Operations in Computer Hardware

Chris Gregg, Based on Slides by Eric Roberts

CS 208E
October 11, 2018
When we compile C code, it turns into Assembly
Instructions, which are very basic
■ C code:
f = (g + h) - (i + j);
■ Compiled code (for a "MIPS" processor):
add t0, g, h # temp t0 = g + h
add t1, i, j # temp t1 = i + j
sub f, t0, t1 # f = t0 - t1
When we compile C code, it turns into Assembly
Instructions, which are very basic
■ C code:
f = (g + h) - (i + j);
■ Compiled code (for a "MIPS" processor):
add t0, g, h # temp t0 = g + h
add t1, i, j # temp t1 = i + j
sub f, t0, t1 # f = t0 - t1
The processor on your computer interprets these instructions
explicitly, based on the underlying encoding of the assembly code
to "machine instructions"
Recognize either of these guys?
Recognize either of these guys?
John Hennessy David Patterson
— created the — coined the term
MIPS processor, "RISC"
a contemporary — Berkeley
RISC to the ARM Professor in EECS.
processor.
— Stanford
Professor in CS
and EE, and Last year, Hennessy and Patterson
President of were named the 2017 Turing Award
Stanford from recipients for their work in
2000-2016. developing RISC processors. If it
wasn't for these two, your phone
would have a completely different
processor!
 CPU Overview
Adders Multiplexers

Program Counter
(PC)

Instruction
Memory Registers

Arithmetic
Data
Control (tell Logic Unit
Memory
the processor (add/
what to do) subtract/
AND/OR/
NOR/etc.)
CPU Overview
■ Can’t just join wires
together
■ Use multiplexers
 Clocking Methodology
■ Combinational logic transforms data during
clock cycles
■ Between clock edges
■ Input from state elements, output to state
element
■ Longest delay determines clock period
 Instruction Fetch

Increment by 4
for next
instruction
32-bit
register

Instructions in MIPS are 4 bytes long, so each time the clock

"ticks", we get the next instruction.
 R-Format Instructions
■ Read two register operands
■ Perform arithmetic/logical operation
■ Write register result

■ What does "R-Format" mean??

Instruction Set
■ The repertoire of instructions of a computer
■ Different computers have different
instruction sets
■ But with many aspects in common
■ Early computers had very simple
instruction sets
■ Simplified implementation
■ Many modern computers also have simple
instruction sets
The MIPS Instruction Set
■ Stanford MIPS commercialized by MIPS
Technologies (www.mips.com)
■ Large share of embedded core market
■ Applications in consumer electronics, network/storage
equipment, cameras, printers, …
■ Typical of many modern ISAs
■ See MIPS Reference: https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/
~cs61c/resources/MIPS_help.html
MIPS R-format Instructions
op rs rt rd shamt funct
6 bits 5 bits 5 bits 5 bits 5 bits 6 bits

■ Instruction fields
■ op: operation code (opcode)
■ rs: first source register number
■ rt: second source register number
■ rd: destination register number
■ shamt: shift amount (00000 for now)
■ funct: function code (extends opcode)
R-format Example
op rs rt rd shamt funct
6 bits 5 bits 5 bits 5 bits 5 bits 6 bits

This means: compute $s1 + $s2 and put

■ add $t0, $s1, $s2 the result into $t0

special $s1 $s2 $t0 0 add

0 17 18 8 0 32

000000 10001 10010 01000 00000 100000

000000100011001001000000001000002 = 0232402016
 R-Type/Load/Store Datapath

■ add $t0, $s1, $s2

special $s1 $s2 $t0 0 add

000000 10001 10010 01000 00000 100000

 Load/Store Instructions
■ Read register operands
■ Calculate address using 16-bit offset
■ Use ALU, but sign-extend offset
■ Load: Read memory and update register
■ Store: Write register value to memory
 MIPS I-format Instructions
op rs rt constant or address
6 bits 5 bits 5 bits 16 bits

■ Immediate arithmetic and load/store instructions

■ rt: destination or source register number
■ Constant: –215 to +215 – 1
■ Address: offset added to base address in rs
■
 Load/Store Instructions
■ Load: Read memory and update register
■ Store: Write register value to memory

op rs rt constant or address
6 bits 5 bits 5 bits 16 bits
 Branch Instructions
■ Read register operands
■ Compare operands
■ Use ALU, subtract and check Zero output
■ Calculate target address
■ Sign-extend displacement
■ Shift left 2 places (word displacement)
■ Add to PC + 4
■ Already calculated by instruction fetch
 Branch Instructions

Just
re-routes
wires

Sign-bit wire
replicated
 Implementing Switches in Silicon
• In modern computers, switches are usually implemented in
chips made based on a semiconductor, which is simply a
material (typically some form of silicon) that is conducting in
some circumstances and insulating in others.
• One of the most common components in today’s computers is
the field-effect transistor (or FET ), which you can implement
in semiconductor using a structure that looks like this:

• Field-effect transistors come in two types. In a n-type FET,

the presence of a charge on the gate allows current to flow
across the transistor as a whole. In a p-type FET, a charge on
the gate inhibits the current flow.
Field-Effect Transistors
 Chip Fabrication
The manufacture of a semiconductor chip begins with a
crystal of extremely pure silicon. The silicon itself is
extracted from beach sand and then grown into a cylindrical
ingot in such a way that impurities represent no more than
one of a trillion atoms in the crystal.
 Chip Fabrication
The silicon ingot is then sliced into individual wafers, which
are typically 8-12 inches in diameter and less than a
millimeter thick. Each individual wafer is then polished to
remove any irregularities in its surface.
 Chip Fabrication
The polished wafer is then heated in the presence of oxygen
to create a thin layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2). The SiO2
layer is nonconducting, and thereby serves to insulate the
silicon wafer from the various materials that will be layered
above it.
 Chip Fabrication
The problem now is to remove just the right parts of the
SiO2 layer to expose the silicon underneath, so that these
regions of the chip can be used as transistors. This phase of
chip fabrication is accomplished using a process called
photolithography.
 Chip Fabrication
The first step in the photolithographic process is to coat the
insulated wafer with a layer called photoresist, which
changes its chemical composition when exposed to light.
 Chip Fabrication
The pattern to be inscribed on the chip is taken from an
optical template called a mask. The mask looks very much
like an old photographic negative, with the transparent
regions indicating which parts of the chip surface need to be
etched away.
 Chip Fabrication
The image on the mask is transferred to the chip surface by
shining ultraviolet light through the mask and then using a
lens to focus the image on the desired area of the chip.
 Chip Fabrication
The same pattern is then created in a new position in other
parts of the wafer by repositioning the image. A typical
wafer can hold hundreds or even thousands of identical
chips, each of which can be etched into the wafer
simultaneously.
 Chip Fabrication
The same pattern is then created in a new position in other
parts of the wafer by repositioning the image. A typical
wafer can hold thousands of identical chips, each of which
can be etched into the wafer simultaneously.
 Chip Fabrication
The exposed photoresist is then removed chemically,
exposing the SiO2 layer underneath. A further etching step
removes the SiO2 in the exposed areas, revealing the silicon
layer. The final step in the etching process is to remove the
unexposed photoresist from the wafer.
 Chip Fabrication
The exposed photoresist is then removed chemically,
exposing the SiO2 layer underneath. A further etching step
removes the SiO2 in the exposed areas, revealing the silicon
layer. The final step in the etching process is to remove the
unexposed photoresist from the wafer.
 Chip Fabrication
The exposed photoresist is then removed chemically,
exposing the SiO2 layer underneath. A further etching step
removes the SiO2 in the exposed areas, revealing the silicon
layer. The final step in the etching process is to remove the
unexposed photoresist from the wafer.
 Chip Fabrication
The next phase in the chip-making process is to introduce
new elements into the silicon wafer to make it
semiconducting. An ion beam bombards the surface with
the doping atoms needed to create n-type and p-type regions
in the exposed silicon wafer.
 Chip Fabrication
To complete the fabrication of the chips on the wafer,
additional photolithographic steps are used to lay down
alternating layers of insulators and conductors. The
conductors (typically aluminum and tungsten) create the
wiring pattern for each chip.
 Chip Fabrication
Once the wiring is complete, diamond saws cut the wafer
into the individual chips, which are then encased in plastic,
after connecting metallic leads to the appropriate contact
positions on the chip.
 Chip Fabrication
The individual chips are then tested to make sure that every
internal circuit works correctly. Given the complexity and
extremely fine tolerances of the manufacturing process,
several of the chips on each wafer typically need to be
discarded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2KcZGwntgg
The End