1. Using Englander's, fill out the table below by translating the following binary numbers into characters using ASCII code. (HINT: It's easier if you convert the binary to hexadecimal first.)
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Binary
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Hex
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ASCII
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0011 0001
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0100 1110
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0010 0100
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0101 1110
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0111 0010
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0111 0101
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0100 0011
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0010 0011
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0100 1111
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0110 1110
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2. The MP3 audio format is described as ‘‘almost CD quality.'' What characteristic of MP3 makes this description accurate?
3. Describe at least three shortcomings of using a parallel as compared to serial bus to transfer data from one place to another.
4. Answer the following questions about pipelining:
(a) Explain how pipelining improves CPU efficiency.
(b) What is the potential effect of executing a conditional branch instruction on the efficiency gained by pipelining?
(c) Briefly describe two techniques that can be employed to make pipelining more efficient when executing conditional branch instructions.
5. Answer the following questions about memory cache:
(a) Describe the trade-offs between the memory cache write-through and write-back techniques.
(b) Does a memory cache read always result in a performance improvement? Why or why not.