Chapter 1

Introduction
Computer Level Hierarchy
 Program Execution
• Translation: The entire high level program is
translated into an equivalent machine language
program
• Interpretation: Another program reads the high
level program instructions one-by-one and executes
a equivalent series of machine language
instructions.
• Program translation uses a collection of tools to
perform the translation:
—Compiler
—Assembler
—Linker
Program Translation
Computer System : Layers of Abstraction
Application Programs
Algorithms
Language

Devices
Circuits
Microarchitecture
Instruction Set Architectures
( and I/O Interfaces )
 Transformation between the Layers
How do we solve a problem using a Computer???
A systematic sequence of transformations
between layers of abstraction

Software Design

Programming

Compiling/
Interpreting
Deeper And Deeper ……..

Processor
Design

Logic/Circuit
Design

Process
Engineering And
Fabrication
 Description of Each Level
Problem Statement
stated using "natural language“
Algorithm
step-by-step procedure, guaranteed to finish
Program
express the algorithm using a computer language
Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
specifies the set of instructions the computer can
perform
Description of Each Level( contd.. )
Microarchitecture
detailed organization of a processor
implementation
Logic Circuits
combine basic operations to realize
micro architecture
Devices
properties of materials, manufacturability
Structure and Function of a COMPUTER SYSTEM
• A computer is a complex system; For analysis,
understanding and design - Identify the hierarchical
nature of most complex system
• Important questions to be answered now !!!!
— What is a HEIRARCHICAL
SYSTEM????????
— Why is the hierarchical nature of
complex systems essential to both
their design and their description???
Structure And Function
• The behavior at each level depends only on a
simplified, abstracted characterization of the
system at the next lower level.
• At each level, the designer is concerned with
structure and function:
• Structure: The way in which the components are
interrelated
• Function: The operation of each individual component
as part of the structure
CPU based Computer Organization
• What are the
main functions of
a Computer??
• What are the
main Structural
parts of a
Computer??
• What are the
major Structural
components of a
CPU??
Main Functions of Computer
• There are four main functions of a
computer:
—Data processing
—Data storage
—Data movement
—Control
Structure - Top Level
Structural BLOCKS/PARTS of a Computer
• Central Processing Unit (CPU): Controls the
operation of the computer and performs its data
processing functions Often simply referred to as
processor
• Main Memory: Stores data
• I/O: Moves data between the computer and its
external environment.
• System Interconnection: e.g. BUS for
communication among CPU, main memory, and
I/O
Structure - The CPU
 Structural Components of a CPU
• Control Unit (CU): Controls the operation
of the CPU and hence the computer
• Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU):
Performs computer’s data processing
functions
• Register: Provides storage internal to the
CPU
• CPU Interconnection: communication
among the control unit, ALU, and register
Structure - The Control Unit
 The VON NEUMANN Model
• A mathematician by profession
• Credited for the idea of “Stored Program” Computers
Hence, today’s stored-program computers are known as
von Neumann Architecture systems with the
following characteristics:
Three hardware systems:
A central processing unit (CPU)
A main memory system
An I/O system
Capability of Sequential instruction processing
A single data path between the CPU and Main Memory
- Von Neumann bottleneck.
IAS(Princeton) Computer Model by Von
Neumann’s Group
Data Path of a typical VON NEUMANN
machine
General Depiction of a Von Neumann System
Structure & Function
• Structure is the way in which components relate
to each other
• Function is the operation of individual
components as part of the structure
Functional Units

Arithmetic
Input and
logic
Memory

Output Control

I/O Processor

Basic functional units of a computer

Information Handled by a Computer
• Instructions/machine instructions
Govern the transfer of information within a
computer as well as between the computer
and its I/O devices
Specify the arithmetic and logic operations to
be performed in the program
• Data
Used as operands by the instructions
Source program
• Encoded in binary code – 0 and 1
Memory Unit
• Store programs and data
• Two classes of storage
Primary storage
Fast and costlier
Processed in words
Address
RAM and memory access time
Secondary storage
Larger and cheaper
Memory hierarchy – cache, main memory,
secondary memory
Control Unit
• All computer operations are controlled by the control
unit
• The timing signals that govern the I/O transfers are also
generated by the control unit
• Control unit is usually distributed throughout the
machine instead of standing alone
• Operations of a computer:
 Accept information in the form of programs and data
through an input unit and store it in the memory
 Fetch the information stored in the memory, under
program control, into an ALU, where the information
is processed
 Output the processed information through an output
unit
 Control all activities inside the machine through a
control unit
Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)
• Most computer operations are executed in
ALU of the processor.
• Load the operands into memory
—Bring them to the processor
—Perform operation in ALU
—Store the result back to memory or retain in the
processor.
• Registers
• Fast control of ALU