COMPUTER

ARCHITECTURE
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

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Course aims

Understand the internal organization of a computer, the principles of its

operation and the main problems to be solved.

Why?

▪ Required for a good understanding of other courses

▪ of Operating Systems to Algorithmics

▪ Study of general problems and solutions in IT

▪ from modularity to performance issues

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Some courses and related issues

▪ Operating systems
▪ How does an operating system manage to run several programs "all at once"?

▪ Concurrent programming
▪ My two threads each increment the grandTotal variable 1000 times, but I get
1,534 in the end. Why?

▪ Parallel programming
▪ I've gone from a single to a quadruple processor machine, and my prime number
calculation doesn't go any faster!?

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Some courses and related issues

▪ Network programming
▪ I copy my measurement table from the Jupiter machine to the Venus machine
and the values are no longer the same!?

▪ Compilation
▪ Which machine instruction sequence to generate for copying a character string?

▪ Algorithmic
▪ Why the quick sort is generally better than the heap sort when they have the
same average algorithmic complexity O(n log2 n)?

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Some general problems and solutions
▪ Reduce access latency:
▪ to memory, hard disk, server, etc.
▪ solution: use a cache, i.e. a local memory with quick access

RAM slow Cache quick

CPU
Memory Memory

▪ Increase the processing speed :

▪ instructions, program calculations, etc.
▪ solution: parallelize, or pipeliner the treatments

▪ Etc.

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References

▪ Books:
▪ Structured Computer Organization. Andrew S. Tanenbaum
▪ Computer Organization and Design. John Hennessy, David Patterson

▪ Manufacturer's documentation:
▪ ® 64 and IA-32 Intel processor architectures
▪ Motorola 68000 Developer's Manual

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Evaluation methods

2 or 3 MCQs performed at the end of the

course sessions (correction: automatic)
Continuous monitoring :
40% MCQs average mark + 60% TP mark
Synthesis TP (to be delivered at the end
of the session)
(correction: TD/TP tutors)

Final DE
(correction : TD/TP tutors))
CHAPTER PLAN

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Von
Neumann's
machine

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CHAPTER PLAN

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Von
Neumann's
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Before our era
▪ - 3000: period of the Chinese emperor Fou-Hi whose magic symbol, the
trigram octagon contains the first 8 numbers represented in binary form by
lines interrupted or not: 000 001 010 011 etc ...

▪ -2000: appearance in the Middle East of the first calculation "tool": the
abacus

▪ -1000: invention of the Chinese abacus

▪ -300: the Greek philosopher Aristotle defines in his work what logic is (or
Organon)

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First mechanical calculators
▪ 1623: Wilhelm Schickard invents a calculating clock
▪ 1632: The Englishman Oughtred invents the slide rule
▪ 1642: In order to help his father, a tax collector in Rouen, Pascal
develops the Pascaline

▪ 1679: Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz discovers and develops

binary arithmetic
▪ 1694 Leibniz invents a calculating machine derived from the
Pascaline but capable of processing multiplications and
divisions
▪ 1820 Charles-Xavier Thomas de Colmar invents the
arithmometer based on the Leibniz machine.

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The big names
▪ 1854: George Boole publishes a book in which he demonstrates that
any logical process can be decomposed into a sequence of logical
operations applied to two states

▪ 1904: Invention of the first vacuum tube, the diode by John Ambrose
Fleming
▪ 1937: Alan M. Turing publishes a paper on calculable numbers and
invents the Turing Machine (followed by the Turing Test in 1950)
▪ 1938: Thesis by Claude E. Shannon who first draws a parallel
between electrical circuits and Boolean algebra. He defines the binary
digit: bit (BInary digiT)

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The first computers
▪ 1941: Creation of the ABC binary calculator by John Atanasoff
and Clifford Berry - first calculator to use Boolean algebra

▪ 1941: Konrad Zuse develops the Z3, the first computer with
stored program (first real computer)

▪ 1945: John Von Neumann describes EDVAC (Electronic

Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) ⇒ Von Neumann
architecture

▪ 1946: Creation of ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and

Computer) by P. Eckert and J. Mauchly

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The first programming languages

▪ 1950: invention of the assembler by Maurice V. Wilkes of Cambridge University.

Previously, programming was done directly in binary.
▪ 1955: IBM launches the IBM 704 developed by Gene Amdahl, the machine on which
the FORTRAN language will be developed
▪ 1957: Creation of the first universal programming language, FORTRAN (FORmula
TRANslator) by John Backus of IBM
▪ 1964: Thomas Kurtz and John Kemeny create the BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose
Symbolic Instruction Code) language at Dartmouth College for their students
▪ 1968: Creation of the PASCAL language by Niklaus Wirth

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Other important dates and people
▪ 1964: Creation of the ASCII code (American Standard Code for
Information Interchange), standardized in 1966 by ISO

▪ 1965: Gordon Moore writes the first "Moore's Law" saying that the
complexity of integrated circuits will double every year

▪ 1969 : Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie develop UNIX on Dec PDP 7
▪ ...

More information on http://histoire.info.online.fr

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CHAPTER PLAN

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Von
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Types of computers

▪ Visible computers:
▪ Personal computers and workstations (laptops and desktops),
▪ Server computers,
▪ Process control computers,
▪ Supercomputers.

▪ Invisible computers:
▪ Vehicles (cars, trains, boats, planes, rockets, ...),
▪ Telecommunications, By far the most
numerous!
▪ Household appliances,
▪ Watchmaking,
▪…

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The machine as perceived by the user

Interaction with the machine through peripherals:

- keyboard,
- mouse,
- screen,
- printer,
- DVD player,
- etc....

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Services rendered by a computer

Data exchange

Data Data
storage Control transfer

Data storage Data processing

Data processing

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Hardware decomposition of a computer
▪ A computer consists of several parts:
▪ mouse,
▪ screen,
▪ keyboard,
▪ CPU,
▪ floppy drive ...

▪ Inside the central unit:

▪ a motherboard,
▪ a video card,
▪ hard drive disks ...

▪ On the motherboard:
▪ a microprocessor,
▪ memory (ROM, RAM) ...

▪ In the microprocessor: the computer chip.

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Architecture and organisation

▪ The entire Intel x86 family shares

the same basic architecture.
▪ The entire IBM System/370
family shares the same basic
architecture.
▪ But the organization is different
from one version to another.

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Five generations of computers

Generation Period Technology Velocity (number of

operations/s)
1 1946 - 1957 Vacuum tube 40 000
2 1958 - 1964 Transistor 200 000
3 1965 - 1971 SSI/MSI 1 000 000
4 1972 - 1977 LSI 10 000 000
5 Post 1978 VLSI 100 000 000

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Architecture and organisation

▪ The entire Intel x86 family shares

the same basic architecture.
▪ The entire IBM System/370
family shares the same basic
architecture.
▪ But the organization is different
from one version to another.

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1945-1958 Period

▪ Specialized computers, unique copies.

▪ Large and unreliable machines.
▪ Tube technology, relays, resistors.
▪ 104 logic elements - programming by perforated cards.

▪ Representative: ENIAC (1946) for the feasibility study of the H-bomb.

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1958-1964 Period

▪ General use, reliable machines.

▪ Transistor technology.
▪ 105 logical elements.
▪ First advanced programming languages (COBOL, FORTRAN, LISP).

▪ Representative: DEC PDP-1 mini computer (1961).

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1965-1971 Period

▪ Integrated circuit technology (S/MSI Small/medium scale integration).

▪ 106 logical elements.
▪ The advent of the complex operating system.
▪ UNIX, Pascal, Basic,...
▪ CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer).

▪ Moore's Law: the number of transistors that can be integrated on a

single chip doubles each year.

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Moore's Law

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Period 1972 to present day

▪ LSI technology (large SI).

▪ 107 logical elements.
▪ The advent of machine networks.
▪ Distributed processing.

▪ 1971: INTEL's first 4004 microprocessor, all the components of the CPU are
combined on a single chip.
▪ 1981: IBM computer capable of executing 240,000 sums / second.
▪ 1984: first PC running under a different OS from Windows (Apple Macintosh).
▪ 1996: Intel processor capable of executing 400 million sums / second.

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Functional decomposition of a computer

Memory
Central Process
Interconnections Unit

ALU CU
Input/Output Interconnections

Registers

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CHAPTER PLAN

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Von
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Von Neumann's machine

Universal machine model with :

▪ a memory: contains instructions and data,
▪ an arithmetic and logical unit (ALU): performs the calculations,
▪ an input/output unit: information exchange (I/O) with devices,
▪ a control unit: control (UC).

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Schematic operation

▪ The Control Unit:

1. extracts an instruction from the memory,
2. analyzes the instruction,
3. searches the memory for the relevant data,
4. triggers the appropriate operation on the ALU or I/O,
5. stores the result in memory.

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Von Neumann's machine

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Overview

▪ Basic features: ▪ Functional units:

▪ signal and chronogram, ▪ memory,
▪ clock, ▪ ALU,
▪ registers, ▪ E/S,
▪ bus. ▪ UC.

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Signal and chronogram

▪ A signal is a discrete quantity belonging to [0,1].

▪ A chronogram is the graphical representation of a signal evolving over
time.

Status

Time

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Clock

▪ Regular sequence signal of 0 and 1.

▪ A sequence is called a cycle.
▪ Example: a clock frequency of 500MHz
gives cycles of 2 nanoseconds.
▪ Synchronizes all devices.

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Registers

Memory cells

▪ Fast memory elements internal to the RAM Memory

CPU. Registers

▪ A signal commands storage:

▪ level loading,
▪ front loading.

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Bus

▪ Set of electrical wires on which the signals pass through.

▪ Connects the units to each other.
▪ Bus width:
▪ number of wires constituting the path,
▪ number of signals that can be sent at the same time.

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Memory

Address Value

▪ Vector in which each component is

accessible through an address.
▪ Permitted transactions:
▪ Read,
▪ Write.

▪ Word = unit of information accessible in a

single reading operation.

3 448 765 900

126 (and dust)

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How it works

1. The CPU writes the address of a cell in an address register (AR).

2. The CU is requesting an operation.
3. Exchanges are made via a word register (WR).

Read Write
AR ← address WR ← value
WR ← memory[AR] AR ← address
memory[AR]← WR

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ALU

▪ 3-parameter function:
▪ 1 operation
▪ 2 arguments
▪ 1 result

▪ Requires a or some storage registers:

▪ inputs, outputs,
▪ intermediate results.

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Inputs / Outputs unit

▪ Serves as an interface with peripherals.

▪ The associated operations depend on the device.
▪ Operation similar to memory:
▪ a register storing the device address (Device Selection Register),
▪ a Data Exchange Register.

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Control unit

Its operation is that of the Von Neumann Data bus

model associated with the following

Addresses bus
INSTRUCTION ORDINAL
registers : REGISTER COUNTER

▪ Ordinal counter (PC): memory address of the FUNCTION ADDRESS

instruction to be executed, REGISTER
DECODER

▪ Instruction register (IR): instruction divided into Clock

different parts.

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The whole machine

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CHAPTER PLAN

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Von
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Binary information

▪ Elementary information is encoded in binary.

5V  1 Vrai  1
0V  0 Faux  0
 1  0  1  0
Logical
Gate open or Electrical Voltage Magnetization
proposal
closed

▪ This is purely conventional coding (it can be reversed!).

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Why binary?

▪ Because it's easier to do!

▪ Because it's enough!
▪ Electronic machines:
▪ Coding of electrical voltages:
▪ 5V = 1
▪ 0V = 0

▪ Note: there have been ternary and quaternary machines.

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Size measurement units

▪ The information is encoded in binary:

▪ A bit can take 2 values: 0 or 1
▪ One kilobit (noted 1 Kb) is equal to 210 bits.
▪ Exactly how many bits is worth 1 Kb?

▪ One megabit (noted 1 Mb) is worth 210 kilobits.

▪ Exactly how many bits is worth 1 Mb?

▪ One gigabit (noted 1 Gb) is worth 210 megabits.

▪ Exactly how many bits is worth 1 Gb ?

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Size measurement units

▪ In most computers, each character is encoded on 8 bits.

▪ How many different characters can be encoded with 8 bits?

▪ One byte = 8 bits.

▪ Caution :
▪ 1 KB = 1 kilobyte ≠ 1 Kb = 1 kilobit
▪ 1 MB = 1 megabyte ≠ 1 Mb = 1 megabit
▪ 1 GB = 1 gigabyte ≠ 1 Gb = 1 gigabit

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CHAPTER PLAN

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Instruction set

▪ All instructions that can be executed on a machine.

▪ Different instruction formats depending on the number of parts
reserved for operands (or addresses):

| operation | operand | (1 address format)

| operation | operand 1 | operand 2 | (2 addresses format)
...

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Example of instructions in "1 address" format

readPeriph PeriphName
writePeriph PeriphName
loadAcc adMemory
memoAcc adMemory
add adMemory
substract adMemory
multiply adMemory
divide adMemory
testZero adMemory
stop

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Another example
H0 : AR ← PC

H1 : IR ← MR, PC ← PC +1
4 phase clock (1 per CPU cycle): H2 : SPR ← IRp

H3 : ACC ← ER
▪ keyboard acquisition readPeriph keyboard
H0 : AR ← PC
▪ addition of the read value add 163
H1 : IR ← MR, PC ← PC +1
with a data in memory
H2 : AR ← IRp
▪ display of the result on the screen writePeriph screen
H3 : ACC ← ACC + MR

H0 : AR ← PC

H1 : IR ← MR, PC ← PC +1

H2 : SPR ← IRp

H3 : ER ← ACC

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Loading

▪ Loader = program that reads a Loading into memory, addresses and pointers

program and writes it to

memory.
▪ The loader is charged by a
hardware device called a micro
loader. Hard disk RAM

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Physically …

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A perpetual race for performance

▪ The evolution of computers is

linked to:
▪ the evolution of needs (i.e.,
applications),
▪ the evolution of the performance of
each component.

▪ The design principle of a machine

is linked to performance.

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The solutions

▪ Increase the number of bits handled

simultaneously.
▪ Change the memory structure.
▪ Reduce the frequency of memory accesses.
▪ Increase bandwidth.

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Performance measures

▪ Performance depends on the architecture:

Measure Relevance
Clock frequency Objective for the same architecture
Number of instructions/s (MIPS, MFLOPS) Objective for the same set of instructions
Program execution time (benchmarks) The most objective

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