Processor Comparison Essays - Instruction Set Architectures

Processor Comparison 1. Investigate the instruction set and architectural features of a modern RISC processor such as the Digital Equipment Corporation Alpha or Motorola/IBM PowerPC. In what ways does it differ from the architecture of the Intel Pentium processor family? The main difference between the architectures of Digital Equipment Corporation's (DEC) Alpha and Intel's Pentium processors are the instruction sets. In this paper I intend on defining both RISC and CISC processors. In doing this I will be comparing DEC's Alpha 21164 (a microprocessor that implements the Alpha architecture) and also Intel's Pentium processors (from the Pentium-R through the Pentium II). Reduced Instruction Set Computing or RISC processing is a CPU architecture with an instruction set that eliminates some (but not all) complex instructions by pairing down and reducing them in complexity so that instructions can be performed in a single processor cycle. This is accomplished through high-level compilers that breakdown the more complex, less frequently used instructions into simpler instructions. Thus, allowing the RISC architecture to im-plement a smaller instruction set that utilizes more registers and eliminating the need for microcode. The Alpha architecture is a 64-bit load and store RISC architecture designed with particular emphasis on speed, multiple instruction issue, multiple processors, and software migration from many operating systems. (1, pg. 1-1) Most recent CPU designs are superscalar and superpipelined. Superscalar means that the architecture provides two pipelines for executing multiple instructions in parallel. Superpipelining increases the number of pipeline stages, allowing for results from either pipeline to be simultaneously used to avoid stalls thus, improving data flow by removing data dependency. The 21164 microprocessor is a superscalar pipelined processor manufactured using 0.5-micron CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semi-conductor) technology. (1, pg.1-3) The Alpha 21164 can issue four instructions in a single clock cycle. This combined with the low-latency and/or high-throughput features in the instruction issue unit and the on-chip components of the memory subsystem reduce the average cycl es per instruction. All data manipulation is done between registers. The registers are 64 bits in length and all instructions are 32 bits in length. Memory operations are either load or store operations. Since many early computers had extremely limited memory and processing power, complex instruction sets were developed. Complex instruction computing or CISC processing is a CPU architecture in which a large number of instructions are hardcoded into the chip. Intel's Pentium processors still adhere to this philosophy. The Pentium processor was Intel's first CPU to employ superscalar architecture. With its 3.3 million transistors it is able to execute two instructions per clock cycle resulting in twice the integer performance relative of an Intel 486 CPU running at the same frequency. Pentium also employed on-chip dual-processing support as well as an onboard interrupt controller. Next came the Pentium Pro, which introduced dynamic execution technology that pre-dicts the program flow through multiple branches. Multiple branch prediction lets the CPU pre-fetch possible next instructions rather than waiting for the outcome. This technology can actually change the order of executed instructions based on analyzed data dependencies, which in turn provides optimum execution speed. However, the Pentium Pro was only available in speeds from 150MHz to 200MHz and has only 16KB of internal cache (half as much as the MMX). In 1997 Intel introduced the Pentium MMX processor. The MMX processor added1.2 million more transistors (4.5 million total) and also SIMD technology (Single Instruction, Multiple Data). SIMD technology included 57 new instructions, 4 new data types and eight 64-bit registers. As in the original Pentium, the MMX Pentium provides both a fixed-point integer data path that allows up to two operations to be executed simultaneously, and a floating point data path that allows one operation to be performed at a time. In addition, the MMX Pentium provides a new MMX data path that allows up to two MMX operations to execute simultaneously, or up to one MMX operation and one integer operation (in the integer data path) to execute simultaneously. The inte-ger data path includes two ALUs and supports operations on 8-, 16-, and 32-bit integers. (4) The MMX processor is available in speeds from 166MHz to 333MHz. Finally the Pentium II processor combines the best features of both the Pentium Pro and Pentium MMX on one chip. Including a 64-bit dual

The Economics of Sales Taxes

The Economics of Sales Taxes The Glossary of Economics Terms defines a sales tax as a tax levied on the sale of a good or service, which is usually proportional to the price of the good or service sold. The Two Types of Sales Taxes Sales taxes come in two varieties. The first is a consumption tax or retail sales tax which is a straight percentage tax placed on the sale of a good. These are the traditional type of sales tax.The second type of sales tax is a value added tax. On a value-added tax (VAT), the net tax amount is the difference between the input costs and the sales price. If a retailer pays $30 for a good from a wholesaler and charges the customer $40, then the net tax is only placed on the $10 difference. VATs are used in Canada (GST), Australia (GST) and all member countries of the European Union (EU VAT). Sales Tax - What Advantages Do Sales Taxes Have? The biggest advantage to sales taxes are how economically efficient they are in collecting a single dollar of revenue for the government - that is, they have the smallest negative impact on the economy per dollar collected. Sales Tax - Evidence of Advantages In an article about taxation in Canada a 2002 Fraser Institute study was cited on the marginal efficiency cost of various taxes in Canada. They found that per dollar collected, corporate income taxes did $1.55 in damage to the economy. Income taxes were somewhat more efficient in only doing $0.56 worth of damage per dollar collected. Sales taxes, however, came out on top with only $0.17 in economic damage per dollar collected. Sales Taxes - What Disadvantages Does a Sales Tax Have? The biggest drawback to sales taxes, in the eyes of many, are that they are a regressive tax - A tax on income in which the proportion of tax paid relative to income decreases as income increases. The regressivity  problem can be overcome, if desired, through the use of rebate cheques and tax exemptions on necessities. The Canadian GST uses both of these mechanisms to reduce the regressivity tax. The FairTax Sales Tax Proposal Due to the advantages inherent in using sales taxes, it is not surprising that some believe that the United States should base their entire tax system on sales taxes rather than income taxes. The FairTax, if implemented would replace most U.S. taxes with a national sales tax at a 23-percent tax inclusive (equivalent to a 30-percent tax exclusive) rate. Families would also be issued prebate cheques as to eliminate the inherent regressivity of a sales tax system.

Critique of self-determination theory Assignment

Critique of self-determination theory - Assignment Example reatest strength of the self-determination theory in education is concentric upon the means by which it serves to help educators understand the concept of motivation within their stakeholders (Brophy, 2010). Though one may be tempted to view the self-determination theory of education as something of a hands off approach, the truth of the matter is that the theory itself encourages educator involvement in the form of integrating understandings of the value of risk within the students. Even though the series by its very nature places the most responsibility within the hands of the student/stakeholder, a proper understanding of motivation by the educator is sufficient to ensure that a given degree of self-determination will ultimately be realized. Likewise, with regards to the greatest weakness, the reader can readily understand that due to the great differentials and personality type that exists within the student body, not all individuals will fully integrate with a self deterministic approach to education. As with any theory, the weakness of the self-determination theory in education hinges upon the fact that although it helps to adequately explain a majority of educator/student involvement, it is ultimately not 100% effective in explaining all educator/student involvement. With regards to the work of Edwards Deci and Richard Ryan, the self determination theory is understood in a slightly different way. Accordingly, these authors note that the self-determination theory, though effective, ultimately seeks to reward those that most actively integrate with the process of education (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Even though this is not a bad thing, it necessarily implies that those students that do not seek to actively participate or motivate themselves will be at a significant disadvantage if this theory is applied universally within education. The authors note that the application of this theory can be seen as something of a reward mechanism whereby the students that

Dyslexia as a learning disorder Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Dyslexia as a learning disorder - Assignment Example Several years later, W. Pringle Morgan, a British physician, published a description of a reading-specific learning disorder in a letter to the British Medical Journal. His letter described the case of a boy named Percy who, at age 14, had not yet learned to read, yet he showed normal intelligence and was generally adept at other activities typical of children of that age. It's evident that such children need some peculiar aide. To prove it I'd like to give an example of my little nephew. Andrew is a very smart boy. At the age of five he was able to accomplish complex mathematical tasks. But he couldn't read and all our forces to teach him reading were in vain. He was absolutely happy when somebody was reading him aloud. It took him ten or five minutes to learn by heart a large poem consisting of twenty lines. So we decided that he was too young to read and at school this problem would be solved. But our suppositions have not proved to be correct. Among the children of his lass he was the best in mathematics and the worst in reading. He got bad marks everyday and that made him believe to be stupid. His teacher explained us that he wasn't to identify words and to recognize the sounds that made up words. Having looked into his copy book my aunt saw that he tended to reverse letters and sometimes whole words for example "saw" was written as "was" "b" as "d" etc. Andrew continued to lag behind his peers in reading and writing skills. He hated school because he was always told to be stupid lazy and the worst. Our previously happy boy was close to nervous breakdown. And we decided to consult a doctor. The dyslexia was diagnosed. Well let's continue Andrew's story. At the first visit to doctor Brant his mother was asked about the family's medical and developmental history. Andrew's mother said that her cousin had had the same problem. After that they were said that after the treatm ent Andrew would be doing well at school and would have all chances to make a thoroughly successful career. Andrew's mother was advised to use reading upgrade course and the result was tremendous. Only a month after starting this course my little nephew began to read himself at first syllables and after month and a fortnight he become able to read perfectly without missing or reversing letters. But this great success has come to us not only owing to this program. Andrew's relatives were given a special guide aimed to teach parents right behavior. Nowadays Andrew is a thoroughly successful young man. He's a first year student of the university; he does very well at the university and doesn't remember about his problems at the childhood. He is a real fan of reading. He seems to know everything in the would. dyslexia is a learning disorder. Its underlying cause is believed to be a brain-based condition that influences the ability to read written language. It is identified in individuals who fail to learn to read in the absence of a verbal or nonverbal intellectual impairment, sensory deficit (e.g., a visual deficit or hearing loss), pervasive developmental deficit or a frank neurological impairment. The following conditions are sometimes confused with dyslexia because they can also lead to difficulty reading: Auditory Processing Disorder is a condition that affects the ability to encode auditory information. It can lead to problems with auditory working memory and auditory sequencing. Dyspraxia is a neurological condition characterized by a marked

Syntax Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Syntax Assignment - Essay Example This is in line with the views of Greenbaum and Quirk (1990), who insist that the words selected by a narrator are reflective of the time aspect, regardless of whether the action took place in the past, present or in the future. For example, ‘every time’ is one phrase used to show the aspect of repetitive time, relating the subjects, who are Barney and the grandmother, where emphasis is placed on the frequency of times that she tells him of the way that the ground gives way, at the edge of chalk pit. ‘Every time’ is also used to show the number of times and how often the sister would tell him about the chalk pit. For example, the text emphasizes that the sister would tell Barney the same thing, â€Å"every time she wasn’t telling him something else. ‘Today’ is used to show the present time, when Barney had nothing to do, except visit the chalk pit. ‘Once’ is used to show the aspect of the given time when the location of the chalk pit was the side of a hill. The word ‘once’ is used to show the past time (Greenbaum and Quirk, 1990). B). The author used ‘verb tense groups,’ which comprise an auxiliary verb or a verb and a principal verb tense. The combination of the verb and the other parts of the groups are used to create the verb tense group. The need for this tense group is determined by the type of verb used. Examples from the text include ‘everybody had told him’, ‘men had come to dig away chalk and left...’ ‘His sister, every time she wasn’t telling him something else’, he thought of all the sticks of chalk’, and ‘the sticks of chalk they must have made...’ C). The tenses used within the verb tense groups used throughout the text fall under the three main classifications: past, present and future tense. These tenses are used to show the time of a verb’s being or action (Matthews, 2003). In doing this, the ending of the verb is conjugated to show the time of reference. For

The Relationship Between Money And Happiness Philosophy Essay

The Relationship Between Money And Happiness Philosophy Essay In todays world without exception everyone wants a happy and fulfilling life. The people around us, the society which we belong and even media tells us daily that the only way to reach a happy and fulfilling life is to have a higher income. But, is it true? Firstly we have to examine the meaning of happiness. Most commonly, happiness is known as a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. For years, a great amount of researches have been done to answer this question. In this investigation, while some of researchers are supporting that attaining wealth and possessions is good for us, on the other hand some people are saying it is not. For example, In The High Price Of Materialism Tim Kasser says, No matter how many fancy designer clothes, cars, or jewels they might obtain, no matter how big their house or how up-to-date their electronic equipment, the lost opportunity to engage in pleasurable activities and enjoy each others companion ship will work against need satisfaction, and thus against their happiness. Annie Leonard also supports her idea through her video about consumerism and happiness. In this video the most important thing missed is people and their satisfaction. And again Juliet Schor claims that with statics National income has been rising for the last 20 years, but measures of the quality of life and happiness have fallen. Although all of these statements prove that happiness doesnt come from wealth and possessions, according to Peter Saunders Why Capitalism is Good for The soul, In some companies when workers start to get more profit, it results in higher living standards for workers as well as cheaper and more plentiful goods and services. And this improvement leads to a good life for workers. Although without money and wealth life seems difficult, too much focusing on the possessions affects our mental health, self-control and satisfaction badly as well as damages our relationships and lead to un happiness. Happiness is the most valuable aim of human being. While the earth is getting complicated and changing day by day, almost all people are trying to have a happy and fulfilling life. During this pursuit of happiness, our relationships play a crucial role. In pace of life, when we have encountered with some stressful or disappointing situation or cases, in order to take a breath we always consult our families and fly into our familys arms. If we have our own families and their real support, it is the most reliable way to reach the happiness and relief. But sometimes people can be in a dilemma between possessions and relationships. This is the point of collapsing real happiness, because when the passion of money comes to a person, he starts to abandon his family. He thinks as if money will bring them happiness and good life. But it wont. As Tim Kasser says in the article of Mixed Messages a focus on materialistic values detracts from well-being and happiness. For example when spouses spe nd most of their time working to make money, they neglect opportunities to be with each other and do what most interests them. And again in Downshifting in Britain Difficulties in managing work-life balance can have a detrimental impact on the quality of the relationships between parents and children and the parents responsiveness to the child, with implications for child outcomes. This is particularly important for every young children, with evidence suggesting that it is best for children if they can receive intensive parental contact for the first months(HM Treasury DTI 2003, p 13-14). As you can see in these sentences as long as people dont allocate enough time for their families, there is no way to make them happy. The same situation is also acceptable for peoples friends. Friends are known as a second family; even for some people they are the first. A friend can help us in every tough situation, they can back up us in everywhere. So always we want to have a good friend. If we select and take care of our friends carefully, as well as we have to be careful to maintain our relationships with them. The money, possessions, wealth shouldnt be our friends. While we are establishing a friendship, it mustnt be based on materialistic values or we mustnt let money to interfere our friendship. When money comes, it might hurt our friends and us. Furthermore, if we look at the richest people in the world, we see that the loneliest people are these rich people because of money. According to lots of people, money means high status, greedy and responsibility. With these prejudices, rich people cannot make friends easily, by this way they cant be happy. We associate this situation with food pyramid, if assume t hat there are richest people at the top of chain, and the chain is getting narrowed with the rate of friends, so if we are at the top of the pyramid we wont have friends who makes us more and more happy. To give an example, John Jacob Astor 3 bemoans, money brings me nothing but a certain dull anxiety. So even if you have too much money to spend, as long as you dont have friends and family you cant be happy. The other most important step to reach the happiness is our satisfaction. Because actually the money doesnt make us happy, it can help us just by providing some satisfaction. When we lost our satisfaction, it means we lost our happiness and this is exactly what our possessions do. Lots of people in consumer countries and societies think that they always need more money than they have now, even if they are wealthy and rich people. In the book of Clive Hamilton, this situation is stated with this sentence: The trouble with the rat race is, even if you win, you are still a rat. Because of the society that they belong to, they are convinced that more money means always more happiness. So without exception all people are trying to have more possessions to be satisfied by being able to buy what they need. But there is an insidious fact they always forget, and it is that at the same time they are raising their threshold of sufficiency, and decreasing their rate of happiness. The answer of h ow they can raise their threshold is meanwhile their needs change as incomes rise. While this is being happened, usually most of people are unaware of this situation. So no matter how they are wealthy, unconsciously it is working against their satisfaction and happiness. According to the Affluenza, studies shows that most people would prefer an income of $50 000 if the average is $40 000 to an income of $70 000 if the average is $100 000, that is, most people would rather be poorer, provided others are poorer still. Moreover, in late 2002 when a newspoll survey asked Australian people (richest) whether they can afford to buy everything they need, the answer investigators got is that sixty-two per cent of Australians believe they cannot afford to buy everything they need. If we consider Australia is one of the richest countries, it is a really good example of dissatisfaction and rat race. Self-control is the ability to control ones emotions, behaviors and desires or is the capacity of efficient management to the future, in this process without any control mechanism is it possible to have a good life or live peaceful. Of course NO, because the failure of self-control can cause immense personal and societal repercussions on people. So in this world everyone has to have self- control to handle with obstacles and bad effects of our environment but our possessions are such a dreadful nightmare for self-control that when we look at the whole world suffering of lack of self-control results from more money people have. Because as long as you have more money your ability to prevent yourself from doing something false is getting weaken. For example, using of drugs are known as a way of escaping from stress and most of people dont use it thanks to their self-control because they can see the results of this addiction after usage, but if there is a person who is rich and cannot be happy no longer with his possessions, due to dissatisfaction his/her self-control couldnt work. And at this point he/she lose themselves in drugs and also their happiness lose in it. Beside their happiness their physical health also can be harmed like the brain, heart, and other important organs. We can give more general examples to this case like consumption and credit card debts. If you dont have more money, by fear of debts and overconsumption while you are buying something or spending your money you try to be careful because you can imagine the results of overconsumption thanks to your self- control, but when you lose it, you plunge into debts immediately. So without the self-control we cannot be happy because it is most effective way to be careful about the harmful things. And money is the main enemy of the self-control. On the contrary there is some people claim that money can buy happiness with its benefits in terms of providing higher living standards. Peter Saunders stated that when workers start to get more profit, it results in higher living standards for workers as well as cheaper and more plentiful goods and services. And this improvement leads to a good life for workers. Yes until a certain limit it is true because this world which has capitalist system is not suitable for living without money. Because money provides you necessities like shelter, education, health etc. Furthermore if you have a family, without a good income you cant imagine a good life while you are trying to be alive in this world. But when you have enough money and you are able to supply what you need, after this point moneys importance suddenly decrease and remains only one way to be happy which is not money, just our relationships and our health. According to the Journal of Happiness Studies by Fischer, Claude S. Although Americans wealth increased substantially over the last few decades, their happiness did not. Because as I said before this is not the case of money after a certain point. So no matter without enough money we cannot be happy, it doesnt mean happy comes from wealth and possessions. To conclude, if you have enough money for your basic necessities, after that happiness doesnt come from money. On the contrary, as long as you have a great amount of money or try to have more money than you have, in the pursuit of wealth and possessions you can lose your most important relationships with your friends and family which make you really happy, furthermore your mental and physical health can be affected very badly because of dissatisfaction and lack of self control. Briefly attaining wealth is not essential for our fulfillment even it is against. Work Cited (HM Treasury DTI 2003, p 13-14). The high price of materialism / Mixed Massages By Tim Kasser Why Capitalism is good for the soul By Peter Saunders Journal of Happiness Studies by Fischer,

Wife of Martin Guerre :: essays research papers

Throughout my travels I had always been mistaken for Martin Guerre, that is how I have come to be here today. He was always spoken about with such respect. A dignified young man, from a well respected peasant family, it was a let down to me that I myself was not a respected man like this Martin. As these occurrences continued to happen I began to wonder about his life, why such a well respected man could leave his wife and son behind, I had been told that he had left his family in Artigues for many years, and they were waiting for his return. His father had past on, and the farm was now waiting for their master. I had no place to go and thought that if I am mistaken so many times for martin then maybe I could go to his household, my intentions were not to stay even this long, but only enough to collect some gold and silver. Over the last few days I have been drawn to the loving and caring nature of this household. Built on strong foundations I have been welcomed back like a triumpha nt army from a great war. Praised for returning, as if nothing had happened.. The feast that was prepared was like none that I had seen before, all they would do was listen to the stories of my travels. This family did not about the eight years that had past, without notice or communication, but relief that the family is complete again. My past has not been one that I have been proud of. I have not been loyal to my family, nor my Kingdom. My family has put a lot of trust in me, but I have let them down, traveling with the wars from town to town. I know it upsets them, and I cannot return to them. I do not want to put some more false hope in their hearts, as I am sure that my past will catch up with me, and again let them down. I am also not one who has abided by the law in the past, committing crimes of theft from many as I pass by, not two weeks ago had I stolen from a man traveling on the same road as I. But since I have come to this caring and loving family, I have seen what I myself have neglected and betrayed in my home town.