Computer Organization and Architecture

Designing for Performance

11th Edition

Chapter 3
A Top-Level View of
Computer Function and
Interconnection

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Computer Components
• Contemporary computer designs are based on concepts
developed by John von Neumann at the Institute for
Advanced Studies, Princeton
• Referred to as the von Neumann architecture and is
based on three key concepts:
– Data and instructions are stored in a single read-write memory
– The contents of this memory are addressable by location, without regard
to the type of data contained there
– Execution occurs in a sequential fashion (unless explicitly modified) from
one instruction to the next

• Hardwired program
– The result of the process of connecting the various components in the
desired configuration

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Hardware and Sequence of
arithmetic
Software Data
and logic
functions
Results

Approaches (a) Programming in hardware

Instruction Instruction
codes interpreter

Control
signals

General-purpose
Data arithmetic Results
and logic
functions

(b) Programming in software

Figure 3.1 Hardware and Software Approaches

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Software and I/O Components
Software
• A sequence of codes or instructions
• Part of the hardware interprets each instruction and
generates control signals
• Provide a new sequence of codes for each new
program instead of rewiring the hardware
Major components:
• CPU
• Instruction interpreter
• Module of general-purpose arithmetic and logic
functions
• I/O Components
• Input module
• Contains basic components for accepting data
and instructions and converting them into an
internal form of signals usable by the system
• Output module
• Means of reporting results
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 Memory, MAR, and MBR
Memory Memory buffer
address register (MBR)
register (MAR) • Contains the data
• Specifies the to be written into
address in memory memory or
for the next read or receives the data
write read from memory

I/O address I/O buffer

register (I/OAR) register (I/OBR)
• Specifies a • Used for the
particular I/O exchange of data
device between an I/O
module and the
CPU

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 CPU Main Memory
0
System 1
2
Figure 3.2 PC MAR Bus
Instruction
Instruction
Instruction
IR MBR

I/O AR
Data
Execution
unit Data
I/O BR Data
Data

I/O Module n–2

n–1

PC = Program counter
Buffers IR = Instruction register
MAR = Memory address register
MBR = Memory buffer register
I/O AR = Input/output address register
I/O BR = Input/output buffer register

Figure 3.2 Computer Components: Top-Level View

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Figure 3.3
Fetch Cycle Execute Cycle

Fetch Next Execute

START HALT
Instruction Instruction

Figure 3.3 Basic Instruction Cycle

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Fetch Cycle

• At the beginning of each instruction cycle the processor

fetches an instruction from memory

• The program counter (PC) holds the address of the

instruction to be fetched next

• The processor increments the PC after each instruction

fetch so that it will fetch the next instruction in sequence
• The fetched instruction is loaded into the instruction
register (IR)

• The processor interprets the instruction and performs the

required action
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Action Categories
• Data transferred from • Data transferred to or
processor to memory from a peripheral
or from memory to device by
processor transferring between
the processor and an
I/O module

Processor- Processor-
memory I/O

Data
Control
processing

• An instruction may • The processor may

specify that the perform some
sequence of arithmetic or logic
execution be altered operation on data

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 0 3 4 15
Opcode Address
Figure 3.4 (a) Instruction format

0 1 15
S Magnitude

(b) Integer format

Program Counter (PC) = Address of instruction

Instruction Register (IR) = Instruction being executed
Accumulator (AC) = Temporary storage

(c) Internal CPU registers

0001 = Load AC from Memory

0010 = Store AC to Memory
0101 = Add to AC from Memory

(d) Partial list of opcodes

Figure 3.4 Characteristics of a Hypothetical Machine

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 Memory CPU Registers Memory CPU Registers
300 1 9 4 0 3 0 0 PC 300 1 9 4 0 3 0 1 PC
301 5 9 4 1 AC 301 5 9 4 1 0 0 0 3 AC
302 2 9 4 1 1 9 4 0 IR 302 2 9 4 1 1 9 4 0 IR
Figure 3.5 •
•
940 0 0 0 3
•
•
940 0 0 0 3
941 0 0 0 2 941 0 0 0 2
Step 1 Step 2
Memory CPU Registers Memory CPU Registers
300 1 9 4 0 3 0 1 PC 300 1 9 4 0 3 0 2 PC
301 5 9 4 1 0 0 0 3 AC 301 5 9 4 1 0 0 0 5 AC
302 2 9 4 1 5 9 4 1 IR 302 2 9 4 1 5 9 4 1 IR
• •
• •
940 0 0 0 3 940 0 0 0 3 3+2=5
941 0 0 0 2 941 0 0 0 2
Step 3 Step 4
Memory CPU Registers Memory CPU Registers
300 1 9 4 0 3 0 2 PC 300 1 9 4 0 3 0 3 PC
301 5 9 4 1 0 0 0 5 AC 301 5 9 4 1 0 0 0 5 AC
302 2 9 4 1 2 9 4 1 IR 302 2 9 4 1 2 9 4 1 IR
• •
• •
940 0 0 0 3 940 0 0 0 3
941 0 0 0 2 941 0 0 0 5
Step 5 Step 6

Figure 3.5 Example of Program Execution

(contents of memory and registers in hexadecimal)
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Figure 3.6
Instruction Operand Operand
fetch fetch store

Multiple Multiple
operands results

Instruction Instruction Operand Operand

Data
address operation address address
Operation
calculation decoding calculation calculation

Return for string

Instruction complete, or vector data
fetch next instruction

Figure 3.6 Instruction Cycle State Diagram

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Table 3.1 Classes of Interrupts

Program Generated by some condition that occurs as a result of an

instruction execution, such as arithmetic overflow, division by
zero, attempt to execute an illegal machine instruction, or
reference outside a user’s allowed memory space.

Timer Generated by a timer within the processor. This allows the

operating system to perform certain functions on a regular basis.
I/O Generated by an I/O controller, to signal normal completion of an
operation, request service from the processor, or to signal a
variety of error conditions.
Hardware Failure Generated by a failure such as power failure or memory parity
error.

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 User 1 2 3
WRITE WRITE WRITE
Program

Figure 3.7
(a) No
interrupts
I/O 4 I/O 5
Program Command END

User 1 2a 2b 3a 3b
WRITE WRITE WRITE
Program

(b) Interrupts,
short I/O wait

I/O 4 I/O Interrupt 5

Program Command Handler END

User 1 2 3
WRITE WRITE WRITE
Program

(c) Interrupts,
long I/O wait

I/O 4 I/O Interrupt 5

Program Command Handler END

= interrupt occurs during course of execution of user program

Figure 3.7 Program Flow of Control Without and With Interrupts

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 User Program Interrupt Handler

Figure 3.8
1

i
Interrupt
occurs here i+1

Figure 3.8 Transfer of Control via Interrupts

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Figure 3.9
Fetch Cycle Execute Cycle Interrupt Cycle

Interrupts
Disabled
Check for
Fetch Next Execute
START Interrupt;
Instruction Instruction Interrupts Process Interrupt
Enabled

HALT

Figure 3.9 Instruction Cycle with Interrupts

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 Time

1 1

Figure 3.10 4 4
I/O operation
I/O operation;
processor waits 2a concurrent with
processor executing

5 5

2b
2
4
I/O operation
4 3a concurrent with
processor executing
I/O operation;
processor waits 5

5 3b

(b) With interrupts

3

(a) Without interrupts

Figure 3.10 Program Timing: Short I/O Wait

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 Time

1 1

4 4
Figure 3.11
I/O operation; 2 I/O operation
processor waits concurrent with
processor executing;
then processor
waits
5

5
2
4
4
3 I/O operation
concurrent with
I/O operation; processor executing;
processor waits then processor
waits

5
5

3 (b) With interrupts

(a) Without interrupts

Figure 3.11 Program Timing: Long I/O Wait

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Figure 3.12
Instruction Operand Operand
fetch fetch store

Multiple Multiple
operands results

Instruction Instruction Operand Operand

Data
address operation address address
Operation
calculation decoding calculation calculation

Return for
string or
Instruction complete, vector data
No
fetch next instruction interrupt Interrupt
check

Interrupt

Interrupt

Figure 3.12 Instruction Cycle State Diagram, With Interrupts

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 Interrupt
User program handler X

Figure 3.13
Interrupt
handler Y

(a) Sequential interrupt processing

Interrupt
User program handler X

Interrupt
handler Y

(b) Nested interrupt processing

Figure 3.13 Transfer of Control with Multiple Interrupts

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Figure 3.14
Printer Communication
User program
interrupt service routine interrupt service routine
t=0

15
0 t=
t =1

t = 25

t= t = 25 Disk
40 interrupt service routine

t=
35

Figure 3.14 Example Time Sequence of Multiple Interrupts

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I/O Function
• I/O module can exchange data directly with the processor
• Processor can read data from or write data to an I/O module
– Processor identifies a specific device that is controlled by a particular I/O
module
– I/O instructions rather than memory referencing instructions

• In some cases it is desirable to allow I/O exchanges to occur

directly with memory
– The processor grants to an I/O module the authority to read from or write
to memory so that the I/O memory transfer can occur without tying up the
processor
– The I/O module issues read or write commands to memory relieving the
processor of responsibility for the exchange
– This operation is known as direct memory access (DMA)
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 Read Memory
Figure 3.15 Write
N Words
Address 0 Data

Data N–1

Read I/O Module Internal

Write Data

External
Address M Ports Data

Internal
Data Interrupt
Signals
External
Data

Instructions Address

Control
Data CPU Signals

Interrupt Data
Signals

Figure 3.15 Computer Modules

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The interconnection structure must support the
following types of transfers:

Memory Processor I/O to or

I/O to Processor
to to from
processor to I/O
processor memory memory

An I/O
module is
allowed to
exchange
Processor Processor data directly
reads an Processor reads data Processor with
instruction writes a unit from an I/O sends data memory
or a unit of of data to device via to the I/O without
data from memory an I/O device going
memory module through the
processor
using direct
memory
access

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A communication pathway Signals transmitted by any
connecting two or more one device are available for
devices reception by all other
• Key characteristic is that it is a devices attached to the bus
shared transmission medium • If two devices transmit during the
same time period their signals
will overlap and become garbled

Bus
Typically consists of
Interconnection
multiple communication Computer systems contain a
lines number of different buses
that provide pathways
• Each line is capable of between components at
transmitting signals representing
binary 1 and binary 0 various levels of the
computer system hierarchy

System bus
• A bus that connects major The most common computer
computer components (processor,
memory, I/O) interconnection structures
are based on the use of one
or more system buses

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Data Bus
• Data lines that provide a path for moving data among system
modules
• May consist of 32, 64, 128, or more separate lines
• The number of lines is referred to as the width of the data bus
• The number of lines determines how many bits can be
transferred at a time
• The width of the data bus
is a key factor in
determining overall
system performance

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Address Bus Control Bus
• Used to designate the source or • Used to control the access and the
destination of the data on the use of the data and address lines
data bus
– If the processor wishes to • Because the data and address lines
read a word of data from are shared by all components there
memory it puts the address must be a means of controlling their
of the desired word on the use
address lines • Control signals transmit both
• Width determines the maximum command and timing information
possible memory capacity of the among system modules
system
• Also used to address I/O ports • Timing signals indicate the validity
– The higher order bits are of data and address information
used to select a particular • Command signals specify
module on the bus and the operations to be performed
lower order bits select a
memory location or I/O port
within the module
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Figure 3.16

CPU Memory Memory I/O I/O

Control lines

Address lines Bus

Data lines

Figure 3.16 Bus Interconnection Scheme

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Point-to-Point Interconnect
Principal reason for change At higher and higher data
was the electrical rates it becomes
constraints encountered increasingly difficult to
with increasing the perform the synchronization
frequency of wide and arbitration functions in a
synchronous buses timely fashion

A conventional shared bus

on the same chip magnified
Has lower latency, higher
the difficulties of increasing
data rate, and better
bus data rate and reducing
scalability
bus latency to keep up with
the processors

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Quick Path Interconnect
QPI
• Introduced in 2008
• Multiple direct connections
– Direct pairwise connections to other components eliminating
the need for arbitration found in shared transmission systems

• Layered protocol architecture

– These processor level interconnects use a layered protocol
architecture rather than the simple use of control signals
found in shared bus arrangements

• Packetized data transfer

– Data are sent as a sequence of packets each of which
includes control headers and error control codes
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 I/O device

I/O device
I/O Hub
Figure 3.17

DRAM

DRAM
Core Core
A B

DRAM

DRAM
Core Core
C D
I/O device

I/O device
I/O Hub

QPI PCI Express Memory bus

Figure 3.17 Multicore Configuration Using QPI

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Figure 3.18
Packets
Protocol Protocol

Routing Routing

Flits
Link Link

Physical Phits Physical

Figure 3.18 QPI Layers

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Figure 3.19
COMPONENT A
Fwd Clk Intel QuickPath Interconnect Port

Rcv Clk
Transmission Lanes Reception Lanes

Fwd Clk
Rcv Clk

Reception Lanes Transmission Lanes

Intel QuickPath Interconnect Port

COMPONENT B

Figure 3.19 Physical Interface of the Intel QPI Interconnect

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 byte stream

Figure 3.20 #2n+1 #2n #n+2 #n+1 #n #2 #1

#2n+1 #2n+2 #3n

#n+1 #n+2 #2n

#1 #2 #n

QPI QPI QPI

lane 0 lane 1 lane 19

Figure 3.20 QPI Multilane Distribution

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 QPI Link Layer
• Flow control function
• Performs two key – Needed to ensure that a
functions: flow control sending QPI entity does not
and error control overwhelm a receiving QPI
– Operate on the level of entity by sending data faster
the flit (flow control unit) than the receiver can process
– Each flit consists of a 72- the data and clear buffers for
bit message payload and more incoming data
an 8-bit error control Error control function
code called a cyclic – Detects and recovers from bit
redundancy check (CRC) errors, and so isolates higher
layers from experiencing bit
errors

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QPI Routing and Protocol Layers

Routing Layer Protocol Layer

• Used to determine the course • Packet is defined as the unit
that a packet will traverse of transfer
across the available system
• One key function performed
interconnects at this level is a cache
coherency protocol which
• Defined by firmware and deals with making sure that
describe the possible paths main memory values held in
that a packet can follow multiple caches are
consistent

• A typical data packet payload

is a block of data being sent
to or from a cache

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Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
• A popular high bandwidth, processor independent bus that
can function as a mezzanine or peripheral bus
• Delivers better system performance for high speed I/O
subsystems
• PCI Special Interest Group (SIG)
– Created to develop further and maintain the compatibility of the PCI
specifications

• PCI Express (PCIe)

– Point-to-point interconnect scheme intended to replace bus-based
schemes such as PCI
– Key requirement is high capacity to support the needs of higher data rate
I/O devices, such as Gigabit Ethernet
– Another requirement deals with the need to support time dependent data
streams
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 Core Core

Figure 3.21
Gigabit PCIe
Memory
Ethernet
Chipset
PCIe–PCI PCIe
Memory
Bridge

PCIe

PCIe PCIe
Switch

PCIe PCIe

Legacy PCIe PCIe PCIe

endpoint endpoint endpoint endpoint

Figure 3.21 Typical Configuration Using PCIe

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Figure 3.22
Transaction layer
packets (TLP)
Transaction Transaction

Data link layer

packets (DLLP)
Data Link Data Link

Physical Physical

Figure 3.22 PCIe Protocol Layers

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 byte stream

Figure 3.23 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0

B4 B5 B6 B7

B0 B1 B2 B3

128b/ 128b/ 128b/ 128b/

130b 130b 130b 130b

PCIe PCIe PCIe PCIe

lane 0 lane 1 lane 2 lane 3

Figure 3.23 PCIe Multilane Distribution

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 D+ D–
8b

Figure 3.24 Scrambler

Differential
Receiver

8b 1b Clock recovery
circuit

Data recovery
128b/130b Encoding circuit

130b 1b

Parallel to serial Serial to parallel

1b 130b

Transmitter Differential
128b/130b Decoding
Driver

128b

D+ D–
Descrambler
(a) Transmitter
8b

(b) Receiver

Figure 3.24 PCIe Transmit and Receive Block Diagrams

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PCIe Transaction Layer (TL)
• Receives read and write requests from the software
above the TL and creates request packets for
transmission to a destination via the link layer
• Most transactions use a split transaction technique
– A request packet is sent out by a source PCIe
device which then waits for a response called a
completion packet
• TL messages and some write transactions are posted
transactions (meaning that no response is expected)
• TL packet format supports 32-bit memory addressing
and extended 64-bit memory addressing
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The TL supports four address spaces:

• Memory • I/O
– The memory space includes – This address space is used
system main memory and for legacy PCI devices, with
PCIe I/O devices
– Certain ranges of memory
reserved address ranges
addresses map into I/O used to address legacy I/O
devices devices

• Configuration • Message
– This address space enables – This address space is for
the TL to read/write control signals related to
configuration registers interrupts, error handling,
associated with I/O devices and power management

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 Table 3.2
PCIe TLP Transaction Types
Address Space TLP Type Purpose
Memory Read Request
Transfer data to or from a location in the system
Memory Memory Read Lock Request
memory map.
Memory Write Request
I/O Read Request Transfer data to or from a location in the system
I/O I/O Write Request memory map for legacy
I/O Write Request devices.
Config Type 0 Read Request
Config Type 0 Write Request Transfer data to or from a location in the
Configuration configuration
Config Type 1 Read Request space of a PCIe device.
Config Type 1 Write Request
Message Request
Message Provides in-band messaging and event reporting.
Message Request with Data
Completion
Memory, I/O, Completion with Data
Configuration
Returned for certain requests.
Completion Locked
Completion Locked with Data

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 Number
of octets
1 STP framing 1 Start

Appended by PL
2 Sequence number
DLLP

Created
by DLL
Figure 3.25 4

2 CRC

12 or 16 Header 1 End

Created by Transaction Layer

Appended by Data Link Layer

Appended by Physical Layer

0 to 4096 Data

0 or 4 ECRC

4 LCRC

1 STP framing

(a) Transaction Layer Packet (b) Data Link Layer Packet

Figure 3.25 PCIe Protocol Data Unit Format

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 A Top-Level View of
Summary Computer Function
and Interconnection
Chapter 3 • Point-to-point interconnect
– QPI physical layer
• Computer components
– QPI link layer
• Computer function
– QPI routing layer
– Instruction fetch and
execute – QPI protocol layer
– Interrupts • PCI express
– I/O function – PCI physical and logical
architecture
• Interconnection structures
– PCIe physical layer
• Bus interconnection
– PCIe transaction layer
– PCIe data link layer

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