Chapter 1

Introduction to
Computer Organization & Architecture
 Lecture Overview

 Course description
 Chapter 1 : Introduction
• Overview of computer organization and architecture
• The main components of a computer
• An example system: wading through the jargon
• Standards organizations
• Historical development of computers
• The computer level hierarchy
• The Von Neumann model

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Course description (1/3)

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Course description (2/3)

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 Course description (3/3)

 Reference Book
• The essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture, 2nd edition – Author: Linda Null
and Julia Lobur 5
 Lecture Overview

 Course description
 Chapter 1 : Introduction
• Overview of computer organization and architecture
• The main components of a computer
• An example system: wading through the jargon
• Standards organizations
• Historical development of computers
• The computer level hierarchy
• The Von Neumann model

6
Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview of computer organization and architecture (1/5)

 Some programs/algorithms are

today computationally infeasible,
why?
 Tomorrow, those could become
feasible, why?
 To understand why we need to:
• see the program from the computer’s
point of view
• explore the “computer organization
and architecture”

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview of computer organization and architecture (2/5)

 What is computer organization and

architecture?
• In a computer system, hardware and many
software components are fundamentally related
• Computer organization and architecture help us
to understand how hardware and software
interact with each other

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview of computer organization and architecture (3/5)

 Computer organization?
• It encompasses all physical aspects of computer
system not seen by the programmer.
- How components are connected together?
- How components interact with/talk to each other?
• It addresses issues such as
- Control signals, signaling methods, circuit design
- Memory types, …
• It helps us to answer the question: How does a
computer work?

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview of computer organization and architecture (4/5)

 Computer architecture?
• It focuses on the structure and behavior of the
computer system
• It refers to the logical aspects of system
implementation as seen by the programmer.
• It includes many elements such as
- instruction sets and formats, data types, addressing
modes, number and type of registers, …
• It helps us to answer the question: How do I design
a computer?

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview of computer organization and architecture (5/5)

 Computer organization VS architecture?

• The distinction between computer organization and
computer architecture is not clear-cut.
• These are strongly interrelated and interdependent.
• We can truly understand each of them only when we
comprehend both of them.
 Example:
• Say you are constructing a house,
• The house design and all low-level details come under
the Architecture
• While building it brick by brick, connecting together
keeping basic architecture in mind comes under the
Organization.
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 Lecture Overview

 Course description
 Chapter 1 : Introduction
• Overview of computer organization and architecture
• The main components of a computer
• An example system: wading through the jargon
• Standards organizations
• Historical development of computers
• The computer level hierarchy
• The Von Neumann model

13
Chapter 1: Introduction

The main components of a computer (1/3)

 From Software to Hardware

• Computer scientists design algorithms
• Computer scientists implement an algorithm by
using high level programing language (Java, C, etc.)
• Another algorithm runs this algorithm and another
one runs that algorithm and so on
• We finally get down to machine level
• Machine level can be thought of as an algorithm
implemented as an electronic device

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The main components of a computer (2/3)

 Principle of Equivalence of Hardware and

Software
Anything that can be done with software can also be done with
hardware, and anything that can be done with hardware can
also be done with software
 We implement an application in Hardware or
Software level?
• Our knowledge of computer organization and
architecture will help us to make the best choice

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The main components of a computer (3/3)

 Computer Hardware main components

• 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 (Input/Output)
 Think of how a student sitting in class exhibits
the three components of a computer?

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 Lecture Overview

 Course description
 Chapter 1 : Introduction
• Overview of computer organization and architecture
• The main components of a computer
• An example system: wading through the jargon
• Standards organizations
• Historical development of computers
• The computer level hierarchy
• The Von Neumann model

17
Chapter 1: Introduction

An example system: wading through the jargon (1/7)

Is the stated system a wise buy?

Does it serve your needs?
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Chapter 1: Introduction

An example system: wading through the jargon (2/7)

 “64MB SDRAM”, “64-bit PCI sound card”,

“32KB L1cache”, …?
 Without having a handle on such terminology,
you would be hard-pressed to answer such
questions…
 The next few slides explain the content of the
advertisement (ad)

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Chapter 1: Introduction

An example system: wading through the jargon (3/7)

 A reminder (TU170):
• Computers do computations in base 2 (binary
system)
• A binary character is called a bit (0 or 1)
• A byte is a set of 8 bits

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Chapter 1: Introduction

An example system: wading through the jargon (4/7)

 Pentium III 667 MHz?

• Pentium III : The microprocessor type
• 667 MHz: microprocessor’s clock speed
- Each microprocessor has a synchronization clock (it sends electrical pulses)
- Here, the clock speed is 667 million electrical pulse per second
- The number of instructions per second that a processor can execute is
proportionate to its clock speed (not equal to).
 133 MHz 64MB SDRAM?
• SDRAM: Main memory type, “Synchronous Dynamic Random Access
Memory”
• 133 MHz: Speed of the system bus (between the memory and the
microprocessor)
• 64 MB : Memory Capacity (64 x 2 20 x 8 bits = 536870912 bits)

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Chapter 1: Introduction

An example system: wading through the jargon (5/7)

 32KB L1 cache, 256KB L2 cache?

• Two cache memory to speed up the data transfer between the main memory and
the processor
• 32KB and 256KB are the capacity of level 1 (L1) and level 2 (L2) memory
respectively
 30GB EIDE hard drive (7200 RPM)?
• 30GB: The capacity of the hard drive
• 7200 RPM: Speed of disk rotation is 7200 round per minute
• EIDE: disk interface (connectivity with the rest of the computer’s components).
EIDE stands for Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics
 48X max variable CD-ROM
• CD-ROM drive
• 48X: the maximum reading data rate the CD drive can achieve (48 times the
traditional audio CD data transfer rate)

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Chapter 1: Introduction

An example system: wading through the jargon (6/7)

 2 USB ports, 1 serial port, 1 parallel port?

• Ports that allow movement of data to and from devices external to the
computer.
 19" monitor, .24mm AG, 1280 x 1024 at 85Hz?
• The monitor size (19”), resolution (1280 x 1024), refresh rate (85Hz) and pixel
size (0.24mm).
 Intel 3D AGP graphics card?
• Graphic interface for 3D graphics
 56K PCI voice modem? 64-bit PCI sound card?
• PCI : Dedicated I/O buses, PCI stands for Peripherial Component Interconnect
• PCI voice modem: for internet connection
• PCI sound card : for the system’s stereo speakers

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Chapter 1: Introduction

An example system: wading through the jargon (7/7)

 A look inside a computer

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 Lecture Overview

 Course description
 Chapter 1 : Introduction
• Overview of computer organization and architecture
• The main components of a computer
• An example system: wading through the jargon
• Standards organizations
• Historical development of computers
• The computer level hierarchy
• The Von Neumann model

25
Chapter 1: Introduction

Standards organizations (1/2)

 Standards organizations?
• Number of government and industry
organizations
• Some standards-setting organizations are
consortia made up of industry leaders
• Aims
- Establish common guide lines for a particular type of
equipment
- Why? To ensure a “worldwide”1 interoperability
(compatibility)
1
The term “worldwide” is correct only when the organization and its standards are international

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Standards organizations (2/2)

 Some international standards organizations

• IEEE
- Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
- sets standards for various computer components, signaling protocols, and data representation
• ITU
- International Telecommunications Union
- Sets standards for telecommunications systems, including telephone, telegraph, and data
communication systems
• ISO
- International Standards Organization
- coordinates worldwide standards development
 Other county(ies)-wide organizations
• ANSI: American National Standards Institute
• CEN: Comité Européenne de Normalisation (European committee for standardization)
• BSI: British Standards Institution

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 Lecture Overview

 Course description
 Chapter 1 : Introduction
• Overview of computer organization and architecture
• The main components of a computer
• An example system: wading through the jargon
• Standards organizations
• Historical development of computers
• The computer level hierarchy
• The Von Neumann model

28
Chapter 1: Introduction

Historical development of computers (1/5)

 Generation Zero: Mechanical Calculating Machines (1642 – 1945)

• Use of mechanical technology to do calculations
• Suggest the use of binary number system rather than the decimal
number system

 First Generation: Vacuum tube computers (1945–

1953)
• Use of electrical/electronic technology (much faster
than mechanical technology)
• Invent binary machines built from vacuum tubes
• Invent vaccum tubes diodes and triodes
• Disadvantages: Bulky systems, Power consumption and
heat dissipation.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Historical development of computers (2/5)

 The Second Generation: Transistor Computers (1954–1965)

• Transistors revolutionize computers
- Transistors consume less power than vacuum tubes, are smaller, and
work more reliably,
- the circuitry in computers became smaller and more reliable.

 The Third Generation: Integrated Circuit Computers

(1965–1980)
• Integrating multiple transistors in a single
silicon/germanium chip
• Explosion in computer use
• Computers became faster, smaller, and cheaper, bringing
huge gains in processing power

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Historical development of computers (3/5)

 The Fourth Generation: VLSI Computers (>1980)

• More integration, more transistors on a single silicon
chip (see the table below)
• Computers became smaller: Appearance of micro-
computers
• Increasing the processing power of all computers types
(also supercomputers and main frame computers)
Scale Integration Number of components per chip
SSI: Small Scale Integration 10 – 100
MSI: Medium Scale Integration 100 – 1000
LSI: Large Scale Integration 1000 - 10000
VLSI: Very Large Scale Integration > 10000

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Historical development of computers (4/5)

 Size comparison

Vacuum Tube

Transistor
Integrated circuit
chip

Integrated circuit
package

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Historical development of computers (5/5)

 Moore’s Law (Gordon Moore – Intel Founder, 1965)

• The density of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every
18 months (1.5 year).
• The law hold for almost today (2013)!
 Rock’s Law (early Intel capitalist Arthur Rock)
• The cost of capital equipment to build semiconductors will
double every four years
 If Moore’s Law is to hold, Rock’s Law must fall or
computers must shift to a radically different technology
 Research into new computing paradigms has been
proceeding in earnest during the last half decade

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 Lecture Overview

 Course description
 Chapter 1 : Introduction
• Overview of computer organization and architecture
• The main components of a computer
• An example system: wading through the jargon
• Standards organizations
• Historical development of computers
• The computer level hierarchy
• The Von Neumann model

34
Chapter 1: Introduction

The computer level hierarchy (1/6)

 The user executes programs on a PC (Paint, word files,

games, etc.)
 The user is outside the computer! He uses input and
output devices to communicate with the computer.
 Now, what happens INSIDE the computer?
 To understand, we will use a “divide and conquer”
approach.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The computer level hierarchy (2/6)

 Imagine the machine (computer) as a hierarchy of

levels, in which each level has a specific function.
 The highest level – Level 6 – is the “user’s level”
• Level 6 is composed of applications
• User runs programs such as word processors, graphics
packages, or games.
 The lower levels are unseen by the user those can
be considered as “virtual machines”.
 Let us discover these “virtual machines”.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The computer level hierarchy (3/6)

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The computer level hierarchy (4/6)

 Level 5: High-Level Language Level

• Consists of languages such as C, C++, FORTRAN, Lisp, Pascal, and
Prolog.
• Programmers write programs at this level.
• Compilers translates these languages to a language the machine
can understand (that lower levels could understand): Assembly
then machine languages.
 Level 4: Assembly Language Level
• More “machine dependent” language.
• Assembly language is then one to one translated to machine
language (one assembly language instruction is translated to
exactly one machine language instruction).

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The computer level hierarchy (5/6)

 Level 3: System Software Level

• Deals with operating system instructions (multiprogramming,
protecting memory, synchronizing processes, and various other
important functions)
• Instructions translated from assembly language to machine
language are passed through this level unmodified
 Level 2: Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), or Machine Level
• Machine language recognized by the particular architecture of
the computer system
• Programs written in machine language can be executed directly
by the electronic circuits without any interpreters, translators, or
compilers.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The computer level hierarchy (6/6)

 Level 1: The Control Level

• Is where a control unit do its job
- Receives machine instructions from the level above
- decodes and executes those instructions properly
- Moves data to where and when it should be
• The control unit interprets the machine instructions
 Level 0: The Digital Logic Level
• is where we find the physical components of the
computer system: the gates and wires

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 Lecture Overview

 Course description
 Chapter 1 : Introduction
• Overview of computer organization and architecture
• The main components of a computer
• An example system: wading through the jargon
• Standards organizations
• Historical development of computers
• The computer level hierarchy
• The Von Neumann model

41
Chapter 1: Introduction

The Von Neumann model (1/6)

 A computer architecture model published by a

famous Hungarian mathematician named John von
Neumann
 The idea is to store programs’ instructions inside a
main memory in order to avoid rewiring the system
each time it had a new problem to solve, or an old
one to debug.
 All stored-program computers have come to be
known as von Neumann systems using the von
Neumann architecture

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The Von Neumann model (2/6)

 The Von Neumann architecture is shown in Figure 1.4 –

Slide 43
 It satisfies at least the following characteristics
• Consists of three hardware systems (see figure 1.4 – slide 43)
- A central processing unit (CPU) with a control unit, an arithmetic logic
unit (ALU), registers (small storage areas), and a program counter;
- a main-memory system, which holds programs that control the
computer’s operation;
- and an I/O system.
• Capacity to carry out sequential instruction processing
• Contains a single path, between the main memory system and
the control unit of the CPU

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The Von Neumann model (3/6)

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The Von Neumann model (4/6)

 Program instructions are stored inside the main memory

 The machine runs the programs sequentially (instruction per instruction
– machine instruction)
 Each machine instruction is fetched, decoded and executed during one
cycle known as the von Neumann execution cycle (also called the fetch-
decode-execute cycle)
 One iteration of the cycle is as follows:
1. The control unit fetches the next program instruction from the memory, using
the program counter to determine where the instruction is located.
2. The instruction is decoded into a language the ALU can understand.
3. Any data operands required to execute the instruction are fetched from
memory and placed into registers within the CPU.
4. The ALU executes the instruction and places the results in registers or memory.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The Von Neumann model (5/6)

1. Fetch
• PC indicates Instruction 1
Instruction 2
the iteration Instruction 3
Instruction 3
number Data 1 Data 2 Instruction 4
• CU fill the
instruction
register …
…
2. Decode …
• what ALU Instruction N
should do
(add, multiply,
…)?
• Fill registers
with needed
data
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Chapter 1: Introduction

The Von Neumann model (6/6)

3. Execute Instruction 1
• Execute the Instruction 2
Instruction 3
instruction Instruction 3

• Place the Data 1 Data 2 Instruction 4

results in Result

registers or
…
memory …
…
Instruction N

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 End of lecture 1

Try to solve all exercises related to lecture 1