CPUs and architecture

Which CPU configuration combines high-performance cores and power-efficient cores and uses them according to the workload?

  1. ASingle-core configuration
  2. BConfiguration with only identical cores
  3. CHeterogeneous configuration combining cores of different performance (such as big.LITTLE)
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Answer: C. Heterogeneous configuration combining cores of different performance (such as big.LITTLE)

Heavy tasks run quickly on high-performance cores, while light and background tasks run on power-efficient cores, balancing performance and battery life. This approach spread in smartphone processors and has also been adopted in PC CPUs.

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More CPUs and architecture questions

  1. Which technique examines instruction dependencies and executes ready instructions in an order different from the program order to improve performance?
  2. Which CPU mechanism temporarily suspends the current task to give priority to handling requests such as those from external devices?
  3. Which mechanism transfers data directly between peripherals and memory without going through the CPU?
  4. Which LSI integrates a CPU, memory and peripherals such as timers and ADCs on one chip and is used to control appliances and equipment?
  5. In a multicore CPU, which mechanism keeps data consistent when the caches of several cores hold data for the same address?