Computer Evolution
Computer Evolution
Department of
Computer Science
FEI VSB-TUO
Architecture of Computers
and Parallel Systems
Part 1: Computer architecture
+ Control Unit gets data and instruction in the same way from one
memory. It simplifies design and development of the Control Unit.
+ Data from memory and from devices are accessed in the same way.
+ Memory organization is in the hands of programmers.
Harvard
+ Two memories with two Buses allow parallel access to data
and instructions. Execution can be 2x faster.
+ Both memories can be produced by different technologies
(Flash/EEPROM, SRAM/DRAM).
+ Both memories can use different cell sizes.
+ Program can't rewrite itself.
Memory
In kB In 10kB In 1MB In 10MB
capacity
Communication Peripheral
Synchr. CPU Asynchr. CPU Channels
with devices Contollers
… Generations of Computers
Tree from ENIAC to 1970
Enlarge it.
Units for Memory Capacity
(technical vs. business)
All information in computer is stored in binary form. In the same way
we compute memory capacity – in multiples of powers of 2:
1 B (Byte) is 8 bits – usually smallest addressable cell
1 kB = 210 B = 1,024 B
1 MB = 220 B = 1,048,576 B
1 GB = 230 B = 1,073,741,824 B
1 TB = 240 B = 1,099,511,627,776 B
These units are used in operating systems and in programs to
compute and manage the capacity of primary or secondary memory.
However many promotional products and advertisement use decimal
units:
210 ≅ 103, thus 1024 ≅ 1000.
The decimal units twist reality and for the 1TB capacity the
discrepancy is as high as 10%!