Introduction to Computer

Organization & Architecture

By
Solomon Mensah (PhD)

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 1
 Computer Architecture vs. Organization
• Computer architecture
• mainly deals with how a particular hardware works in
a computer.
• Computer organization
• deals with how to design a circuit for such hardware.
• Layman Example:
• Assume that I bought a car. Knowing how to drive a
car is nothing but computer organization.
• If I have to repair it, then a mechanic comes in
because he knows how to repair it - computer
architecture.
• Knowing both driving and repairing is computer
organization and architecture.
Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 2
 Computer Architecture vs. Organization
• Computer architecture
• refers to those attributes of a system visible to a
programmer or, put another way, those attributes that
have a direct impact on the logical execution of a
program.
• is concerned with the way hardware components are
connected together to form a computer system.
• Computer organization
• refers to the operational units and their
interconnections that realize the architectural
specifications.
• is the way a given instruction set architecture is
implemented on a processor.
Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 3
 Computer Architecture vs. Organization
• Computer architecture
• is abstract model and are those attributes that are
visible to a programmer like instruction sets, number
of bits used for data, addressing techniques.
• Computer organization
• expresses the realization of the architecture or how
features are implemented like the registers, data paths
or the connection to memory.

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 4
 Examples of Architectural Attributes

• Instruction set
• Number of bits used to represent various data
types (e.g., numbers, characters)
• I/O mechanisms
• Techniques for addressing memory

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 5
 Examples of Organizational Attributes

• Hardware details transparent to the programmer,

such as control signals
• Interfaces between the computer and peripherals
• Memory technology used

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 Practical Example 1

• Suppose you are in a company that manufactures

cars, design and all low-level details of the car
come under computer architecture (abstract,
programmers view), while making it’s parts piece
by piece and connecting together the different
components of that car by keeping the basic
design in mind comes under computer
organization (physical and visible).

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 7
 Practical Example 2

• Both Intel and AMD processors have the same

X86 architecture, but how the two companies
implement that architecture (their computer
organizations) is usually very different. The same
programs run correctly on both, because the
architecture is the same, but they may run at
different speeds, because the organizations are
different.

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 8
 Structure vs Function of a Computer

• Structure:
• The way in which the components are interrelated.
• Function:
• The operation of each individual component as part of
the structure.

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 Basic Functions of a Computer

• In general terms, there are only four functions:

• Data processing
• Data storage
• Data movement
• Control

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 10
 Functional View of the Computer

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 11
 Functional View of the Computer

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 12
 Functional View of the Computer

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 13
 Structure of the Computer

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 Internal Structure of the Computer

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 Four Main Internal Structural Components

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 Structural Components of the CPU

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 Assignment I
1. What, in general terms, is the distinction between
computer organization and computer architecture?
2. What, in general terms, is the distinction between
computer structure and computer function?
3. What are the four main functions of a computer?
4. List and briefly define the main structural components
of a computer.
5. List and briefly define the main structural components
of a processor.

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 19
 Thank you

Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly acce ssible website, in whole or in part. MIS6 | CH14 20