The stage delays in a 4-stage pipeline are 800, 500, 400 and 300 picoseconds. The first stage (with delay 800 picoseconds) is replaced with a functionally equivalent design involving two stages with respective delays 600 and 350 picoseconds. The throughput increase of the pipeline is _______ percent.

[This Question was originally a Fill-in-the-Blanks question]
(A) 33 or 34
(B) 30 or 31
(C) 38 or 39
(D) 100


Answer: (A)

Explanation:

Throughput of 1st case T1: 1/max delay =1/800
Throughput of 2nd case T2: 1/max delay= 1/600
%age increase in throughput: (T2-T1)/T2
            = ( (1/600) - (1/800) ) / (1/800)
            = 33.33%

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