CSE306 Unit 2
Introduction to Digital Systems
What is a digital system?
A) Processes continuous signals
B) Processes discrete values like 0 and 1 (✔)
C) Uses analog signals
D) Uses only continuous data
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of digital systems?
A) High noise immunity
B) Reliable and repeatable operation
C) Less flexible in design (✔) D) Processes discrete values
Which component converts external data into digital signals in a digital system?
A) Processing unit
B) Input device (✔)
C) Output device
D) Memory
Behavioral descriptions of digital systems focus on:
A) What the system does (✔)
B) How the system is built
C) The internal architecture
D) The system’s truth table
Which modeling approach defines the connections between components?
A) Functional model
B) Structural model (✔)
C) Behavioral model
D) Boolean expression
Which is an example of a structural description in digital systems?
A) Verilog code for a circuit (✔)
B) Assembly language program
C) Logic table
D) Python script
In digital electronics, what is the primary function of a flip-flop?
A) Add two binary numbers
B) Store a single bit of data (✔)
C) Perform multiplication
D) Generate clock pulses
Which of the following describes processor specification metrics?
A) Cache size, architecture, and core count (✔)
B) Input devices, output devices, and gates
C) Truth tables and logic diagrams
D) Multiplexers and demultiplexers
Combinational Circuits I
Combinational circuits have outputs that are a function of:
A) Previous input values
B) Current input values (✔)
C) Feedback loops
D) Stored memory values
What is NOT a characteristic of combinational circuits?
A) Deterministic outputs
B) No feedback loops
C) Memory-dependent outputs (✔)
D) Real-time output changes
The identity law in Boolean algebra states that:
A) A + 0 = A (✔)
B) A + 1 = 1
C) A + A = 1
D) A . A' = A
The output of a NAND gate is:
A) High when all inputs are low
B) High when any input is high
C) Low when all inputs are high (✔)
D) Low when all inputs are low
Which of the following is a universal gate?
A) AND
B) OR
C) NOR (✔)
D) XOR
Which gate gives a high output only when inputs are different?
A) XOR (✔)
B) OR
C) AND
D) NAND
The tri-state buffer has how many states?
A) One
B) Two
C) Three (✔)
D) Four
VerilUOC_Desktop Tools
What is the primary purpose of VerilUOC_Desktop?
A) Simulating analog systems
B) Designing digital circuits using HDLs (✔)
C) Writing C programs
D) Debugging assembly code
Which tool is designed for educational use to simulate digital circuits?
A) BoolMin
B) VerilCirc
C) Logisim (✔)
D) VerilChart
What is BoolMin used for?
A) Designing multiprocessors
B) Minimizing Boolean functions (✔)
C) Generating waveform diagrams
D) Converting HDL code to assembly
Which of the following can convert Verilog code into a graphical circuit?
A) Logisim
B) VerilCirc (✔)
C) BoolMin
D) VerilChart
Combinational Circuits II
Synthesis tools convert high-level descriptions into:
A) Binary numbers
B) Gate-level representations (✔)
C) Assembly code
D) Verilog code
What does propagation time represent in digital circuits?
A) Time for a signal to travel from input to output (✔)
B) Time for a flip-flop to store data
C) Delay caused by a feedback loop
D) Time for power-up
Which logic block selects one of several input signals to output?
A) Demultiplexer
B) Multiplexer (✔)
C) Encoder
D) Decoder
What is the function of an encoder in digital logic?
A) Convert n-bit input to binary output
B) Convert multiple inputs into a single binary output (✔)
C) Decode a binary input into unique outputs
D) Store binary data
In Verilog, a module represents:
A) A gate
B) A signal connection
C) A basic building block of a design (✔)
D) A procedural block
Arithmetic Components
What is the function of a full adder?
A) Add two bits
B) Add two bits with carry-in (✔)
C) Subtract two bits
D) Multiply two bits
Which component is used for subtraction in digital systems?
A) Full adder
B) Full subtractor (✔)
C) Multiplier
D) Divider
What is a half adder used for?
A) Adding two bits without a carry (✔)
B) Adding two bits with carry
C) Performing multiplication
D) Performing division
Large Multiprocessors (Directory Protocols)
Which architecture is used in large multiprocessors? A) Ring
B) Shared memory (✔)
C) Hierarchical
D) Cloud-based
What ensures that all processors in a multiprocessor system have a consistent view of
memory? A) Cache coherence (✔)
B) Multiplexer
C) Verilog
D) Memory fragmentation
In a directory-based protocol, the directory tracks:
A) Cache miss rates
B) The status of cached memory blocks (✔)
C) The processor speed
D) Power consumption
Which cache state indicates that a cache line is being shared among multiple
processors? A) Exclusive
B) Shared (✔)
C) Modified
D) Invalid
Centralized directory protocols become bottlenecked because:
A) They use too much power
B) One directory manages all processors (✔)
C) They increase propagation delay
D) The directory is distributed
Distributed directory protocols are advantageous because they:
A) Use more cache space
B) Increase performance scalability (✔)
C) Simplify memory access
D) Centralize data processing
Miscellaneous Questions
Which tool is used for visualizing Verilog code flow?
A) Logisim
B) VerilChart (✔)
C) BoolMin
D) VerilCirc
In VHDL, which statement defines the internal implementation of an entity? A) Entity
declaration
B) Architecture body (✔)
C) Module declaration
D) HDL process
Which law in Boolean algebra states A + 1 = 1?
A) Identity law
B) Null law (✔)
C) Idempotent law
D) Complement law
Which gate is known as a universal gate?
A) AND
B) NOR (✔)
C) XOR
D) OR
What technique is used to simplify Boolean expressions?
A) State machines
B) Karnaugh Maps (K-Maps) (✔)
C) VHDL processes
D) Tri-state buffers
Which of the following is an example of a sequential circuit? A) Flip-
flop (✔)
B) Multiplexer
C) XOR gate
D) Encoder
In Verilog, which keyword is used to declare a wire?
A) Wire (✔)
B) Reg
C) Signal
D) Buffer
1. Digital Systems:
Which of the following is NOT an advantage of digital systems over analog systems?
A) High noise immunity
B) Repeatability and reliability
C) Continuous signal representation (✔)
D) Flexibility in design
In a digital system, which component primarily converts external data from physical
phenomena into a digital signal?
A) Multiplexer
B) ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter) (✔)
C) Flip-flop
D) DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter)
Which of the following best describes the role of pipelining in processor design?
A) To increase the cache size
B) To improve clock speed
C) To increase instruction throughput by overlapping stages of execution (✔) D) To
enhance memory capacity 2. Digital System Descriptions:
Which of the following is a primary benefit of using a structural description over a
behavioral description in digital system design?
A) Easier to describe the system’s functions
B) More accurate representation of the hardware interconnections (✔)
C) More abstract representation of the system
D) Simpler to verify high-level behavior
When designing a digital system using Verilog, which description focuses on how individual
components are connected rather than what the system does?
A) Behavioral description
B) Functional model
C) Structural description (✔)
D) State machine model
Which hardware description language (HDL) is specifically used for describing both
behavioral and structural aspects of digital systems?
A) Python
B) Assembly
C) Verilog (✔)
D) C++
3. Boolean Algebra and Combinational Circuits:
In Boolean algebra, which of the following laws states that the output of an AND gate with
one input tied to 0 is always 0?
A) Idempotent Law
B) Null Law (✔)
C) Identity Law
D) Complement Law
The Karnaugh Map (K-Map) is a tool used primarily for:
A) Implementing truth tables
B) Minimizing Boolean expressions (✔)
C) Designing multiplexer circuits
D) Describing state machines
Which of the following circuits is a combinational circuit that selects one input out of
multiple inputs and forwards it to the output?
A) Decoder
B) Flip-flop
C) Multiplexer (✔)
D) Tri-state buffer
4. Processor Specification:
Which of the following performance factors allows multiple instructions to be issued in
a single clock cycle? A) Superscalar architecture (✔)
B) Multithreading
C) Pipelining
D) Cache coherence
In modern digital processors, the primary factor affecting how much data can be stored
close to the CPU for quick access is:
A) Core count
B) Cache size (✔)
C) Clock speed
D) Instruction set architecture
Which of the following metrics measures how many cycles per second the CPU can
execute? A) Cache size
B) Core count
C) Clock speed (✔)
D) Data width
5. Combinational Circuit Design and Functional Specification:
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of combinational circuits? A)
Deterministic behavior
B) No memory elements
C) Outputs depend on present inputs
D) State transitions based on input history (✔)
In the design of a full adder circuit, which Boolean expression represents the carry-out
(Cout)?
A)
A
⊕
B
⊕
Ci
n
A⊕B⊕C in
B)
A
∙B
+C
i
n∙
(
A
⊕
B
)
A∙B+C in
∙(A⊕B) (✔)
C)
A∙
B
A∙B
D)
A+
B
+
C
i
n A+B+C
in
Which combinational circuit is used to convert binary information from 2^n inputs to an n-
bit output?
A) Decoder
B) Multiplexer
C) Encoder (✔)
D) Adder
6. Large Multiprocessors and Directory Protocols:
In a large multiprocessor system, which issue arises when processors cache copies of the
same memory block?
A) Data forwarding
B) Memory coherence (✔)
C) Pipelining
D) Instruction-level parallelism
Which of the following protocols manages the coherence of caches in a multiprocessor
system by maintaining a directory of cache lines?
A) Write-back protocol
B) Directory-based cache coherence protocol (✔)
C) Memory interleaving
D) Direct-mapped cache
In directory-based cache coherence protocols, the state that indicates a memory block is
modified by only one processor and not shared with others is called:
A) Shared
B) Exclusive
C) Invalid
D) Modified (✔)
Which of the following is a disadvantage of using centralized directory protocols for cache
coherence in large multiprocessor systems?
A) Lack of scalability (✔)
B) Increased cache coherence overhead
C) High latency in access time
D) Complicated cache state management7. Tools and Software for Digital Systems:
Which of the following is a synthesis tool used for FPGA design and simulation? A) VerilCirc
B) Logisim
C) Xilinx Vivado (✔)
D) Python IDE
Which feature of VerilCirc is specifically used for visualizing the structural
representation of Verilog code? A) Simulation of circuit behavior
B) Flowchart generation
C) Automatic circuit generation from Verilog code (✔)
D) Component library
BoolMin is a tool primarily used for:
A) Minimizing Boolean functions (✔)
B) Designing multiprocessor systems
C) Implementing Verilog code
D) Simulating FPGA circuits
