Computer Organization and Architecture

Computer Organization and Architecture Tutorial provides in-depth knowledge of

internal working, structuring, and implementation of a computer system.

Whereas, Organization defines the way the system is structured so that all those
catalogued tools can be used properly.

Our Computer Organization and Architecture Tutorial includes all topics of such as
introduction, ER model, keys, relational model, join operation, SQL, functional
dependency, transaction, concurrency control, etc.

What is Computer Architecture and Organization?

In general terms, the architecture of a computer system can be considered as a catalogue
of tools or attributes that are visible to the user such as instruction sets, number of bits
used for data, addressing techniques, etc.

Whereas, Organization of a computer system defines the way system is structured so that
all those catalogued tools can be used. The significant components of Computer
organization are ALU, CPU, memory and memory organization.

Computer Architecture VS Computer Organization

Computer Architecture Computer Organization

Computer Architecture is concerned with Computer Organization is concerned

the way hardware components are with the structure and behaviour of a
connected together to form a computer computer system as seen by the user.
system.

It acts as the interface between hardware It deals with the components of a

and software. connection in a system.

Computer Architecture helps us to Computer Organization tells us how

understand the functionalities of a system. exactly all the units in the system are
arranged and interconnected.
A programmer can view architecture in Whereas Organization expresses the
terms of instructions, addressing modes realization of architecture.
and registers.

While designing a computer system An organization is done on the basis of

architecture is considered first. architecture.

Computer Architecture deals with high- Computer Organization deals with low-
level design issues. level design issues.

Architecture involves Logic (Instruction

sets, Addressing modes, Data types, Cache
optimization)

Functional Units of Digital System

o A computer organization describes the functions and design of the various units
of a digital system.
o A general-purpose computer system is the best-known example of a digital system.
Other examples include telephone switching exchanges, digital voltmeters, digital
counters, electronic calculators and digital displays.
o Computer architecture deals with the specification of the instruction set and the
hardware units that implement the instructions.
o Computer hardware consists of electronic circuits, displays, magnetic and optic
storage media and also the communication facilities.
o Functional units are a part of a CPU that performs the operations and calculations
called for by the computer program.
o Functional units of a computer system are parts of the CPU (Central Processing
Unit) that performs the operations and calculations called for by the computer
program. A computer consists of five main components namely, Input unit, Central
Processing Unit, Memory unit Arithmetic & logical unit, Control unit and an Output
unit.
Input unit
o Input units are used by the computer to read the data. The most commonly used
input devices are keyboards, mouse, joysticks, trackballs, microphones, etc.
o However, the most well-known input device is a keyboard. Whenever a key is
pressed, the corresponding letter or digit is automatically translated into its
corresponding binary code and transmitted over a cable to either the memory or
the processor.

Central processing unit

o Central processing unit commonly known as CPU can be referred as an electronic
circuitry within a computer that carries out the instructions given by a computer
program by performing the basic arithmetic, logical, control and input/output (I/O)
operations specified by the instructions.

Memory unit
o The Memory unit can be referred to as the storage area in which programs are kept
which are running, and that contains data needed by the running programs.
 o The Memory unit can be categorized in two ways namely, primary memory and
secondary memory.
o It enables a processor to access running execution applications and services that
are temporarily stored in a specific memory location.
o Primary storage is the fastest memory that operates at electronic speeds. Primary
memory contains a large number of semiconductor storage cells, capable of
storing a bit of information. The word length of a computer is between 16-64 bits.
o It is also known as the volatile form of memory, means when the computer is shut
down, anything contained in RAM is lost.
o Cache memory is also a kind of memory which is used to fetch the data very soon.
They are highly coupled with the processor.
o The most common examples of primary memory are RAM and ROM.
o Secondary memory is used when a large amount of data and programs have to be
stored for a long-term basis.
o It is also known as the Non-volatile memory form of memory, means the data is
stored permanently irrespective of shut down.
o The most common examples of secondary memory are magnetic disks, magnetic
tapes, and optical disks.

Arithmetic & logical unit

o Most of all the arithmetic and logical operations of a computer are executed in the
ALU (Arithmetic and Logical Unit) of the processor. It performs arithmetic
operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and also the logical
operations like AND, OR, NOT operations.

Control unit
o The control unit is a component of a computer's central processing unit that
coordinates the operation of the processor. It tells the computer's memory,
arithmetic/logic unit and input and output devices how to respond to a program's
instructions.
o The control unit is also known as the nerve center of a computer system.
 o Let's us consider an example of addition of two operands by the instruction given
as Add LOCA, RO. This instruction adds the memory location LOCA to the operand
in the register RO and places the sum in the register RO. This instruction internally
performs several steps.

Output Unit
o The primary function of the output unit is to send the processed results to the user.
Output devices display information in a way that the user can understand.
o Output devices are pieces of equipment that are used to generate information or
any other response processed by the computer. These devices display information
that has been held or generated within a computer.
o The most common example of an output device is a monitor.

Basic Operational Concepts

o The primary function of a computer system is to execute a program, sequence of
instructions. These instructions are stored in computer memory.
o These instructions are executed to process data which are already loaded in the
computer memory through some input devices.
o After processing the data, the result is either stored in the memory for further
reference, or it is sent to the outside world through some output port.
o To perform the execution of an instruction, in addition to the arithmetic logic unit,
and control unit, the processor contains a number of registers used for temporary
storage of data and some special function registers.
o The special function registers include program counters (PC), instruction registers
(IR), memory address registers (MAR) and memory and memory data registers
(MDR).
o The Program counter is one of the most critical registers in CPU.
o The Program counter monitors the execution of instructions. It keeps track on
which instruction is being executed and what the next instruction will be.
o The instruction register IR is used to hold the instruction that is currently being
executed.
o The contents of IR are available to the control unit, which generate the timing
signals that control, the various processing elements involved in executing the
instruction.
o The two registers MAR and MDR are used to handle the data transfer between the
main memory and the processor.
o The MAR holds the address of the main memory to or from which data is to be
transferred.
o The MDR contains the data to be written into or read from the addressed word of
the main memory.
o Whenever the processor is asked to communicate with devices, we say that the
processor is servicing the devices. The processor can service these devices in one
of the two ways.
o One way is to use the polling routine, and the other way is to use an interrupt.
o Polling enables the processor software to check each of the input and output
devices frequently. During this check, the processor tests to see if any devices need
servicing or not.
o Interrupt method provides an external asynchronous input that informs the
processor that it should complete whatever instruction that is currently being
executed and fetch a new routine that will service the requesting device.