrupts that are

a.low priority events. b.high priority events. c.dependent on the device generating the interrupt. d.measured for time-to-complete and scheduled accordingly.

One way to assure that multiple programs do not unintentionally alter another program's files or intermingle printer output is to

a.only execute one interrupt at a time. b.give programs in execution the highest priority. c.not allow programs in execution to be interrupted. d.require that all I/O to shared devices be handled by the operating system.

When the device generating the interrupt request identifies its address as part of the interrupt, it is called

a.polling interrupt. b.discrete interrupt. c.vectored interrupt. d.monitoring interrupt.

The method of continuously checking the various input devices to determine if input data is waiting is called

a.polling. b.observing. c.monitoring. d.supervising.

The method of transferring data one word at a time from the CPU to a device is called

a.polling. b.programmed I/O. c.vectored interrupt. d.direct memory access.

Multiple interrupts can be handled by assigning _______ to each interrupt.

a.priorities b.a time delay c.queue levels d.execution tickets

When an interrupt causes temporary suspension of the program in progress, all the pertinent information about the program being suspended, including the location of the last instruction executed, and the values of data in various registers are stored in an area of memory known as the

a.register dump block. b.memory dump block. c.program method block. d.process control block.

Interrupts that can be temporarily disabled by program instructions are called

a.variable. b.maskable. c.changeable. d.transferable.