COSC 403:

COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE

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ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!
 Overview of Computer
Architecture, Layers of
Computer Architecture &
Review of Logic Gates
MODULE ONE
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
VS ARCHITECTURE
• Computer Organization: The various operational
units of a Computer, and the interconnections that
synthesize to realize the architecture.
• Computer Architecture: The attributes of a
computer system visible to a machine language
programmer and have direct impact on the logical
execution of programs. As with the analogous
illustration of buildings, the physical computer is
divided into several levels / strata / layers
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
VS ARCHITECTURE
• Computer organization is also called
microarchitecture abbreviated as arch or uarch
which is the way a given instruction set
architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular
processor. A given ISA may be implemented with
different microarchitectures. Implementations may
vary due to different goals of a given design or
due to shifts in technology.
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
VS ARCHITECTURE
• Microarchitecture includes
the constituent parts of the
processor and how these
interconnect and
interoperate to implement
the ISA.
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
VS ARCHITECTURE
• The microarchitecture of a machine is usually represented as
(more or less detailed) diagrams that describe the
interconnections of the various microarchitectural elements of
the machine, which may be anything from single gates and
registers, to complete arithmetic logic units (ALUs) and even
larger elements. These diagrams generally separate the datapath
(where data is placed) and the control path (which can be said to
steer the data).
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
VS ARCHITECTURE
• The person designing a system usually draws the
specific microarchitecture as a kind of data flow
diagram. Like a block diagram, the
microarchitecture diagram shows
microarchitectural elements such as the arithmetic
and logic unit and the register file as a single
schematic symbol.
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
VS ARCHITECTURE
• Typically, the diagram connects those elements with
arrows, thick lines and thin lines to distinguish between
three state buses (which require a three-state buffer for
each device that drives the bus), unidirectional buses
(always driven by a single source, such as the way the
address bus on simpler computer is always driven by the
memory address register), and individual control lines.
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
VS ARCHITECTURE
• Very simple computers have a single data bus
organization – they have a single three-state
bus. The diagram of more complex
computers usually shows multiple three-state
buses, which help the machine do more
operations simultaneously.
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
VS ARCHITECTURE
• Each microarchitectural element is in turn
represented by a schematic describing the
interconnections of logic gates used to implement
it. Each logic gate is in turn represented by a
circuit diagram describing the connections of the
transistors used to implement it in some particular
logic family.
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
VS ARCHITECTURE
• Machine with different microarchitectures may have the same
instruction set architecture, and thus be capable of executing the
same programs. New microarchitectures and/or circuitry
solutions, along with advances in semiconductor manufacturing,
are what allows newer generations of processors to achieve
higher performance while using the same ISA.

• In principle, a single microarchitecture could execute several

different ISAs with only minor changes to the microcode.
LAYERS/ LEVELS IN COMPUTER
ARCHITECTURE
The generic Computer Architecture has six (6)
fundamental layers:
Layer 0: The Digital Logic / Machine State Level – The
physical machine hardware layer. Here exists the logic
gates and other digital devices & circuitry (Integrated
circuits).
Layer 1: The Microarchitecture Level – This is the level
at which the memory, registers and ALU function.
Instructions at this level could either be micro-coded
(using a micro-program) or hard-coded (by physical
hardware configurations).
microprogramming, process of writing microcode for a microprocessor.
Microcode is low-level code that defines how a microprocessor should
function when it executes machine-language instructions. Typically, one
machine-language instruction translates into several microcode instructions
LAYERS/ LEVELS IN COMPUTER
ARCHITECTURE (contd.)
Layer 2: Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) Level –
This is the level at which the various types of
instructions that are useable and understandable by
the computer are built in.
Layer 3: The Operating System / Machine Level –
This is more often referred to as the bridge / mid-
point between the computer hardware and the end
user. It is basically the point of abstraction of the
computer hardware.
LAYERS/ LEVELS IN COMPUTER
ARCHITECTURE (contd.)
Layer 4: Assembly / Low Level Language (LLL) Level
– This is the level at which low level / system
programmers work trying to implement virtual
machines, language translators and interpreters.
Layer 5: The High Level Language (HLL) Level – This
is the level at which the application programmers
write various programs to solve user problems. This is
the level at which problem-oriented & object-oriented
design takes place. Programs at this level are made
useful / understandable to lower levels by compilers.
COMPUTING EVOLUTION
The Very First G-P Computing Devices
Computer Today
GENERATIONS OF
COMPUTERS
Generation Primary Component Year
developed
0th Generation Mechanical Computers 16th Century
1st Generation Vacuum Tubes (ENIAC) 1873
2nd Generation Transistors 1947
3rd Generation Integrated Circuits (ICs) 1949
4th Generation Large Scale ICs (LSI) 1974
5th Generation Very Large and Ultra 1986-1989
Large Scale ICs (VLSI & 1989-2005
ULSI)
Current Generation System-on-a-chip / AI 2005 - date
 HOW WAS IT POSSIBLE?
What is observed however, is that
throughout the evolutionary stages,
computers continually increased in
functionality and shrunk in size, leading to a
vast number of uses and a vast number and
variety of operating systems to meet these
uses. This was made possible as a result of
trade-offs in cost, speed / performance,
reliability, design complexity &
LOGIC GATES
• The majority of the trade-offs that have characterized the
evolution of Computers took place at the lower levels of
the Computer Architecture: the logic / machine state level.
• Gates and other digital logic circuitry that functions at the
most fundamental layer of the computer has been one of
the focal points of the integrations and miniaturizations
that have brought about the computers and computing
devices we know today.
• The Digital Logic Gate is the basic building block from
which all digital electronic circuits and microprocessor-
based systems are constructed.
OVERVIEW OF LOGIC GATES
 MOORES LAW [1]
In 1965, Gordon Moore co-founder of the
Intel corporation predicted that “The number
of transistors and resistors on a single chip
will double every 18 months” regarding the
development of semiconductor gate
technology. When Gordon Moore made his
famous comment way back in 1965 there
were approximately only 60 individual
transistor gates on a single silicon chip or die.

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 MOORES LAW [1] (contd.)
The worlds first microprocessor in 1971 was the
Intel 4004 that had a 4-bit data bus and contained
about 2,300 transistors on a single chip, operating
at about 600kHz. Today, the Intel Corporation have
placed a staggering 1.2 Billion individual transistor
gates onto its new Quad-core i7-2700K Sandy
Bridge 64-bit microprocessor chip operating at
nearly 4GHz, and the on-chip transistor count is
still rising, as newer faster microprocessors and
micro-controllers are developed.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Hennessy, & Patterson (2007). Computer
Architecture: A Quantitative Approach (Fourth
Edition). San Francisco. Elsevier.
2. Stallings (2010). Computer Organization and
Architecture (Eighth Edition). New Jersey.
Prentice-Hall.
3. Harris, & Harris (2012). Digital Design and
Computer Architecture (Second Edition). San
Francisco. Elsevier.
 N
I O
ST
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U
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ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!
 L E
DU
M O
O F
ND
E
 COSC 403 quiz
(1)The worlds first microprocessor was built in
the ------- and named ---------------
(2) State Moore’s Law and explain the
implications in microprocessor manufacturing.
(3)Differenciate between computer
organisation and architecture.
(4)Explain the ISA level in Computer
architecture.

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