Computer Architecture and Organization

What is a computer?
Computer is an advanced electronic device that takes raw data as an input from the user and
processes it under the control of a set of instructions (called program), produces a result
(output), and saves it for future use.

Functionalities of a Computer:
There are three basic functionalities of a Computer System and they are
1. Input
2. Process
3. Output

But if we look at it in a very broad sense, any digital computer carries out the following five
Functions:

Step 1 - Takes data as input.

Step 2 - Stores the data/instructions in its memory and uses them as required.
Step 3 - Processes the data and converts it into useful information.
Step 4 - Generates the output.
Step 5 - Controls all the above four steps
 Advantages of Computers
High Speed
• It is capable of performing calculation of very large amount of data.
• The computer has units of speed in microsecond, nanosecond, and even the picosecond.
• It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as compared to man who will spend many months to perform
the same task.
Accuracy
• In addition to being very fast, computers are very accurate.
• The calculations are 100% error free.
• Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy provided that the input is correct.
Storage Capability
• Memory is a very important characteristic of computers.
• A computer has much more storage capacity than human beings.
• It can store large amount of data.
• It can store any type of data such as images, videos, text, audio, etc.
Diligence
• Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness, and lack of concentration.
• It can work continuously without any error and boredom.
• It can perform repeated tasks with the same speed and accuracy
Versatility
• A computer is a very versatile machine.
• A computer is very flexible in performing the jobs to be done.
• This machine can be used to solve the problems related to various fields.
• At one instance, it may be solving a complex scientific problem and the very next moment it may be playing a card
game.
 Advantages of Computers
Reliability:
• A computer is a reliable machine.
• Modern electronic components have long lives.
• Computers are designed to make maintenance easy.

Automation:
• Computer is an automatic machine.
• Automation is the ability to perform a given task automatically. Once the computer receives a program i.e., the program
is stored in the computer memory, then the program and instruction can control the program execution without human
interaction.

Reduction in Paper Work and Cost:

• The use of computers for data processing in an organization leads to reduction in paperwork and results in speeding up
the process.
 Disadvantages of Computers
No I.Q.
• A computer is a machine that has no intelligence to perform any task.
• Each instruction has to be given to the computer.
• A computer cannot take any decision on its own.

Dependency
• It functions as per the user’s instruction, thus it is fully dependent on humans.

Environment
• The operating environment of the computer should be dust free and suitable.

No Feeling
• Computers have no feelings or emotions.
• It cannot make judgment based on feeling, taste, experience, and knowledge unlike humans.
 Application of Computers in Various Fields
Business
Banking
Insurance
Education
Marketing:Advertising,Home Shopping

Healthcare:Diagnostic System,Lab-diagnostic System,Patient Monitoring

System,Pharma Information System,Surgery.

Engineering Design:Structural Engineering,Industrial Engineering,Architectural

Engineering,

Military:Missile Control,Military Communication,Military Operation and Planning,Smart

Weapons.

Communication:E-mail,Chatting,Usenet,FTP,Telnet,Video-conferencing.

Government:Budgets,Sales tax department,Income tax department, Weather

 Basic Terms Related to Computers

The basic terms related to generations of computers are listed below.

1. Vacuum Tube: Vacuum tubes have the functionality of controlling the flow of electronics in a vacuum. Generally, it is used in switches,
amplifiers, radios, televisions, etc.
2. Transistor: A transistor helps in controlling the flow of electricity in devices, it works as an amplifier or a switch.
3. Integrated Circuit (IC): Integrated circuits are silicon chips that contain their circuit elements like transistors, resistors, etc.
4. Microprocessors: Microprocessors are the components that contain the CPU and its circuits and are present in the Integrated Circuit.
5. Central Processing Unit (CPU): The CPU is called the brain of the computer. CPU performs processing and operations work.
6. Magnetic Drum: Magnetic Drum is like a cylinder that stores data.
7. Magnetic Core: Magnetic cores are used to store information. These are arrays of small rings.
8. Machine Language: Machine Language is the language that a computer accepts (in the form of binary digits). It is also called low-
level programming language.
9. Memory: Memory is used to store data, information, and program in a computer.
10. Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence deals with creating intelligent machines and behaviors.
 Generations of Computers
Generation in computer terminology is a change in technology a computer is/was being used. Initially, the
generation term was used to distinguish between varying hardware technologies. Nowadays, generation
includes both hardware and software, which together make up an entire computer system .
 First Generation Computers
The period of first generation was from 1946-1959. The computers of first generation used vacuum tubes as the basic
components for memory and circuitry for CPU (Central Processing Unit). These tubes, like electric bulbs, produced a lot of
heat and the installations used to fuse frequently. Therefore, they were very expensive and only large organizations were
able to afford it.

In this generation, mainly batch processing operating system was used. Punch cards, paper tape, and magnetic tape was
used as input and output devices. The computers in this generation used machine code as the programming language

The main features of the first generation are:

• Vacuum tube technology
• Unreliable
• Supported machine language only
• Very costly
• Generates lot of heat
• Slow input and output devices
• Huge size
• Need of AC
• Non-portable
• Consumes lot of electricity

Some computers of this generation were:

• ENIAC
• EDVAC
• UNIVAC
• IBM-701
• IBM-750
 Second Generation Computers
The period of second generation was from 1959-1965. In this generation, transistors were used that were cheaper,
consumed less power, more compact in size, more reliable and faster than the first-generation machines made of
vacuum tubes. In this generation, magnetic cores were used as the primary memory and magnetic tape and magnetic
disks as secondary storage Devices.

In this generation, assembly language and high-level programming languages like FORTRAN,
COBOL were used. The computers used batch processing and multiprogramming operating
System.

The main features of second generation are:

• Use of transistors
• Reliable in comparison to first generation computers
• Smaller size as compared to first generation computers
• Generates less heat as compared to first generation computers
• Consumed less electricity as compared to first generation computers
• Faster than first generation computers
• Still very costly
• AC required
• Supported machine and assembly languages

Some computers of this generation were:

• IBM 1620
• IBM 7094
• CDC 1604
• CDC 3600
• UNIVAC 1108
 Third Generation Computers
The period of third generation was from 1965-1971. The computers of third generation used Integrated Circuits (ICs) in
place of transistors. A single IC has many transistors, resistors, and capacitors along with the associated circuitry.

The IC was invented by Jack Kilby. This development made computers smaller in size, reliable, and efficient. In this
generation remote processing, time-sharing, multi-programming operating system were used. High-level languages
(FORTRAN-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68 etc.) were used during this generation

The main features of third generation are:

• IC used
• More reliable in comparison to previous two generations
• Smaller size
• Generated less heat
• Faster
• Lesser maintenance
• Costly
• AC required
• Consumed lesser electricity
• Supported high-level language

Some computers of this generation were:

• IBM-360 series
• Honeywell-6000 series
• PDP (Personal Data Processor)
• IBM-370/168
• TDC-316
 Fourth Generation Computers
•The period of fourth generation was from 1971-1980. Computers of fourth generation used Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI)
circuits. VLSI circuits having about 5000 transistors and other circuit elements with their associated circuits on a single chip made
it possible to have microcomputers of fourth generation.

•Fourth generation computers became more powerful, compact, reliable, and affordable. As a result, it gave rise to Personal
Computer (PC) revolution.

•In this generation, time sharing, real time networks, distributed operating system were used. All the high-level languages like C,
C++, DBASE etc., were used in this generation.

The main features of fourth generation are:

• VLSI technology used
• Very cheap
• Portable and reliable
• Use of PCs
• Very small size
• Pipeline processing
• No AC required
• Concept of internet was introduced
• Great developments in the fields of networks
• Computers became easily available

Some computers of this generation were:

• DEC 10
• STAR 1000
• PDP 11
• CRAY-1(Super Computer)
 Fifth Generation Computers
•The period of fifth generation is 1980-till date. In the fifth generation, VLSI technology became
•ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology, resulting in the production of microprocessor
•chips having ten million electronic components.

•This generation is based on parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence) software.

•AI is an emerging branch in computer science, which interprets the means and method of making
computers think like human beings.

•All the high-level languages like C and C++, Java, .Net etc., are used in this generation.
Types of Computer
DESKTOP COMPUTERs

● It has
○ Processing & Storage units(e.g. Hard disks, CD‐ROMs),
○ visual display &audio output units,
○ Input units ( keyboard, mouse, etc)
● It can be easily located on a home or office desk
● Used in homes, schools, business offices,…
NOTEBOOK COMPUTERs

● Compact form of personal computer (laptop)

● Size of a thin briefcase
● Portable
 WORKSTATIONs

● Has high resolution graphics input/output capability

● Has dimensions of desktop computer
● More computational power than PC
● Costlier
● Used to solve complex problems which arises in engineering application
Mainframe

● Also called Enterprise Systems

● More computational power and storage than Workstation
● Used for business data processing in medium to large corporations.
 Servers

● Contain big database storage units.

● Handles large volumes of data requests
● Requests and responses are transported via Internet
● They are widely accessible to all.
Supercomputers

● Faster than mainframes

● Helps in large scale numerical calculations
● Used for aircraft design and testing, military application, weather forecasting,
etc.
Computer Architecture -Languages
What is a computer?

● a computer is a sophisticated electronic calculating machine that:

○ Accepts input data,
○ Processes the data according to a list of internally stored instructions and
○ Produces the resulting output information.
● Functions performed by a computer are:
○ Accepting information to be processed as input.
○ Storing a list of instructions to process the information.
○ Processing the information according to the list of instructions.
○ Providing the results of the processing as output.
● What are the functional units of a computer?

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Functional units of a computer
Input unit accepts Arithmetic and logic unit(ALU):
information: • Performs the desired
• Human operators, operations on the input
• Electromechanical devices (keyboard) information as determined
• Other computers by instructions in the memory
Memory
Arithmetic
Input & Logic
Instr1
Instr2
Instr3
Output Data1 Control
Data2
I/O Processor
Stores
information: Control unit coordinates
Output unit sends
• Instructions, various actions
results of processing:
• Data • Input,
• To a monitor display,
• Output
• To a printer
• Processing
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In Computer Architecture, the General System Architecture is divided into two major classification units.
• Store Program Control Concept
• Flynn's Classification of Computers
 Stored-Program Concept
The term Stored Program Control Concept refers to the storage of instructions in computer memory to enable it
to perform a variety of tasks in sequence or intermittently.

late 1040s by John von Neumann

who proposed that a program be electronically stored in the binary-number format in a memory device so that
instructions could be modified by the computer as determined by intermediate computational results.

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first computing system designed in the early
1940s. It was based on Stored Program Concept in which machine use memory for processing data.

Instructions and data

both stored in memory
unit

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 Flynn's Classification of Computers
M.J. Flynn proposed a classification for the organization of a computer system by the number of instructions and data items that are manipulated
simultaneously.

The sequence of instructions read from memory constitutes an instruction stream.

The operations performed on the data in the processor constitute a data stream.

Parallel processing may occur in the instruction stream, in the data stream, or both.
four major groups that are:
• Single instruction stream, single data stream (SISD)
• Single instruction stream, multiple data stream (SIMD)
• Multiple instruction stream, single data stream (MISD)
• Multiple instruction stream, multiple data stream (MIMD)
 MEMORY
A memory unit is the collection of storage units or devices together.

The memory unit stores the binary information in the form of bits.

Generally, memory/storage is classified into 2 categories:

• Volatile Memory: This loses its data, when power is switched off.
• Non-Volatile Memory: This is a permanent storage and does not lose any data when power is switched off

A collection of cells, each with a unique physical address

Most computers are byte-addressable

Cell at address 11111110 contains 10101010

Memory

Memory
What does 10101010 mean?

No way to answer that

Could be an instruction, a
natural number, a signed
integer, a character, part of an
image, …
Arithmetic/Logic Unit
Performs basic arithmetic operations such as addition and subtraction
Performs logical operations such as AND, OR, and NOT
Most modern ALUs have a small amount of special storage units called registers
that can be accessed faster than main memory

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 Computer Registers
● Registers are a type of computer memory used to quickly accept, store, and
transfer data and instructions that are being used immediately by the CPU.
● The registers used by the CPU are often termed as Processor registers.
● A processor register may hold an instruction, a storage address, or any data (such
as bit sequence or individual characters).
• Memory buffer register (MBR): Contains a word to be stored in memory or sent to the I/O
unit, or is used to receive a word from memory or from the I/O unit.

• Memory address register (MAR): Specifies the address in memory of the word to be
written from or read into the MBR

• Instruction buffer register (IBR): Employed to hold temporarily the right-hand instruction
from a word in memory

• Accumulator (AC) and multiplier quotient (MQ): Employed to hold temporarily operands
and results of ALU operations.
Structure of IAS Computer
Expanded Structure of IAS Computer
Input/Output Units

Input Unit
A device through which data and programs from
the outside world enter the computer system;
Can you name three?

Output unit
A device through which results stored in the
computer memory are made available outside the
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computer system
Control Unit
Control unit
The organizing force in the computer
Instruction register (IR)
Contains the instruction that is being executed
Program counter (PC)
Contains the address of the next instruction to be
executed
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
ALU and the control unit called the Central Processing Unit,
or CPU
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Flow of Information
Bus
In general: A communication system that transfers data between components inside a computer or between
computers; the medium (wires, optical fiber, etc.) and the protocols (rules for sharing the medium nicely)

“The” bus: Connects the CPU, main memory, I/O devices, and possibly other components (e.g. hard disk
drive)

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What is an N-bit Processor?
It could mean any of these:
● N-bit general registers
● N-bit ALU
● N-bit addresses
● N-bit data bus

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The Fetch-Execute Cycle
Fetch the next instruction
Decode the instruction
Get data if needed
Execute the instruction

Why is it called a cycle?

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The Fetch-Execute Cycle

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RAM and ROM

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Memory in which each location can be accessed and
changed
Read Only Memory (ROM)
Memory in which each location can be accessed but
not changed
RAM is volatile, ROM is not
What does volatile mean?

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Secondary Storage Devices
Why is it necessary to have secondary storage devices?

Can you name some of these devices?

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Magnetic Tape

The first truly mass

auxiliary storage
device was the
magnetic tape drive

Tape drives have a

major problem; can
you describe it?
Magnetic Disks
Magnetic Disks

Seek time
Time for read/write head to be over right track

Latency
Time for sector to be in position

Access time
Can you define it?

Transfer rate
Rate at which data moves from the disk to memory

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Optical Disks
CD
A compact disk that uses a laser to read information stored optically on a plastic-coated disk;
data is evenly distributed around spiral track
CD-ROM read-only memory
CD-DA digital audio
CD-WORM write once, read many
RW or RAM both read from and written to

DVD
Digital Versatile Disk, used for storing audio and video

Blu-ray
Higher capacity DVD allowing higher resolution video, etc.

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 Flash Drives

Flash Memory
Nonvolatile
Can be erased and rewritten
Supports USB mass storage standard

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