Von Neumann architecture is the design upon which many general purpose computers are based.

The key elements

of Von Neumann architecture are: data and instructions are both stored as binary . data and instructions are both stored
in main memory.
program counter is a register in a computer processor that contains the address (location) of the instruction being
executed at the current time. As each instruction gets fetched, the program counter increases its stored value by 1.
Architecture: Architecture is those attributes visible to the programmer. -Instruction set, number of bits used for data
representation, I/O mechanisms, addressing techniques.

Organization: Organization is how features are implemented. -Control signals, interfaces, memory technology.

ENIAC: Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer

Moore's law, prediction made by American engineer Gordon Moore in 1965 that the number of transistors per silicon chip
doubles every year. Moore's law. Gordon E. Moore observed that the number of transistors on a computer chip was
doubling about every 18–24 months.
Semiconductor memory is a type of semiconductor device tasked with storing data. There are two electronic data
storage mediums that we can utilize, magnetic or optical. Magnetic storage: Stores data in magnetic form.
Pipelining is the process of accumulating instruction from the processor through a pipeline. It allows storing and
executing instructions in an orderly process.
What is a program? -A set of instructions -A sequence of steps -For each step, an arithmetic or logical operation is done -For each
operation, a different set of control signals is needed

Instruction Cycle: Two steps: -Fetch –Execute

Interrupts: Mechanism by which other modules (e.g. I/O) may interrupt normal sequence of processing
What is a Bus? A communication pathway connecting two or more devices
Address bus is a computer bus architecture used to transfer data between devices that are identified by the
hardware address of the physical memory (the physical address), which is stored in the form of binary numbers to enable
the data bus to access memory storage.
Control bus is a computer bus that is used by the CPU to communicate with devices that are contained within the
computer. This occurs through physical connections such as cables or printed circuits.
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) is a local computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer and is
part of the PCI Local Bus standard. The PCI bus supports the functions found on a processor bus but in a standardized
format that is independent of any particular processor's native bus.
Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is a type of semiconductor memory that is typically used for the data or
program code needed by a computer processor to function. DRAM is a common type of random access memory (RAM)
that is used in personal computers (PCs), workstations and servers.
Static random-access memory is a type of random-access memory that uses latching circuitry to store each bit. SRAM is
volatile memory; data is lost when power is removed. The term static differentiates SRAM from DRAM which must be
periodically
Sram vs Dram: Static RAM uses a completely different technology. So static RAM is fast and expensive, and dynamic
RAM is less expensive and slower. Therefore, static RAM is used to create the CPU's speed-sensitive cache,
while dynamic RAM forms the larger system RAM space.
ROM: Read-only memory(ROM) contains a permanent pattern of data that cannot be changed. A ROM is nonvolatile.
PROM: Programmable ROM (PROM) is nonvolatile and may be written into only once.
EPROM: Erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) is read and written electrically, as with PROM.
EEPROM stands for electrically erasable programmable read-only memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in
computers, integrated in microcontrollers for smart cards and remote keyless systems
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and
reprogrammed.
Track: The head is a relatively small device capable of reading from or writing to a portion of the platter rotating beneath
it. This gives rise to the organization of data on the platter in a concentric set of rings, called tracks. Each track is the
same width as the head. There are thousands of tracks per surface.

Sector: Data are transferred to and from the disk in sectors. There are typically hundreds of sectors per track, and these
may be of either fixed or variable length.

Cylinder: The set of all the TRACKS on a HARD DISK drive with multiple PLATTERS that may be read at the same time.
The HEADS on all the platters move together in a parallel motion – a sequence of data stored within the
same cylinder can be read at optimum speed without requiring any movement

How are data read from a magnetic disk? The traditional read mechanism exploits the fact that a magnetic field
moving relative to a coil produces an electrical current in the coil. When the surface of the disk passes under the head, it
generates a current of the same polarity as the one already recorded. The structure of the head for reading is in this case
essentially the same as for writing and therefore the same head can be used for both. Such single heads are used in
floppy disk systems and in older rigid disk systems.

Seek time is the time required to move the disk arm to the required track.

The transfer time to or from the disk depends on the rotation speed of the disk in the following fashion:

T = b/rN

RAID is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical disk drive components into one or more
logical units for the purposes of data redundancy, performance improvement, or both.

Common characteristics of raid: RAID is a set of physical disk drives viewed by the operating system as a single logical
drive. Data are distributed across the physical drives of an array in a scheme known as striping, described subsequently.
Redundant disk capacity is used to store parity information, which guarantees data recoverability in case of a disk failure.

raid 0 vs raid 1: RAID 0 and RAID 1 are two types of configurations or levels that can be set up with an array of
independent disks. RAID 0 offers striping, which translates to better performance, but no-fault tolerance or data
redundancy. RAID 1, on the other hand, offers mirroring, so the same data is available in two disks.

raid 1 vs raid 2: RAID 1 stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disk level 1. RAID 2 stands for Redundant Array of
Independent Disk level 2. In RAID 1 technology, Disk Mirroring is used. In RAID 2 technology, Bit-Level Striping is used.

RAID 4 consists of block-level striping with a dedicated parity disk. As a result of its layout, RAID 4 provides good
performance of random reads, while the performance of random writes is low due to the need to write all parity data to a
single disk.
RAID 5 consists of block-level striping with distributed parity. Unlike in RAID 4, parity information is distributed among the
drives. It requires that all drives but one be present to operate. Upon failure of a single drive, subsequent reads can be
calculated from the distributed parity such that no data is lost. RAID 5 requires at least three disks.
Compact Disk: A compact disc [sometimes spelled disk] (CD) is a small, portable, round medium made of molded
polymer (close in size to the floppy disk) for electronically recording, storing, and playing back audio, video, text, and other
information in digital form.
DVD - digital versatile disc: Digital versatile disc or digital video disc, a type of optical disk technology similar to the CD-
ROM. A DVD holds a minimum of 4.7GB of data, enough for a full-length movie. DVDs are commonly used as a medium
for digital representation of movies and other multimedia presentations that combine sound with graphics.
Direct memory access is a feature of computer systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system
memory independent of the central processing unit.
I/O module fall into the following categories: • Control and timing • Processor communication • Device communication
• Data buffering • Error detection
Registers are a type of computer memory used to quickly accept, store, and transfer data and instructions that are being
used immediately by the CPU. A processor register may hold an instruction, a storage address, or any data (such as bit
sequence or individual characters)
Memory address register: In a computer, the memory address register is the CPU register that either stores the memory
address from which data will be fetched to the CPU, or the address to which data will be sent and stored.
Memory buffer register is the register in a computer's processor, or central processing unit, CPU, that stores the data
being transferred to and from the immediate access storage. It contains the copy of designated memory locations
specified by the memory address register.
Shift register is a type of digital circuit using a cascade of flip flops where the output of one flip-flop is connected to the
input of the next. They share a single clock signal, which causes the data stored in the system to shift from one location to
the next.
Data registers may be used only to hold data and cannot be employed in the calculation of an operand address.
Address registers may be devoted to a particular addressing mode. Example, Segment pointers, Index registers, Stack
pointer etc.
Condition codes are bits set by the processor hardware as the result of operations. Also referred to as flags. For
example, an arithmetic operation may produce a positive, negative, zero, or overflow result.
ADI Add immediate means add an immediate value with the the content of accumulator and it is stored in accumulator.
Complement Accumulator CMA is designed to provides a 1’s complement of the 8 bits in the A register. No other flags
affected.

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