Computer Architecture Lec 1

ORGANIZATION AND ARCHITECTURE

Computer architecture refers to those attributes of a system visible to a

programmer or, put another way, those attributes that have a direct impact on the
logical execution of a program.

Computer organization refers to the operational units and their interconnections

that realize the architectural specifications

Examples of architectural attributes include the instruction set, the number of bits
used to represent various data types (e.g., numbers, characters), I/O mechanisms,
and techniques for addressing memory.

Organizational attributes include those hardware details transparent to the

programmer, such as control signals; interfaces between the computer and
peripherals; and the memory technology used.

Many computer manufacturers offer a family of computer models, all with the same
architecture but with differences in organization. Consequently, the different models
in the family have different price and performance characteristics.
A prominent example of both these phenomena is the IBM System/370 architecture.
This architecture was first introduced in 1970 and included a number of models. The
customer with modest requirements could buy a cheaper, slower model and, if
demand increased, later upgrade to a more expensive, faster model without having
to abandon software that had already been developed.
Over the years, IBM has introduced many new models with improved technology to
replace older models, offering the customer greater speed, lower cost, or both.
These newer models retained the same architecture so that the customer’s software
investment was protected. Remarkably, the System/370 architecture, with a few
enhancements, has survived to this day as the architecture of IBM’s mainframe
product line.

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

Computers contain millions of elementary electronic components, the hierarchical

nature of most complex systems, A hierarchical system is a set of interrelated
subsystems, each of the latter, in turn, hierarchical in structure until we reach some
lowest level of elementary subsystem.

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The hierarchical nature of complex systems is essential to both their design and their
description. The designer need only deal with a particular level of the system at a
time. At each level, the system consists of a set of components and their
interrelationships.

The behavior at each level depends only on a simplified, abstracted characterization

of the system at the next lower level. At each level, the designer is concerned with
structure and function:

• Structure: The way in which the components are interrelated

• Function: The operation of each individual component as part of the structure

In terms of description, we have two choices: starting at the bottom and building up
to a complete description, or beginning with a top view and decomposing the system
into its subparts.

Figure1 A Functional View of the Computer

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Function

Both the structure and functioning of a computer are, in essence, simple. Figure 1
depicts the basic functions that a computer can perform. In general terms, there are
only four:

• Data processing
• Data storage
• Data movement
• Control

The computer, of course, must be able to process data. The data may take a wide
variety of forms. It is also essential that a computer store data. Even if the computer
is processing data on the fly (i.e., data come in and get processed, and the results go
out immediately), the computer must temporarily store at least those pieces of data
that are being worked on at any given moment.
The computer must be able to move data between itself and the outside world.
The computer’s operating environment consists of devices that serve as either
sources or destinations of data.

When data are received from or delivered to a device that is directly connected to
the computer, the process is known as input–output (I/O), and the device is referred
to as a peripheral .When data are moved over longer distances, to or from a remote
device, the process is known as data communications.

Finally, there must be control of these three functions

The number of possible operations that can be performed is few. Figure 2 depicts
the four possible types of operations. The computer can function as a data
movement device (Figure 2a), simply transferring data from one peripheral or
communications line to another. It can also function as a data storage device (Figure
2b), with data transferred from the external environment to computer storage (read)
and vice versa (write). The final two diagrams show operations involving data
processing, on data either in storage (Figure 2c) or en route between storage and the
external environment (Figure 2d).

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 Figure 2 Possible Computer Operations

Structure

Figure 3 is the simplest possible depiction of a computer. The computer interacts in

some fashion with its external environment. In general, all of its linkages to the
external environment can be classified as peripheral devices or communication lines.
We will have something to say about both types of linkages.

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 Figure 3 the computer

Figure 1.4 shows that there are four main structural components which are:

- Central processing unit (CPU): Controls the operation of the computer and
performs its data processing functions; often simply referred to as processor.
- Main memory: Stores data.
- I/O: Moves data between the computer and its external environment.
- System interconnection: Some mechanism that provides for communication
among CPU, main memory, and I/O. A common example of system
interconnection is by means of a system bus, consisting of a number of
conducting wires to which all the other components attach.

There may be one or more of each of the aforementioned components.

Traditionally, there has been just a single processor. In recent years, there has been
increasing use of multiple processors in a single computer. Some design issues
relating to multiple processors crop up and are discussed as the text proceeds.
The most interesting and in some ways the most complex component is the CPU. Its
major structural components are as follows:

- Control unit: Controls the operation of the CPU and hence the computer
- Arithmetic and logic unit (ALU): Performs the computer’s data processing
functions
- Registers: Provides storage internal to the CPU
- CPU interconnection: Some mechanism that provides for communication
among the control unit, ALU, and registers

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Figure 4 The Computer: Top-Level Structure