COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
Lecture 1
Saqib Khushhal
The Course
Objective
To develop a thorough understanding of high-
performance computer architecture, as a foundation for
work in computer architecture.
Deeper understanding of how computers work
Working knowledge of various subsystems
(components) and principles that affect their
performance
Quantify the performance measures.
Text Books and References
Recommended Book
D.A. Patterson and J.L. Hennessy, Computer
Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 4th edition,
Morgan-Kaufmann, 2007.
Recommended Reading
K. Hwang, Advanced Computer Architecture:
Parallelism, Scalability, Programmability, McGraw-Hill,
1993.
M. J. Flynn, Computer Architecture: Pipelined and Parallel
Processor Design, Jones and Bartlett, 1995.
W. Stalling Computer Architecture and Organization
Latest Edition
Computer System
• Central Processing Unit (CPU)
• Executes the programs
• Primary Memory
• Stores programs and data
• Input/Output Devices
• Allow CPU to communicate with
external hardware
• System Bus
• Connects everything together
• Address, Data, Control signals
Why it is difficult to present
nature and characteristics of
modern-day computer systems?
1. Variety of products
Single-chip microprocessors
Personal computers
Supercomputers
2. Rapid pace of change
Integrated circuit technology advancement
Parallel organization concepts
What are Basic Performance
Characteristics of Computer Systems?
Processor speed
Memory speed
Memory capacity
Interconnection data rates
Note: It is difficult to design a balanced system that
maximizes the performance and utilization of all
elements.
What is Computer Architecture
Computer Architecture =Instruction Set Design +
Implementation
Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
Programmer visible instruction set.
Different ISAs may be more/less effective for different
target application areas
Implementation
The implementation of a computer has two components
Organization
Hardware
What is Computer Architecture…
Organization
The term organization includes the high level aspects of
a computer’s design, such as :
Memory System
Memory Interconnection
Design of internal processor (where arithmetic, logic, branching
and data transfer is implemented).
The AMD opteron 64 and Intel Pentium 4 processors
have x86 instruction set, but have very different pipeline
and cache organization.
What is Computer Architecture…
Hardware
Refers to the specifics of a computer, including the
detailed logic design and packaging technology of a
computer.
Pentium 4 and the mobile Pentium 4 have
Nearly identical ISA
Nearly same organization
Offer different clock rates and different memory systems
Mobile Pentium 4 more effective for low end computers.
What is Computer Architecture…
The word Architecture covers all three aspects of computer
design
Instruction set Architecture
Organization
Hardware
Computer Architects must design a computer to meet functional
requirements as well as price, power, performance and
availability goals.
Note:
Architects must be aware of important trends in both the technology and
the use of computers, as such trends not only affect future cost, but also
the longevity of a architecture.
Role of Computer Designer
Design a computer to meet functional requirements as
well as price, power, performance and availability
goals.
Must be aware of important trends in both the
technology and the use of computers, as such trends
not only affect future cost, but also the longevity of a
architecture.
Trends in Technology
Four implementation technologies, which change at a
dramatic pace are critical
Integrated Circuit Technology
Transistor density increase 35% per
Increase in die size 10% to 20 % per year.
Combined effect is a growth rate in transistor count on a
chip of about 40% to 55%. (Transistor on a chip double
every two year (Moor’s Law)).
Semiconductor DRAM
Capacity increases by about 40% per year, doubling
roughly ever two years.
Trends in Technology
Magnetic Disk
Prior to 1990 30% per year.
Rose to 60% per year thereafter
Increased to 100% in 1996.
Since 2004, it has again dropped to 30 % per year.
Disk are still 50-100 times cheaper per bit than DRAM.
Network Technology
Network technology depends both on the
Performance of switches
Performance of the Transmission
Performance Trend
Bandwidth or Throughput
The total amount of work done in a given time such as
megabytes per second for a disk transfer.
Latency or Response Time
The time between start and completion of an event such
as milliseconds for a disk access.
Bandwidth has improved much more rapidly than
Latency.
Bandwidth grows by at least the square of the
improvement in latency.
Performance Trend(Growth in Processor Performance)
Doubling the number of people on a
project doesn’t speed it up by 2x
Similarly, 2x transistors does not
automatically get you 2x performance
Possible because of continued
advances in computer architecture.
Much of computer architecture is
about how do you organize these
resources to get more done
Performance Trend(Growth in Processor Performance)
The combination of architectural and
organizational enhancements lead to 16 years of
sustained growth in performance at an annual rate
of 50%.
The effect of dramatic growth has been two fold
Significantly enhanced the capability available to
computer users (high performance microprocessors of
today outperform the supercomputers of less than 10
years age).
Dominance of multiprocessors-based computers
Functional Units
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