Chapter 5

Input/Output

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External devices
› Provide a means of exchanging data between the
external environment and the computer
› Attach to the computer by a link to an I/O module
› Three categories:
▪ Human readable: Suitable for communicating with the computer user (e.g.
video display terminals, printers)
▪ Machine readable: Suitable for communicating with equipment (e.g. magnetic
disk and tape systems, sensors and actuator)
▪ Communication: Suitable for communicating with remote devices such as a
terminal, a machine readable device, or another computer

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Keyboard/Monitor
› User provides input through the keyboard
› The monitor displays data provided by the computer
› The basic unit of exchange is the character; each
associated with a code, typically 7 or 8 bits in length.
› The most commonly used text code is the
International Reference Alphabet (IRA) in 7-bit
binary code
› Characters are of two types: printable and control

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Why to use I/O modules?
› There are a wide variety of peripherals with various methods
of operation. It would be impractical to incorporate the
necessary logic within the processor to control a range of
devices.
› The data transfer rate of peripherals is often much slower
than that of the memory or processor. Thus, it is impractical
to use the high-speed system bus to communicate directly
with a peripheral.
› The data transfer rate of some peripherals can be faster than
that of the memory or processor. Again, the mismatch would
lead to inefficiencies if not managed properly.
› Peripherals often use different data formats and word lengths
than the computer to which they are attached.
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I/O modules
› What an I/O module is
used for?
▪ Interface to the processor and
memory via the system bus or
central switch
▪ Interface to one or more
peripheral devices by tailored
data links

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I/O module functions
Control and
timing
• Coordinates the
flow of traffic
between internal
resources and
external devices

Error Processor
detection communication
•Involves command
• Detects and decoding, data, status
reports
The major reporting, address
transmission errors functions for an recognition
I/O module fall
into the following
categories:

Data buffering Device

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I/O module structure

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I/O commands
› There are four types of I/O commands that an I/O module
may receive when it is addressed by a processor:
▪ Control: used to activate a peripheral and tell it what to do
▪ Test: used to test various status conditions associated with an
I/O module and its peripherals
▪ Read: causes the I/O module to obtain an item of data from the
peripheral and place it in an internal buffer
▪ Write: causes the I/O module to take an item of data from the
data bus and subsequently transmit that data item to the
peripheral

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I/O mapping
› Memory mapped I/O
▪ Devices and memory share an address space
▪ I/O looks just like memory read/write
▪ No special commands for I/O
› Isolated I/O
▪ Separate address spaces
▪ Need I/O or memory select lines
▪ Special commands for I/O

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I/O Operation Techniques
› Programmed I/O
▪ Data are exchanged between the processor and the I/O module
▪ Processor executes a program that gives it direct control of the I/O
operation
▪ When the processor issues a command it must wait until the I/O
operation is complete
▪ If the processor is faster than the I/O module this is wasteful of
processor time
› Interrupt-driven I/O
▪ Processor issues an I/O command, continues to execute other
instructions, and is interrupted by the I/O module when the latter has
completed its work
› Direct Memory Access
▪ The I/O module and main memory exchange data directly without
processor involvement
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Drawbacks of Programmed and
Interrupt-Driven I/O
› The I/O transfer rate is limited by the speed with which the
processor can test and service a device
› The processor is tied up in managing an I/O transfer; a
number of instructions must be executed for each I/O
transfer
→ When large volumes of data are to be moved a more
efficient technique is direct memory access (DMA)

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DMA Module

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Device Identification
› Multiple interrupt lines
▪ Between the processor and the I/O modules
▪ Most straightforward approach to the problem
▪ Consequently even if multiple lines are used, it is likely that each line
will have multiple I/O modules attached to it
› Software poll
▪ When processor detects an interrupt it branches to an interrupt-
service routine whose job is to poll each I/O module to determine
which module caused the interrupt
▪ Time consuming

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Device Identification (Cont’d)
› Daisy chain (hardware poll, vectored)
▪ The interrupt acknowledge line is daisy chained through the modules
▪ Vector – address of the I/O module or some other unique identifier
▪ Vectored interrupt – processor uses the vector as a pointer to the
appropriate device-service routine, avoiding the need to execute a
general interrupt-service routine first
› Bus arbitration (vectored)
▪ An I/O module must first gain control of the bus before it can raise the
interrupt request line
▪ When the processor detects the interrupt it responds on the interrupt
acknowledge line
▪ Then the requesting module places its vector on the data lines

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Evolution of I/O function
1. The CPU directly controls a peripheral device. This is seen in
simple microprocessor-controlled devices.
2. A controller or I/O module is added. The CPU uses programmed
I/O without interrupts.
3. The same configuration as in step 2 is used, but now interrupts
are employed. The CPU need not spend time waiting for an I/O
operation to be performed, thus increasing efficiency.
4. The I/O module is given direct access to memory via DMA.
5. The I/O module is enhanced to become a processor in its own
right, with a specialized instruction set tailored for I/O.
6. The I/O module has a local memory of its own and is, in fact, a
computer in its own right.

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