Computer Organization

Course Overview

Instructors Name: Pratik Trivedi

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Introduction

Course Prerequisites &

Evaluation Scheme
Prerequisites
Digital Design
Basics of Verilog

Evaluation Scheme
Attendance-10%
Mid semester exams-25%
End semester exams-25%
Projects-20%
Quiz:20%
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Introduction

1.1 Overview

Why study computer organization?

Encompasses all physical aspects of computer systems.

E.g., circuit design, control signals, memory types.
How does a computer work?
Logical aspects of system implementation as seen by the
programmer.
E.g., instruction sets, instruction formats, data types, addressing
modes.
How do I design a computer?

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Introduction

1.5

1st Generation Computers

One of a kind
laboratory machines
Used vacuum tubes
for logic and
storage (very little
storage available)
Programmed in
machine language
Often programmed
by physical
connection
(hardwiring)
Slow, unreliable,
expensive

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The ENIAC often

thought of as the first
programmable electronic
computer 1946

17468 vacuum tubes,

1800 square feet, 30 tons
A vacuum-tube circuit storing 1 byte
Introduction

1.5

2nd Generation Computers

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes

Magnetic core memory introduced
These changes in technology brought
about cheaper and more reliable
computers (vacuum tubes were very
unreliable)
Because these units were smaller, they
were closer together providing a
speedup over vacuum tubes
Various programming languages
introduced (assembly, high-level)
Rudimentary OS developed
The first supercomputer was introduced,
CDC 6600 ($10 million)
Other noteworthy computers were the
IBM 7094 and DEC PDP-1 mainframes
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Introduction

An array of magnetic
core memory very
expensive $1
million for 1 Mbyte! 5

1.5 3rd Generation Computers

Integrated circuit (IC) or the ability to
place circuits onto silicon chips
Replaced both transistors and magnetic
core memory
Result was easily mass-produced
components reducing the cost of computer
manufacturing significantly
Also increased speed and memory capacity Silicon chips now contained
both logic (CPU) and memory
Computer families introduced
Minicomputers introduced
More sophisticated programming languages
and OS developed
Popular computers included PDP-8, PDP-11,
Large-scale computer usage
IBM 360 and Cray produced their first
supercomputer, Cray-1
led to time-sharing OS

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Introduction

1.5 4th Generation Computers

Miniaturization took over
From SSI (10-100 components per chip) to
MSI (100-1000), LSI (1,000-10,000), VLSI (10,000+)

Intel developed a CPU on a single chip the

microprocessor
This led to the development of microcomputers PCs and later
workstations and laptops

Most of the 4th generation has revolved around not new

technologies, but the ability to better use the available
technology
with more components per chip, what are we going to use them
for? More processing elements? More registers? More cache?
Parallel processing? Pipelining? Etc.
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Introduction

1.2 Computer Components

At the most basic level, a computer is a device consisting of

three pieces:
A processor to interpret and execute programs
A memory to store both data and programs
A mechanism for transferring data to and from the outside world.
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Introduction

1.3 An Example System

Consider this advertisement:

a
C
L1

?
?
e
ch

?
?
z
MH

MB?
?

?
?
I
C
P

US
B??

What does it all mean??

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Introduction

1.3 An Example System

Measures of capacity and speed:
Kilo- (K) = 1 thousand = 103 and 210
Mega- (M) = 1 million = 106 and 220
Giga- (G) = 1 billion = 109 and 230
Tera- (T) = 1 trillion = 1012 and 240
Peta- (P) = 1 quadrillion = 1015 and 250
Exa- (E) = 1 quintillion = 1018 and 260
Zetta-(Z) = 1 sextillion = 1021 and 270
Yotta-(Y) = 1 septillion = 1024 and 280

Whether a metric
refers to a power of
ten or a power of two
typically depends
upon what is being
measured.

Hertz = clock cycles per second (frequency)

1MHz = 1,000,000Hz
Processor speeds are measured in MHz or GHz.

Byte = a unit of storage

1KB = 210 = 1024 Bytes

1MB = 220 = 1,048,576 Bytes
Main memory (RAM) is measured in MB
Disk storage is measured in GB for small systems,
TB for large systems.

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Introduction

10

1.3 An Example System

Measures of time and space:

Milli- (m)
Micro- ()
Nano- (n)
Pico- (p)
Femto- (f)
Atto- (a)
Zepto- (z)
Yocto- (y)

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

thousandth = 10 -3
millionth = 10 -6
billionth = 10 -9
trillionth = 10 -12
quadrillionth = 10 -15
quintillionth = 10 -18
sextillionth = 10 -21
septillionth = 10 -24

We note that cycle

time is the reciprocal
of clock frequency.

A bus operating at
133MHz has a cycle
time of 7.52
nanoseconds:

Millisecond = 1 thousandth of a second

Hard disk drive access times are often 10 to 20 milliseconds.

Nanosecond = 1 billionth of a second

Main memory access times are often 50 to 70 nanoseconds.

Micron (micrometer) = 1 millionth of a meter

Circuits
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on computer chips are measured in microns.

Introduction

11

1.3 An Example System

The microprocessor is the brain of
the system. It executes program
instructions. This one is a Pentium
(Intel) running at 4.20GHz.

A system bus moves data within the

computer. The faster the bus the better.
This one runs at 400MHz.
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Introduction

12

1.3 An Example System

Computers with large main memory capacity can
run larger programs with greater speed than
computers having small memories.
RAM is an acronym for random access memory.
Random access means that memory contents
can be accessed directly if you know its location.
Cache is a type of temporary memory that can be
accessed faster than RAM.

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Introduction

13

1.3 An Example System

This system has 256MB of (fast)
synchronous dynamic RAM
(SDRAM) . . .

and two levels of cache memory, the level 1 (L1)

cache is smaller and (probably) faster than the L2 cache.
Note that these cache sizes are measured in KB.

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Introduction

14

1.3 An Example System

Hard disk capacity determines
the amount of data and size of
programs you can store.

This one can store 80GB. 7200 RPM is the rotational

speed of the disk. Generally, the faster a disk rotates,
the faster it can deliver data to RAM. (There are many
other factors involved.)
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Introduction

15

1.3 An Example System

ATA stands for advanced technology attachment, which
describes how the hard disk interfaces with (or
connects to) other system components.

A CD can store about 650MB of data. This drive

supports rewritable CDs, CD-RW, that can be written
to many times.. 48x describes its speed.
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Introduction

16

1.3 An Example System

Ports allow movement of data
between a system and its external
devices.

This system has ten ports.

Serial ports send data as a series of pulses along one or two data lines.

Parallel ports send data as a single pulse along at least eight data lines.

USB, Universal Serial Bus, is an intelligent serial interface that is self-configuring. (It
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supports plug and play.)
Introduction

17

1.3 An Example System

System buses can be augmented by
dedicated I/O buses. PCI, peripheral
component interface, is one such bus.

This system has three PCI devices: a video

card, a sound card, and a data/fax modem.
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Introduction

18

1.5 A History Lesson

Early mechanical
computational devices

Abacus
Pascals
Calculator
(1600s)

Early programmable
devices:
Jacquards Loom
(1800)
Babbages
Analytical Engine
(1832)
Tabulating machine
for 1890 census
Hollerith cards
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Introduction

19

1.5 Trends

Rocks Law
Arthur Rock, Intel financier
The cost of capital equipment to build
semiconductors will double every four years.
In 1968, a new chip plant cost about $12,000.

Rocks Law
In 2005, a chip plants under construction cost
over $2.5 billion.
For Moores Law to hold, Rocks Law must fall,
or vice versa. But no one can say which will
give out first.
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Introduction

At the time,
$12,000 would
buy a nice home
in the suburbs.
An executive
earning $12,000
per year was
making a very
comfortable
living.
$2.5 billion is
more than the
gross domestic
product of some
small countries,
including
Belize, Bhutan,
and the
Republic of
Sierra

20

1.5 Trends - Moores Law

Gordon Moore
(Intel founder)
noted that
transistor density
was increasing by
a factor of 2 every
2 years
This observation or
prediction has held
out pretty well since
he made it in 1965
(transistor count
doubles roughly
every 2 years)

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The growth has meant an increase in transistor

count (and therefore memory capacity and CPU
capability) of about 220 since 1965, or computers
1 million times more capable!
HowIntroduction
much longer can Moores Law continue?
21

1.6 The Computer Level Hierarchy

Computers consist of many things besides
chips.
Before a computer can do anything worthwhile,
it must also use software.
Writing complex programs requires a divide
and conquer approach, where each program
module solves a smaller problem.
Complex computer systems employ a similar
technique through a series of virtual machine
layers.
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Introduction

22

1.6 The Computer Level Hierarchy

Each virtual machine
layer is an abstraction of
the level below it.
The machines at each
level execute their own
particular instructions,
calling upon machines at
lower levels to perform
tasks as required.
Computer circuits
ultimately carry out the
work.
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Introduction

23

1.6 The Computer Level Hierarchy

Level 6: The User Level
Program execution and user interface level.
The level with which we are most familiar.
Level 5: High-Level Language Level
The level with which we interact when we write programs in languages such
as C, Pascal, Lisp, and Java.
Level 4: Assembly Language Level
Acts upon assembly language produced from Level 5, as well as instructions
programmed directly at this level.
Level 3: System Software Level
Controls executing processes on the system.
Protects system resources.
Assembly language instructions often pass through Level 3 without
modification.
Level 2: Machine Level
Also known as the Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) Level.
Consists of instructions that are particular to the architecture of the machine.
Programs written in machine language need no compilers, interpreters, or
assemblers
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Introduction

24

1.6 The Computer Level Hierarchy

Level 1: Control Level
A control unit decodes and executes instructions and moves data through
the system.
Control units can be microprogrammed or hardwired.
A microprogram is a program written in a low-level language that is
implemented by the hardware.
Hardwired control units consist of hardware that directly executes
machine instructions.
Level 0: Digital Logic Level
This level is where we find digital circuits (the chips).
Digital circuits consist of gates and wires.
These components implement the mathematical logic of all other levels.

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Introduction

25

The Von Neumann Architecture

Named after John von Neumann,
Princeton, he designed a
computer architecture whereby
data and instructions would be
retrieved from memory,
operated on by an ALU, and
moved back to memory (or I/O)
This architecture is the basis for
most modern computers (only
parallel processors and a few
other unique architectures use
a different model)

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Hardware consists of 3 units

CPU (control unit, ALU, registers)
Memory (stores programs and data)
I/O System (including secondary storage)
Instructions in memory are executed sequentially unless
a program instruction explicitly changes the order
Introduction

26

Von Neumann Architectures

There is a single pathway used to

move both data and instructions
between memory, I/O and CPU
the pathway is implemented as a bus
the single pathway creates a
bottleneck
known as the von Neumann
bottleneck

A variation of this architecture is the

Harvard architecture which separates
data and instructions into two
pathways (as on Microchip PIC
processors)
Another variation, used in most
computers, is the system bus version
in which there are different buses
between CPU and memory and
memory and I/O
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Introduction

The von Neumann

architecture operates on the
fetch-execute cycle
Fetch an instruction from
memory as indicated by the
Program Counter register
Decode the instruction in
the control unit
Data operands needed for
the instruction are fetched
from memory
Execute the instruction in
the ALU storing the result in
a register
Move the result back to
memory if needed

27

Conclusion
This has given you an overview of the subject of
computer organization.
You should now be sufficiently familiar with
general system structure to guide your studies
throughout the remainder of this course.
Subsequent chapters will explore many of these
topics in great detail.

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Introduction

28

Books and Other relevant

material
Text Books:
Computer Organization and Design 3/e by David A Patterson
and John L Hennessy, Morgan Kaufman.
Introduction to Computing systems from bits and gates to C and
beyond by Yale N Patt & Sanjay J Patel, TMH 2003 Edition.

Reference books:
Computer Systems Organization and Architecture:John D.
Carpinelli.
Gaonkar, Ramesh S.: Microprocessor architecture, programming
and applications with the 8085, 4th ed, Penram International,
Mumbai.
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Introduction

29

Video Lectures
Computer Organization by Prof S.raman IIT
chennai.

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Introduction

30