Computing

Fundamentals
Dr Syed Khawar Hussian Shah
• The components of CPU are Control Unit-
• Coordinates the processing by controlling the
transfer of data and instructions between main
memory and the registers in the CPU.
• It also coordinates the execution of the
arithmetic logic unit (ALU) to perform
operations on data stored in particular
registers.

Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) –

• It is the part of the CPU that performs
arithmetic operations, such as addition and
subtraction as well as logical operations, such
as comparing two numbers to see if they are
the equal or greater or less
RAM-
Computer memory refers to storage area where
data is stored. It is of two types −
 Primary Memory
 Secondary Memory

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Von Neumann Architecture
 Learning
Objectives

• Understand the origin of von Neumann

Architecture
• Understand von Neumann
Architecture
• Understand its components and
functionalities
• To be aware of other
architectures
 What is an
architecture?
• “The complex or carefully designed
structure of something.”
Early
days
 Fixed
Programs
• They were designed to do very specific
operations
• A calculator is a fixed program
computer.
• It can do basic mathematics, but it cannot be
used as a word processor or a gaming
console.
• Changing the program of a fixed-program
machine requires rewiring, restructuring, or
redesigning the machine.

• It could take three weeks to set up a

program on ENIAC and get it working.
 Stored
Programs
• A stored-program computer is one that
stores program instructions in electronic
memory

• Therefore easily
reprogrammable
• Von Neumann is a stored program
architecture (also known as Princeton
architecture) introduced by John von
Neumann, a Hungarian-American
mathematician, physicist, and computer
scientist.
Von Neumann
Architecture
 Von Neumann
Architect
ure
•
cntd…
The basic concept behind the von Neumann architecture is the ability to
store program instructions in memory along with the data on which those
instructions operate.
• The von Neumann architecture describes a general framework, or
structure, that a computer's hardware, programming, and data should
follow.
• Evan all the most modern computers and mobile devices are designed
based on this fundamental concept.

• It had 3 basic
components:
1. I/O Interfaces

2. CPU
3. Memory
• Buses (denoted by the arrows) carries the data
around
 I/O
Interfaces

• The I/O interfaces allow the computer's

memory to receive information and send
data to output devices.

• Allow the computer to communicate to the

user and to secondary storage devices like
disk and tape drives
 Central Processing
Unit
• Can be considered the heart of the
computing system

• Includes three main

components:
1. Control Unit (CU)

2. Arithmetic Logic Unit

(ALU)

3. Registers
 CPU: Control
Unit

• Responsible for decoding the instructions

and controlling how data moves around
the computer system

• The execution of each instruction is

determined by a sequence of control
signals produced by the control unit.
CPU: Arithmetic Logic
Unit

• Carries out the calculations and logical

decisions required by the program
instructions.
• The inputs to an ALU are the data to be
operated on, called operands, and a code
indicating the operation to be performed;
the ALU's output is the result of the
performed operation.
 CPU:
Registers
• Registers are memory locations with specific
purpose
• Accumulator (AC)- Stores the results of calculations made by
the ALU (temporary)

• Program counter (PC)- Keeps track of the location for the next
instruction to be dealt with. The program counter then passes this
next address to the memory address register (MAR)

• Memory Address Register (MAR)- Stores memory location for data

or instructions that needs to be fetched from memory or stored
into memory
• Memory Data Register (MDR)- Stores data or instructions fetched
from memory or any data that is to be transferred and stored
in memory
• Current Instruction Register (CIR)- Stores the most recently
fetched instruction while it is waiting to be decoded and
executed
 Memor
y
• The computer's memory is used to store
program
instructions and data.
• Consists of many memory cells (storage
units) of a fixed size. Each cell has an
address associated with it.

• Two of the commonly used type of

memories are RAM (random-access
memory) and Secondary memory
 Memory
cntd…
• Memory width (W)- How
many bits is each memory
cell, (typically one byte
=8 bits)
• Address width (N)- How
many bits used to
represent each address

• Address space- the number

of uniquely identifiable
memory locations (2N)
 Advantages of
von Neumann
Architecture
• Control Unit gets data and instruction in
the same way from one memory. It
simplifies design and development of the
Control Unit.
• Data from memory and from devices are
accessed in the same way.

• Memory organization is in the

hands of programmers.
 Disadvantages
of von Neumann
Architecture
• Serial instruction processing does not allow
parallel execution of program. Parallel
executions are simulated later by the
Operating system.
• One bus is a bottleneck. Only one
information can be accessed at the same
time.
• Instruction stored in the same memory as
the data can be accidentally rewritten by
an error in a program.
Alternative
Architectures
Harvard Architecture

• Memory for data was separated from the memory for

instruction.
• Two memories with two Buses allow parallel access to data and
instructions. Execution can be 2x faster.

• But control unit for two Buses is more complicated and more
expensive.
 Summar
y
• Von Neumann architecture is based on
stored programs concept.

• Has 3 main
components.
• All modern computers still use this 70
year old fundamental concept

• Has its own advantages and

disadvantages
• Availability of alternative
architectures
Memory Unit-
• storage area is needed in a computer to store instructions and data,
either temporarily or permanently, so that subsequent retrieval of the
instructions and data can be possible on demand.
• uses registers exclusively to store and manipulate data and instructions
during the processing
Primary memory/Cache-main memory of computer present in
motherboard.
Secondary Memory/Auxiliary memory
• Sometimes when data to be processed is large, it cannot fit in primary
memory as it is limited, in such cases, we use supplement memory or
secondary memory.
• Secondary memory helps to store information permanently and is non-
volatile.
• access time is high,can store high amount of data
for longer
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Period of time Computing Fundamentals and C++ Programming 22
Primary Memory-
• data and programs are stored while the program is being executed along with
the data.
• Also known as main memory and accessed directly by the processor.
• Unit memory of fixed length and each of which is identified by a sequence
number known as a memory address.
• It is called cache memory
• It is a type of high speed memory that allows the processor to access data more
rapidly than from memory located elsewhere on the system.
• It stores or caches some of the contents of the main memory that is currently
in use by the processor. It takes a fraction of the time, compared to main
memory,
to access cache memory.
• The management of data stored in the cache memory ensures that for 20 per
cent of the total time, during which the cache is searched, the data needed is
found to be stored in cache.
• As a result the performance of the computer improves in terms of speed of
processing
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 Primary memory/Cache memory
RAM ROM
• Temporary memory • Permanent memory
• Volatile • Non-Volatile
• In which, information stored is lost • In which information stored is available
once computer is turned off. even if computer is turned off.
• Instructions stored in this memory can
• Instructions written in this memory
only be read and cannot be modified.
can be modified; hence it is also
known as programmable memory • Available in high storage capacity
• Processing speed is low
• Available in small storage capacity
• Non expensive
• Processing speed is high
• Types of ROM are
• Expensive  PROM (Programmable Read Only
• Types of RAM Memory),
 EPROM (Erasable PROM),
 Static memory
 EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM) and
 Dynamic Memory
 flash memory.
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Interface unit-
• Interconnects the CPU with memory and also with the various
input/output (I/O) devices. It is a set of parallel wires or lines which
connects all the internal computer components to the CPU and main
memory.
• Depending on the type of data transmitted, a bus can be classified into
the
following three types:
 Data bus The bus used to carry actual data.
 Address bus memory or Input/output device Addresses travel via the address
bus.
 Control bus This bus carries control information between the CPU and other
devices within the computer

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