Computer Architecture

NCS-505
 Contents
• Computer
• Computer Organization
• Computer Architecture
• Digital Computer Generation
• Computer Types
• Computer Classification
• Functional Units
• Interconnections Structure
 Computer
• Definition:
• Its an electronic Device that is used for information Processing.
• Computer.. Latin word.. compute
• Calculation Machine
• A computer system includes a computer, peripheral devices, and
software
• Input refers to whatever is sent to a Computer system
• Data refers to the symbols that represent facts, objects, and ideas
• Processing is the way that a computer manipulates data
• A computer processes data in a device called the central processing
unit (CPU)
 Computers Contt….
• Memory is an area of a computer that holds data that is waiting to be
processed, stored, or output
• Storage is the area where data can be left on a permanent basis
• Computer output is the result produced by the computer
• An output device displays, prints or transmits the results of processing
• Capabilities of Computers
• Huge Data Storage
• Input and Output
• Processing

• Characteristics of Computers
• High Processing Speed
• Accuracy
• Reliability
• Versatility
• Diligence
• Computer Organization:
 CO deals with the way H/W components operate and the
way they are connected together to form the computer
system.
As checking of computer parts operate as intended.
• Computer Architecture:
 It deals with the structure and behavior of the computer
system.
It includes:
• Information
• Formats
• Instruction Set
• Techniques for addressing memory
 Types of computer
architecture

Von Neumann architecture Harvard architecture

Generations of Computers
• Generation of Computers

• Zeroth Generation- Mechanical Computers (1642-1945)

• First Generation- Vacuum Tubes (1945-55)
• Second Generation- Transistors (1955-65)
• Third Generation – Integrated Circuits (1965-1980)
• Fourth Generation - Very Large Scale Integration (1980-?)
• Fifth Generation
• Sixth Generation
 Zeroth Generation- Mechanical Computers (1642-1945)
• In 1642, Blaise Pascal (French mathematician,
physicist, philosopher) invented a mechanical
calculator called the Pascaline

• In 1671, Gottfried von Leibniz (German

mathematician, philosopher) extended the
Pascaline to do multiplications, divisions,
square roots: the Stepped Reckoner
• Drawback
• None of these machines had memory, and they
required human involvement at each step.
First Generation-Vacuum Tubes
(1945-55)
vacuum tubes as the active electronic components
and was very large.
Features are:
a) They were extremely large and occupied a very
large space.

b)  Storage capacity was too small only 1 to 4Kb.

c) They were very expensive and consumed a lot of

electrical power.

d) The operating speed was measured in

milliseconds.

e) These computers had low level of accuracy and

reliability.

The examples are- ENIAC (18000 VT, 140 KW, 30

 Second Generation- Transistors (1955-65)
Features are as follows-
a) These computers used transistor.
b) They were smaller, faster and cheaper than first
generation of computer.
c) They consumed less electrical power than first
generation.
d) The operating speed was measured in microseconds.
e) They were more reliable and accurate than the
first generation computers.
f) They could understand high level language
such as COBOL.
g) Magnetic tapes were used as secondary
storage media.

• The examples are – IBM 1620, IBM 1401,

and CDC 3600.
 Third Generation – Integrated Circuits (1965-1980)
• Features are as follows-
a) These computers used integrated circuits.
b) They were small, efficient and reliable.
c) Operating systems were developed.
d) Monitors and keyboards were introduced
for input and output of data.
e) Magnetic disks were used for secondary
storage.
f) The operating speed was measured in nano
seconds.
g) They could understand large number of
high level languages.
• The examples are – IBM 360
and IBM 370 etc.
 Fourth Generation - Very Large Scale Integration (1980-?)
Features are as follows-
a) These computers use LSI and VLSI technologies.
b) Its sizes were reduced to desktop and laptop
computer.
c) These computers are highly reliable and accurate.
d) They have a large memory and high functional
speed.
e) The operating speed is measured in beyond
picoseconds and MIPS (Million of instruction per
second)
f) Magnetic disk is the common source of external
storage.
g) Multiprocessing and multiprogramming OS
(operating system) are used. IBM PC
h) 4GL are also used.
• The examples are – IBM PC, Apple/Macintosh,
8086, 80286 SX, 80386 SX etc.
 Fifth Generation ( till date)
Features are as follows-
a) The speed will be extremely high in fifth
generation computer.
b) These computers will be using Ultra Large Scale
Integration (ULSI) technology.
c) The goal of fifth generation computers is to
develop machines that will be able to think and
take decisions.
d) It can perform large number of parallel
processing.
e) Biochips and Gallium Arsenide (GaAS) will be
used as memory devices.
f) Large uses of natural language processing and
user friendly.
• Able to make decisions like human beings (AI).
• The birth of AI, also known as the sixth
generation of computers.
Introduction To Computers
Generation
Some Pictures…..
 Generation 1 : ENIAC
The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was
unveiled in 1946: the first all-electronic, general-purpose digital
computer
Generation 2: IBM7094
Generation 3: Integrated Circuits

Seymour Cray created the Cray Research

Corporation
Instructions per seconds and 8 Mbytes of
memory
 Improvements to IC technology made it
Generation 4: VLSI possible to integrate more and more transistors
in a single chip
SSI (Small Scale Integration): 10-100
MSI (Medium Scale Integration): 100-
1,000
LSI (Large Scale Integration): 1,000-
10,000
VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration):
>10,000
Microprocessors
Generation 5?

The term “Generation 5” is used sometimes to refer to all

more or less “sci fi” future developments
Voice recognition
Artificial intelligence
Quantum computing
Bio computing
Nano technology
Learning
Natural languages
 COMPUTER TYPES

Computers are classified based on the

parameters like
• Speed of operation
• Cost
• Computational power
• Type of application
DESK TOP COMPUTER

• Processing &storage units, visual

display &audio, keyboards
• Storage media-Hard disks, CD-ROMs

• Ex: Personal computers which is used in homes and offices

• Advantage: Cost effective, easy to operate, suitable for general
purpose educational or business application
NOTEBOOK COMPUTER

• Compact form of personal computer

(laptop)
• Advantage: portability
WORK STATIONS

• More computational power than PC

•Used to solve complex problems which arises in engineering
application (graphics, CAD/CAM etc)

ENTERPRISE SYSTEM (MAINFRAME)

•More computational power

•Larger storage capacity
•Used for business data
processing in large organization
•Commonly referred as servers
or super computers
SERVER SYSTEM

• Supports large volumes of data which frequently need to

be accessed or to be modified
•Supports request response operation

SUPER COMPUTERS

•Faster than mainframes

•Helps in calculating large scale numerical and algorithm
calculation in short span of time
•Used for aircraft design and testing, military
application and weather forecasting
HANDHELD
• Also called a PDA (Personal
Digital Assistant).
• A computer that fits into a
pocket, runs on batteries,
and is used while holding
the unit in your hand.
• Typically used as an
appointment book, address
book, calculator, and
notepad.
• Can be synchronized with a
personal microcomputer as
a backup.
 Functional Units
Arithmetic
Input and
logic

Memory

Output Control

I/O Processor

Basic functional units of a computer.

 Function
• ALL computer functions are:
– Data PROCESSING
– Data STORAGE Data = Information
– Data MOVEMENT
– CONTROL Coordinates How
Information is Used
INPUT UNIT:

•Converts the external world data to a binary format, which

can be understood by CPU

•Eg: Keyboard, Mouse, Joystick etc

OUTPUT UNIT:

•Converts the binary format data to a format that a common

man can understand

•Eg: Monitor, Printer, LCD, LED etc

CPU

•The “brain” of the machine

•Responsible for carrying out computational task

•Contains ALU, CU, Registers

•ALU Performs Arithmetic and logical operations

•CU Provides control signals in accordance with some timings

which in turn controls the execution process

•Register Stores data and result and speeds up the operation

Functional Units Interconnection
ALU does arithmetic and logical comparisons
AC = accumulator holds results
MQ = memory-quotient holds second portion of long
results
MBR = memory buffer register holds data while
operation executes
Program control determines what computer does
based on instruction read from memory
MAR = memory address register holds address of
memory cell to be read
PC = program counter; address of next instruction to be
read
IR = instruction register holds instruction being
executed
IBR holds right half of instruction read from memory
MEMORY

•Stores data, results, programs

•Two class of storage

(i) Primary (ii) Secondary

•Two types are RAM or R/W memory and ROM read only memory

•ROM is used to store data and program which is not going to change.

•Secondary storage is used for bulk storage or mass storage

 Buses: Connecting I/O to Processor and
Memory

Processor
Input
Control
Memory

Datapath Output

• A bus is a shared communication link

• It uses one set of wires to connect multiple subsystems
 Physical Implementations

• Parallel lines on circuit

boards (ISA or PCI)
• Ribbon cables
 Advantages of Buses

I/O I/O I/O

Processor Device Device Device Memory

• Versatility:
– New devices can be added easily.
– Peripherals can be moved between computer systems that use the
same bus standard.
• Low Cost:
– A single set of wires is shared in multiple ways.
 Disadvantages of Buses

I/O I/O I/O

Processor Device Device Device Memory

• It creates a communication bottleneck

• The maximum bus speed is largely limited by:

– The length of the bus
– The number of devices on the bus
– The need to support a range of devices with:
• Widely varying latencies
• Widely varying data transfer rates
Example buses:

•Multibus (Intel - 8086)

•IBM PC (PC/XT)
•ISA bus (PC/AT)
•EISA bus (80386) Extended Industry Standard Architecture
•Microchannel (PS/2)
•PCI bus (Many PCs) [Peripheral Component Interconnect]
•Nubus (Macintosh)
•Universal Serial Bus (modern PCs)
•FireWire (Apple standard for high throughput –
video/data)
• The CPU and memory are normally connected
by three groups of connections, each called as a
bus: data bus, address bus and control bus

• Buses are composed of three sets of lines

 Mezzanine Approach
• Differences in I/O speeds demands separating devices.

• Separate items that are high-speed and those that are not.

• An additional high-speed bus is added to communicate with

the faster devices and also the slower expansion bus.

• Advantage: High-speed devices are brought closer to

processor
 Types of Buses
• Processor-Memory Bus (design specific)
– Short and high speed
– Connects directly to the processor

• I/O Bus (industry standard)

– Usually is lengthy and slower
– Need to match a wide range of I/O devices
– Connects to the processor-memory bus or backplane bus

• Backplane Bus (industry standard)

– Backplane: An interconnection structure within the framework
– Allow processors, memory, and I/O devices to coexist
– Cost advantage: One single bus for all components
 A Computer System with One Bus:
Backplane Bus
Backplane Bus
Processor Memory

I/O Devices

• A single bus (the backplane bus) is used for:

– Processor to memory communication
– Communication between I/O devices and memory
• Advantages: Simple and low cost
• Disadvantages: Slow and the bus can become a major bottleneck
• Example: IBM PC
 A Two-Bus System
Processor Memory Bus
Processor Memory

Bus Bus Bus

Adapter Adapter Adapter

I/O I/O I/O

Bus Bus Bus

• I/O buses tap into the processor-memory bus via bus adaptors:
– Processor memory bus: Mainly for processor-memory traffic
– I/O buses: Provide expansion slots for I/O devices

• Apple Macintosh-II
– NuBus: Processor, memory, and a few selected I/O devices
 A Three-Bus System
Processor Memory Bus
Processor Memory

Bus
Adaptor
Bus
Adapter I/O Bus

Bus I/O Bus

Adapter

• A small number of backplane buses tap into the processor-memory bus

– Processor-memory bus is used for processor memory traffic
– I/O buses are connected to the backplane bus

• Advantage: Loading on the processor bus is greatly reduced

 Synchronous and Asynchronous Bus

• Synchronous Bus:
– Includes a clock in the control lines
– A fixed protocol for communication that is relative to the clock
– Advantage: Can run very fast
– Disadvantages:
• Every device on the bus must run at the same clock rate
• To avoid clock skew, they cannot be long if they are fast
• Asynchronous Bus:
– It is not clocked
– It can accommodate a wide range of devices
– It can be extended without worrying about clock skew
– It requires a handshaking protocol
Buses – Masters and Slaves
Active devices attached to the bus that can initiate
bus transfers are called masters
Passive devices that wait for requests are called
slaves.
Some devices may act as slaves at some times and
masters at others .
Memory can never be a master device.