What type of pipeline hazard occurs when two overlapping instructions attempt to access the same physical hardware resource simultaneously?
Subject: Computer Architecture and Organization
Topic: Pipelining, Flynn's Taxonomy & Parallel Processing
Options:
- Option A: Structural Hazard (Resource Hazard)
- Option B: Data Hazard (RAW Hazard)
- Option C: Control Hazard (Branch Hazard)
- Option D: Memory Alignment Hazard
Correct Answer:
Option A: Structural Hazard (Resource Hazard)
Explanation:
A Structural Hazard occurs when hardware resource contention (e.g. single port memory accessed by Fetch and Memory stages concurrently) prevents simultaneous execution.