COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND
ARCHITECTURE
Introduction
The course is about the structure and functions of the computer. It
presents the nature and characteristics of modern day computers. This
is a challenging task because:
1. There are so many products from single chip microcomputers to
supercomputers.
2. The rapid pace of change that has always characterized computer
technology continues.
However certain fundamental concepts apply consistently.
Although computers have varying sizes, capabilities, and cost, they
share many characteristics and operating principles. The course
describes general principles of computer architecture that apply to
computers of any category.
ORGANISATION AND ARCHITECURE
Computer architecture is concerned with the structure and behavior of
the various functional modules of the computer and how they interact to
provide the processing needs of the user. It mainly refers to those
attributes of the system that are visible to the computer user and the
attributes that have a direct impact on the execution of a program.
Architectural attributes include the instruction set, the number of bits
used, I/O mechanisms, techniques for addressing etc.
Computer organization is concerned with the way the hardware
components are connected together to form a computer system.
Organisational attributes include hardware details visible to the user e.g.
the interfaces, memory technology etc.
N.B. A number of manufacturers offer many different computer models
(organizations) but all having the same architecture and thus differing in
costs.
Computer design is concerned with the development of the hardware
for the computer taking into consideration a given set of specifications.
WHY STUDY COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND ARCHITECTURE
To be a professional in any field of computing one should not regard a
computer as a black box that executes programs by magic. Students
need to understand the computer’s functional components, their
characteristics, their performance and their interactions.
Students need to understand computer architecture to structure
their programs so that they run more efficiently on a real machine e.g.
in selecting a system to use they should be able to understand the
tradeoffs among various components such as CPU clock speed vs
memory size.
A graduate may be required to select the most cost-effective computer
for use in an organization.
Computer architecture concepts are needed in other courses e.g. how a
computer provides architectural support for programming languages
and how operating system facilities reinforce concepts in those
areas.
Computer Functions
The basic requirements of the computer are to:
Process data
Store data
OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
(Source and Destination of data)
Data
movement
apparatus
Control
Mechanism
Data
Storage Data
Facility Processing
Facility
Move the data between the different computer components and
the external world; i.e, I/O functions (data received from or
delivered to a device) and data communication functions ( when
data is moved lo longer distances)
To control all the above operations
Computer structure
There are mainly four structural components
1. Central Processing Unit:
Decode the instructions and use them to control the activities
within the system
It also performs the arithmetic( + , -, /, *) and logical (>,>=,<,<=,
=, =!) computations. (Data processing)
2. Main Memory:
Stores data and instructions that are currently being used.
Interface Memory Module
Microprocessor Bus Control
(CPU) Logic
Interface Memory Module
System Bus
Interface Mass Storage
Device I/O
Subsystem
Interface I/O Devices
3. I/O Subsystem:
Moves data between the computer and external environment. It
consists of a variety of devices for communicating with the external
world and for storing large quantities of information.
4. System Interconnection:
Mechanism to provide communication between the CPU, memory
and the I/O sub system. It consists of the System Bus and the
Interfaces
System Bus.
A set of conductors that connect the CPU to its memory and I/O
devices. The bus conductors are normally separated into 3 groups:
The Data Lines: for transmitting information
Address Lines: Indicate where information is to come from or
where it is to be placed.
Control Lines: To regulate or conduct the activities on the bus.
Interfaces
Circuitry needed to connect the bus to a device. Memory interfaces
consist of logic
Needed to decode the address of the memory location being
accessed.
Buffer data onto/off the bus. A buffer data is a temporary
holding area for data
Contain circuitry to perform memory reads or write.
I/O interfaces must
Buffer data onto/off the system bus
Receive commands from the CPU
Transmit information from their devices to the CPU.
There may be one or more of each of the afore mentioned components where we
have the Single Bus Architecture or Multiprocessing.
(i) The single bus / processor architecture which has only
one processing element and all the other components are
connected to a single link (the System Bus )
Microprocessor
(CPU)
Bus Control Logic
Interface Interface Interface
Interface
Main Memory Mass Storage
I/O Devices I/O Devices
(ii) The Multiprocessing System which has several
processing elements surrounded by different subsystems and a
central link (the system bus) connecting the different subsystems
together.
Memory Mass I/O Memory Mass I/O
Storage Devices Storage Devices
Local Bus Local Bus
Processing Processing
Element Element
System Bus
Shared Shared Mass Shared I/O
memory Storage Devices
The links in the subsystems are called local buses. Each subsystem
can operate as an independent computer but can take advantage of the
shared resources. The shared main memory can be used for passing
information between subsystems and the shared mass storage can be
used to store large programs and large quantities of data that are
needed by more than one subsystem.
The competition for the shared resources by the different elements is
called contention.
