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Computer Architecture Lecture 1

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Computer Architecture Lecture 1

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Computer Architecture

Lecture: 1
Introduction

 Computers have become part of our daily lives.


 They are everywhere (embedded systems)
 Laptops, tablets, mobile phones, intelligent
appliances.
 It is required to understand how a computer
works.
 What are inside a computer?
 How does it work?
 We distinguish between two terms: Computer
Architecture and Computer Organization.
 Computer Organization:
 Design of the components and functional
blocks using which computer systems are built.
 Analogy: civil engineer’s task during building
construction (cement, bricks, iron rods, and
other building materials).
 Computer Architecture:
 How to integrate the components to build a
computer system to achieve a desired level of
performance.
 Analogy: architect’s task during the planning of
a building (overall layout, floorplan, etc.).
Historical Perspective

 PASCALINE (1642)
 Mechanical calculator invented by B. Pascal.
 Could add and subtract two numbers directly,
and multiply and divide by repetition.
Babbage Engine
 First automatic
computing engine was
designed by Charles
Babbage in the 19th
century, but he could not
build it.
 The first complete
Babbage engine was
built in 2002, 153 years
after it was designed.
 8000 parts.
 Weighed 5 tons.
 11 feet in length.
 ENIAC (Electrical
Numerical Integrator
and Calculator)
 Used 18,000 vacuum
tubes, weighed 30
tons, and occupied a
30b x 50b space.
Evolution of the Types of
Computer Systems

 The future?
 Large-scale IoT based
systems.
 Wearable computing.
 Intelligent objects.
Simplified Block Diagram of a
Computer System

 All instructions and data are stored in


memory.
 An instruction and the required data are
brought into the processor for execution.
 Input and Output devices interface with the
outside world.
 Referred to as von-Neumann architecture.
Inside the Processor
 Also called Central Processing Unit (CPU).
 Consists of a Control Unit and an Arithmetic Logic Unit
(ALU).
 All calculations happen inside the ALU.
 The Control Unit generates sequence of control signals to
carry out all operations.
 The processor fetches an instruction from memory for
execution.
 An instruction specifies the exact operation to be carried
out.
 It also specifies the data that are to be operated on.
 A program refers to a set of instructions that are required
to carry out some specific task (e.g. sorting a set of
numbers).
What is the role of ALU?

 It contains several registers, some general-


purpose and some special purpose, for temporary
storage of data.
 It contains circuitry to carry out logic operations,
like AND, OR, NOT, shift, compare, etc.
 It contains circuitry to carry out arithmetic
operations like addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, etc.
 During instruction execution, the data (operands)
are brought in and stored in some registers, the
desired operation carried out, and the result
stored back in some register or memory
What is the role of control
unit?
 Acts as the nerve center that senses the states of
various functional units and sends control signals
to control their states.
 To carry out a specific operation (say, R1 R2 +
R3), the control unit must generate control
signals in a specific sequence.
 Enable the outputs of registers R2 and R3.
 Select the addition operation.
 Store the output of the adder circuit into register R1.
 When an instruction is fetched from memory, the
operation (called opcode) is decoded by the
control unit, and the control signals issued.
Inside the Memory Unit

 Two main types of memory subsystems.


 Primary or Main memory, which stores the active instructions
and data for the program being executed on the processor.
 Secondary memory, which is used as a backup and stores all
active and inactive programs and data, typically as files.
 The processor only has direct access to the primary memory.
 In reality, the memory system is implemented as a hierarchy of
several levels.
 L1 cache, L2 cache, L3 cache, primary memory, secondary
memory.
 Objective is to provide faster memory access at affordable cost.
 Various different types of memory are possible.
 Random Access Memory (RAM), which is used for the
cache and primary memory sub-systems. Read and Write
access times are independent of the location being accessed.
 b) Read Only Memory (ROM), which is used as part of the
primary memory to store some fixed data that cannot be
changed.
 c) Magnetic Disk, which uses direction of magnetization of
tiny magnetic particles on a metallic surface to store data.
Access times vary depending on the location being accessed,
and is used as secondary memory.
 d) Flash Memory, which is replacing magnetic disks as
secondary memory devices. They are faster, but smaller in
size as compared to disk.
Input Unit

 Used to feed data to the computer system


from the external environment.
 Data are transferred to the processor/memory
after appropriate encoding.
 Common input devices:
 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Joystick
 Camera
Output Unit

 Used to send the result of some computation


to the outside world.
 Common output devices:
 LCD/LED screen
 Printer and Plotter
 Speaker / Buzzer
 Projection system

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