A Level Computer Science OCR Practice Exam

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What does the term "flush" imply in the context of the CPU's pipeline?

Maximizing the CPU's workload
Clearing potential corruption issues
Starting a new computation
Restoring previous states

The correct answer is: Clearing potential corruption issues

In the context of a CPU's pipeline, "flush" specifically refers to the process of clearing out all the instructions that are currently in the pipeline. This action is often necessary to prevent potential corruption issues, particularly when there has been a mispredicted branch in control flow or an interrupt that requires the system to clear previous instructions that may no longer be valid. By flushing the pipeline, the CPU ensures that it can operate with a clean slate, processing only the relevant and correct instructions going forward. This clearing action is crucial for maintaining the integrity and correctness of computation as it prevents stale data or instructions from influencing the state of the processor. In scenarios such as executing a new branch or when handling exceptions, a flush guarantees that the CPU is ready to handle new and accurate data, thus helping to maintain overall system reliability and performance.