Computer System Organisation

The computer system is a combination of many parts such as peripheral devices,

secondary memory, CPU, etc. This can be explained more clearly using a diagram .
THE SALIENT POINTS ABOUT THE ABOVE FIGURE DISPLAYING COMPUTER
SYSTEM ORGANISATION IS
•THEI/O DEVICES AND THE CPU BOTH EXECUTE CONCURRENTLY. SOME OF THE
PROCESSES ARE SCHEDULED FOR THE CPU AND AT THE SAME TIME, SOME ARE
UNDERGOING INPUT/OUTPUT OPERATIONS.
•THERE ARE MULTIPLE DEVICE CONTROLLERS, EACH IN CHARGE OF A
PARTICULAR DEVICE SUCH AS KEYBOARD, MOUSE, PRINTER ETC.
•THEREIS BUFFER AVAILABLE FOR EACH OF THE DEVICES. THE INPUT AND
OUTPUT DATA CAN BE STORED IN THESE BUFFERS.
•THEDATA IS MOVED FROM MEMORY TO THE RESPECTIVE DEVICE BUFFERS BY
THE CPU FOR I/O OPERATIONS AND THEN THIS DATA IS MOVED BACK FROM THE
BUFFERS TO MEMORY.
•THEDEVICE CONTROLLERS USE AN INTERRUPT TO INFORM THE CPU THAT I/O
OPERATION IS COMPLETED.
Interrupt Handling
AN INTERRUPT IS A NECESSARY PART OF COMPUTER SYSTEM
ORGANISATION AS IT IS TRIGGERED BY HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE PARTS WHEN THEY NEED IMMEDIATE ATTENTION.
AN INTERRUPT CAN BE GENERATED BY A DEVICE OR A
PROGRAM TO INFORM THE OPERATING SYSTEM TO HALT ITS
CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND FOCUS ON SOMETHING ELSE.
Interrupt Handling
Types of Interrupt Handling
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE INTERRUPTS ARE TWO TYPES OF INTERRUPTS.
HARDWARE INTERRUPTS ARE TRIGGERED BY HARDWARE PERIPHERALS
WHILE SOFTWARE INTERRUPTS ARE TRIGGERED BY SOFTWARE FUNCTION
CALLS.
HARDWARE INTERRUPTS ARE OF FURTHER TWO TYPES. MASKABLE
INTERRUPTS CAN BE IGNORED OR DISABLED BY THE CPU WHILE THIS IS
NOT POSSIBLE FOR NON MASKABLE INTERRUPTS
levels of computer system organization

The level hierarchy of a computer system consists of

different levels that connect the computer with the user
w h i c h m a k e s t h e u s e o f t h e c o m p u t e r. I t a l s o e x p l a i n s h o w
the computational activities are performed on the
c o m p u t e r.
The different levels of computer system level hierarchy are
as follows −
• Level 0 − Digital Logic.
• Level 1 − Micro architectural level.
• Level 2 − Instruction set architecture.
• Level 3 − Operating system.
• Level 4 − Assembly language.
• Level 5 − High level language.
• Level 6 − User oriented.
LEVEL 0 − DIGITAL LOGIC
THE CIRCUIT WHICH MAKES A DIGITAL COMPUTER RUN IS CALLED LOGIC. THE
DIGITAL COMPUTER PROCESSES ARE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF FUNCTIONS OF
ONES AND ZEROS. FOR EXAMPLE, AND, OR, AND NOT FUNCTIONS.
LEVEL 1 − MICRO ARCHITECTURAL LEVEL
MICROINSTRUCTIONS ARE LOW-LEVEL CONTROL INSTRUCTIONS WHICH
DEFINE THE SET OF DATA PATH CONTROL SIGNALS APPLY TO THE STATE OF A
COMPUTING MACHINE. THE MICROINSTRUCTIONS, ALONG WITH THEIR
SEQUENCING, COMPRISE THE MICRO ARCHITECTURE, WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO
RIGOROUSLY AND CONSISTENTLY EXPRESS THE CONTROL OF LOGIC CIRCUITS
WHICH COMPRISE THE COMPUTER HARDWARE. DESIGNING THIS TYPE OF
CONTROL IN TERMS OF A PROGRAM WHICH IMPLEMENTS THE MACHINE
INSTRUCTIONS IN TERMS OF SIMPLER MICROINSTRUCTIONS IS KNOWN AS
MICROPROGRAMMING.
LEVEL 2 − INSTRUCTION SET ARCHITECTURE (ISA)
ISA IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF A COMPUTER WHICH ACTS AS AN
INTERFACE BETWEEN THE LOWEST LEVEL SOFTWARE AND THE
HARDWARE. THE ISA INCLUDES ANYTHING PROGRAMMERS USE TO
MAKE A BINARY MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAM WORK CORRECTLY,
INCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS, I/O, ETC. THE ISA IS FUNCTIONALITY
INDEPENDENT OF THE HARDWARE.
LEVEL 3 − OPERATING SYSTEM MACHINE
OPERATING SYSTEMS PROVIDE AN INTERFACE BETWEEN ASSEMBLY
LANGUAGE AND THE ABSTRACTION OF THE HARDWARE
ARCHITECTURE'S INSTRUCTION SET. IT GENERALLY CONTAINS MANY
LIBRARIES WHICH HELP A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER CONNECT TO LOWER-
LEVEL SYSTEM FUNCTIONS (E.G., I/O, MEMORY ALLOCATION, ETC.) IN
AN ORGANIZED WAY.
LEVEL 4 − ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE
ASSEMBLY IS A DETAILED LANGUAGE THAT HELPS THE SYSTEMS PROGRAMMER MOVE
INFORMATION AROUND IN COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE IN A SPECIFIC WAY. FOR
EXAMPLE, MANY COMPILERS (PROGRAMS THAT TRANSLATE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
INTO AN ASSEMBLY-LIKE LANGUAGE) ARE WRITTEN IN ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE. THE
ADVANTAGE OF USING ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE IS SPEED AND POWER IN ACCESSING
VARIOUS FEATURES OF THE HARDWARE.

LEVEL 5 − HIGH LEVEL LANGUAGE

PROVIDES A CONVENIENT INTERFACE AND APPLICATIONS ENGINE WHICH HELPS THE
USER PRODUCE RESULTS SPECIFIC TO A GIVEN APPLICATION AREA.
EXAMPLE − MICROSOFT POWERPOINT IS USED FOR SLIDES CREATION OR FOR
PRESENTATION OR EDITING, EXCEL IS USED FOR ACCOUNTING SPREADSHEETS,
MICROSOFT WORD IS USED FOR DOCUMENTATION ETC. THE LANGUAGE AT THIS LEVEL
IS A SEQUENCE OF KEYSTROKES OR A HIGH-LEVEL SCRIPTING LANGUAGE.FOR
EXAMPLE − THE HIGH-LEVEL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES ARE C, C++, OR JAVA.
LEVEL 6 − USER
IT IS THE LAST LEVEL OF COMPUTER SYSTEM HIERARCHY. IT CONSISTS OF USERS AND
EXECUTABLE PROGRAMS.
difference between Computer Architecture and Computer Organization

Computer Architecture Computer Organization

Computer Architecture is involved with the method Computer Organization is involved with the mechanism and
hardware elements are linked to form a computer behaviour of a computer system as view by the client.
system.

It facilitates as the interface between hardware and It manage with the elements of a connection in a system.
software.

A programmer can view architecture in condition of It defines the realization of structure.

instructions, addressing modes, and registers.

Computer Architecture handle with high-level design Computer Organization handle with low-level design
problem. problem.

It supports us to learn the functionalities of a system. It tells us how accurately all the methods in the system are
organized and interconnected.

It examines instruction formats, instruction set and The function of computer organization is to find out and
addressing technology. It also contains the description examines the organizational mechanism for its proper
of several functional modules such as CPU and operations.
memories.
types of Operating system

1.Serial
Processing
2.Batch Systems
3.Multi-Programming
system 4. Time Sharing
system 5.Parallel systems
6.Real Time Operating
system
7.Distributed system
Serial processing(1945-1950)

Performs all the instructions in a Sequencitial Manner.(FIFO).

The earliest computer systems had no operating systems.

Programmer will interact directly with the computer
hardware.

Time slotsare allocated to users.

During the allocated time, the users could occupy

the computers exclusively.
 SERIAL PROCESSING(1945-1950)

• Programs used cards. Each card contains holes or no holes, indicating 0

or 1 respectively.

• Programs were loaded into memory via card reader.

• With no operating system available, to compile their programs,users

had to manually load the compiler program first with the user program.
SERIAL PROCESSING(1945-1950)

Card reader

Punched
card Memory
(programs
)
Disadvantages
Scheduling
if users finish their tasks earlier than expected ,then the rest of the time
would
be wasted.
If users did not finish their jobs within the allocated time slots, then user’s
job would ne forced to stop.
Setup time
Considerable amount of time was spent on setting up the program to
run
PUNCHED CARDS
le batch system(early 1950’s)

Jobs of a similar nature can be bundled together in batch

systems. The steps followed in batch processing
1. Programmers submit a deck of punched cards containing
their programs
2. Card reader reads them on to a magnetic tape.
3. After collecting batch of jobs, the tape is mounted on tape
drive
4. Operator loads a special program called monitor (Equivalent to Operating
system) and runs the first job.
5. The Operating system reads the next job and runs it.
6. The output of every job is written onto the output tape.
7. On completion of entire batch ,the output tape is taken away and printing
Batch processing systems

Advantages
• Increased performance ( It was possible to start the job as soon as
the
previous job finished)
• Simple Scheduling
• Does not use critical device management
BATCH PROCESSING SYSTEMS

Disadvantages
• CPU is often idle due to slow I/O devices.
• Turn around time is more (turn around time =completion time – starting
time)
• Protection scheme is not available.
• More difficult to debug the program
 MULTIPROGRAMMING SYSTEMS
MULTIPROGRAMMING OPERATING SYSTEM

When two or more programs are in memory at the same

time, sharing the processor is referred to the
multiprogramming operating system.
MEMORY LAYOUT OF MULTI PROGRAMMING
SYSTEM
The steps in multi-Programming

• The OS keeps several jobs in its main memory simultaneously.

• The operating system select one of the programs and starts executing.
• If that program1 needs I/O operation, then OS switches over to next job
i.e program2
• Program1 finishes its I/O operation, then OS switches the control from
program2 to program1
 MULTI PROGRAMMING SYSTEM

Advantages
• High CPU utilization.
• Increased throughput
• Management of several jobs at a time

Disadvantages
• CPU scheduling is required.
• To accommodate many jobs in memory, memory management is
required.
spooling
A SPOOL IS A KIND OF BUFFER THAT HOLDS THE JOBS FOR A
DEVICE TILL THE DEVICE IS READY TO ACCEPT THE JOB.

SPOOLING CONSIDERS DISK AS A HUGE BUFFER THAT CAN

STORE AS MANY JOBS FOR THE DEVICE TILL THE OUTPUT
DEVICES ARE READY TO ACCEPT THEM
SPOOLING
Advantage of Spooling
• The spooling operation uses a disk as a very
large buffer.

• Spooling is however capable of overlapping

I/O operations.
TIME-SHARING SYSTEM
• Time-slice is allocated to the users.

• Programs are executed for the allotted time-slice.

• A time-shared operating system allows the many users

to share the computer simultaneously.
 ADVANTAGES
• Tasks of many users are processed
simultaneously

• Idle time of CPU is minimized

• Users get quick response

• Resources can be shared

 DISADVANTAGES
• Complex than multi-programmed systems

• Requires memory management, disk

management.

• It needs concurrency control.

• Protection is necessary
eal-time operating system
A real-time operating system is a system intended to serve real-
time applications that process data as it comes in, typically
without buffer delays.
It is used in environments where a large number of external
events processed within time limits.
 ADVANTAGES
• Provides I/o
management

• Priority based scheduling

• File management

• Resource management

• Improved Efficiency
 DISADVANTAGES
• Costly

• Not easy to program

• Large memory is needed

• Time limit allotted for every

event.
 DISTRIBUTED OPERATING SYSTEMS

• Various autonomous interconnected computers communicate each other using

a

shared communication network. Independent systems possess their own memory

unit and CPU.

• These system’s processors differ in size and function.

• one user can access the files or software which are not actually present on his system but on some
other system connected within this network i.e., remote access is enabled within the devices
connected in that network.
ADVANTAGES
• Failure of one will not affect the other network communication, as all systems are

independent from each other.

• Electronic mail increases the data exchange speed

• Since resources are being shared, computation is highly fast and durable

• These systems are easily scalable as many systems can be easily added to the network
 DISADVANTAGES
• Failure of the main network will stop the entire communication

• Implementation is difficult

• Requires resource management, memory management and

protection.
PARALLEL SYSTEMS( MULTI-PROCESSOR SYSTEMS)

• Parallel processing requires multiple processors and all the processor works
simultaneously in the system.

• Here, the task is divided into subparts and these subparts are then distributed
among the available processors in the system.

• Parallel processing completes the job on the shortest possible time.

• Multi-processor systems contains two or more CPU’s sharing the

common bus.
TYPES OF MULTIPROCESSOR

There are two types of multi-

processor
• Asymmetric multi-processor
• Symmetric multi-processor
 ASYMMETRIC MULTIPROCESSOR
• Each processor has its own memory and resources.
• It uses master/slave technology.
• Master processor allocates the work to the slave
systems.
 SYMMETRIC MULTIPROCESSOR
• They have multiple cpu’s, all with access to the same memory.

• There is no master/slave relationship.

• Each processor has its own registers,but its sharing the physical
memory.
ADVANTAGES
• Increased
• Throughput
• Reliability
• Performance
DISADVANTAGES
• In asymmetric multi-processor,
• communication between processor is
slow,
• In symmetric multi-processor,
• Memory is shared by multiple-processor.
MULTI-PROCESSING, MULTI- TASKING, MULTI-USER SYSTEM

• Multi-processing: Multiple CPUs perform more than one job at a time.

• Multi-programming: A single CPU perform multiple jobs at a time.

• Multi-tasking : Multiple programs run simultaneously in a single

computer system.

• Multi-user : Multiple users run their programs concurrently using

multiple terminals.