Introduction

Part 1
• The Microprocessor Based Systems
 Memory and I/O System
 Microprocessor
The Block Diagram of a Microprocessor-
Based Computer System

Buses

Memory System Microprocessor I/O System

Dynamic RAM 8086 Printer

(DRAM) 8088 Serial
Static RAM 80186 Communications
Cache 80188 Floppy Disk Drive
Read-Only (ROM) 80286 Hard Disk Drive
Flash Memory 80386 Mouse
EEPROM 80486 CD-ROM Drive
SDRAM Pentium Plotter
RAMBVS Pentium Pro Keyboard
Pentium II Monitor
Pentium III Tape Backup
Pentium 4 Scanner
DVD
The Memory Map of Personal Computers

Extended
Memory 15M bytes in the 80286 or 80386X
31M bytes in the 80386SL/SLC
63M bytes in the 80386EX
4095M bytes in the 80386DX, 80486, and Pentium
64G bytes in the Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III,
and Pentium 4

The transient program area (TPA)

holds the DOS operating system and
other programs that control the
computer system. The TPA also stores
any currently active or inactive DOS
application programs.
System Area
384K bytes
1M bytes of real (conventional) Memory
TPA
640K bytes
The Memory Map of the TPA in a Personal
Computer (vary between systems)
9FFFF
MSDOS program • The Interrupt vectors access various features of
9FFF0 the DOS, BIOS (basic I/O system), and
applications.
Free TPA
• The System BIOS and DOS communication
areas contain transient data used by programs to
access I/O devices and the internal features of
the computer system.
• The IO.SYS is a program that loads into the TPA
from the disk whenever an MSDOS or PCDOS
08E30 system is started. It contains programs that allow
COMMAND.COM DOS to use the keyboard, video display, printer,
08490
and other I/O devices often found in the computer
Device drivers
system. The I/O.SYS program links DOS to the
Such as MOUSE.SYS
02350 Programs stored on the system BIOS ROM.
MSDOS program • DOS occupies two areas of memory: One is 16
01160
IO.SYS program bytes in length and is located at the top of the
00700 TPA, and the other is much larger and is located
DOS communications area near the bottom of the TPA. The DOS program
00500 controls the operation of the computer system.
BIOS communications The size of the DOS area depends on the version
00400 area of DOS installed in the computer and how it is
Interrupt vectors
00000 installed
The Memory Map of the TPA in a Personal
Computer (vary between systems)
9FFFF
MSDOS program • The size of the driver area and number of drivers
9FFF0 change from one computer to another . Drivers
are programs that control installable I/O devices
Free TPA such as a mouse, scanner, CD-ROM, …
• The COMMAND.COM program (command
processor) controls the operation of the computer
from the keyboard when operated in the DOS
mode. The COMMAND.COM program
processes the DOS commands as they are
08E30 typed from the keyboard.
COMMAND.COM
08490 • The free TPA area holds DOS application
Device drivers programs as they are executed. These
Such as MOUSE.SYS application programs include word
02350 processors, spreadsheet programs, …etc.TPA
MSDOS program also holds TSR (terminate and stay resident)
01160
IO.SYS program programs that remain in memory in an
00700 inactive state until activated by a hot-key
DOS communications area sequence or another event such as an
00500
interrupt.
BIOS communications
00400 area
Interrupt vectors
00000
The Memory Map of the System Area in a
Personal Computer (vary between
systems)
FFFFF
BIOS System ROM
F0000
Basic Language ROM
(only on new PCS)
E0000
Free Area

Hard Disk Controller ROM

LAN Controller ROM
C8000
Video BIOS ROM
C0000
Video RAM
B0000 (text area)

Video RAM
A0000 (graphics area)
 Memory Hierarchy

Registers

Larger, Slower, and L1 Cache Smaller, Faster, and

Cheaper More Expensive

L2 Cache

Main Memory
 The Microprocessor
The microprocessor (sometimes referred as the CPU) is the controlling
element in a computer system.
The microprocessor controls memory and I/O through a series of
connections called buses.

The microprocessor performs three main tasks for the computer

system:
 Data transfer between itself and the memory or I/O systems.
 Simple arithmetic and logic operations.
 Program flow via simple decisions.

The power of the microprocessor is in its capability to execute

hundreds of millions of instructions per second from a program or
software (group of instructions) stored in the memory system.
 Arithmetic and Logic Decision-making capabilities
Operations Executed by Intel of the Intel Family of
Family of Microprocessors Microprocessors

Operation Comment Decision Comment

Addition Test a number for zero or not-
Zero
zero
Subtraction
Test a number for positive or
Sign
negative
Multiplication

Division Test for a carry after addition or

Carry
a borrow after subtraction
AND Logical Multiplication
OR Logical Addition
NOT Logical Inversion Test a number for an even or an
Parity
odd number of ones
NEG Arithmetic Inversion
Test for an overflow that
Shift
indicates an invalid signed
Overflow
result after addition or
Rotate subtraction
 Buses

A bus is a common group of wires that interconnect components in a

computer system. The buses transfer address, data, and control
information between the microprocessor and its memory and I/O
systems.

The buses:
 Select an I/O or memory device.
 Transfer data between an I/O device or memory and the
microprocessor.
 Controls the I/O and memory system through instructions that
are stored in the memory and executed by the microprocessor.
Requests a memory location from
the memory or an I/O location from Transfers information between
the I/O devices. the microprocessor and its
memory and I/O address space.
Address Bus

µp Data Bus

MWTC
MRDC Control
IOWC Bus
IORC

Read-only Read/write
memory memory Keyboard Printer
ROM RAM

Contains lines that select the

memory or I/O and cause them to
perform a read or write operation.
 Intel Microprocessors
Data Bus Address
Microprocessor Memory Size
Width Bus Width
8086 16 20 1M
8088 8 20 1M

80186 16 20 1M
The memory size depends on
80188 8 20 the address bus width, for
1M
example 20bit address bus
80286 16 24 16M
means that the processor can
80386SX 16 24 address memory size up to
16M
2^20= 1048576 byte /1024 
80386DX 32 32 1024 KB (1MB)
4G

80386EX 16 26 64M

80486 32 32 4G

Pentium 64 32 4G

Pentium OverDrive 32 32 4G

Pentium Pro 64 32 4G

Pentium Pro 64 36 64G

Pentium II 64 32 4G
Pentium II, Pentium III,
64 36 64G
Pentium 4