Interconnection structures

• Computer consists of set of components (or modules) of 3

basic types.
• CPU
• Memory
• I/O
• These components communicate with each other.
• The collection of paths connecting various modules is called
as Interconnection structure.
• There may be different designs of interconnection structure
depending upon exchanges that must be made b/w the
modules.
Memory:
• Consists of N words of equal length
• Receives and sends data
• Nature of operation is indicated by Read and Write control signal
• Location for operation is specified by an address
I/O Module:
• Functionally similar to memory module
• It has 2 operations Read and Write
• Can control more than one external device. Each interface to an
external device is called as a Port
• Has external data paths for input and output data
• Able to send interrupt signals to the CPU
CPU:
• Reads instruction and data
• Writes out data (after processing)
• Sends control signals to other units
• Receives (& acts on) interrupts
Interconnection structure must support following types of
transfers:

– Memory to CPU : CPU reads instruction/data from memory

– CPU to Memory : CPU writes unit of data to memory
– I/O to CPU : CPU reads data from I/O device or via I/O
module
– CPU to I/O : CPU sends data to I/O device.
– I/O to or from Memory : An I/O module is allowed to
exchange data directly with memory, without help of CPU,
using Direct Memory Access (DMA).
Bus Interconnection
What is a Bus?

• A communication pathway connecting two or more devices

• Bus is a shared transmission medium
• Usually broadcast: multiple devices connect to the bus and a
signal transmitted by any one of device is available for reception
by all other devices attached to the bus
• Only one device at a time can successfully transmit, because if
two devices transmit during same time, their signals will overlap
and become garbled.
• Often grouped
– A number of channels (lines) are grouped in one bus
– e.g. 32 bit data bus has 32 separate single bit lines
– Bits can transmit simultaneously on these lines.
• Computer system contain a number of different buses that
provide pathways between components.
• A bus that connects major computer components (CPU,
memory, I/O) is called a System Bus.
• There can be many different bus designs. On any bus the lines
can be classified into 3 functional groups:
– Data lines
– Address lines
– Control lines
Data Bus
• Provides path for moving data
– Remember that there is no difference between “data” and
“instruction” at this level
• Typically consists of 8,16,32,64 separate data lines. Number of
data lines being referred to as Width of data bus.
• Each line can carry only 1 bit at a time, so width of data bus
determines how many bits can be transferred at a time.
• Width is the key factor for determining overall system
performance.
• If a data bus is 8 bits wide and each instruction is 16 bits long
then CPU must access the memory module 2 times during each
instruction cycle.
Address Bus
• Identify the source or destination of data.
• e.g. if CPU wishes to read data from memory, it will put address
of desired word on the address bus.
• Width of address bus determines maximum possible memory
capacity of the system.
– e.g. 8080 has 16 bit address bus giving 64k address space
• Can also be used to address I/O ports.
Control Bus
• Used to control access to data and address lines.
• Used to control use of data and address lines.
• Such control is needed because data and address lines are shared
by all components.
• Both command and timing information is transmitted on the bus.
– Command signal specify operations to be performed
– Timing signal indicate validity of data and address info.
Multiple Bus hierarchy
Architecture
Elements of Bus Design
Following are the elements of Bus Design:
1. Bus Type : Dedicated, Multiplexed
2. Method of Arbitration : Centralized, Distributed
3. Timing : Synchronous, Asynchronous
4. Bus Width
5. Data transfer Type
1. Bus Type

Dedicated
─ Permanently assigned to one function or to a physical
subset of computer components
─ Dedicated to a function means e.g. Separate data & address
lines
─ Physical dedication means refers to use of multiple buses,
each of which connects to a subset of modules. e.g. use of
an I/O bus to interconnect all I/O modules, this bus is then
connected to the main bus.
─ Advantage of having physical dedication is high throughput
─ Disadvantage is increased size and cost of the system
Multiplexed
─ Shared lines
─ E.g. address and data information may be transmitted over
the same set of lines using an address valid control line. At
the beginning of data transfer, address is placed on the bus
and address valid line is activated. Each module has
specified time to copy address from the bus. The address is
then removed from the bus and same bus is then used for
subsequent read and write data transfer.
─ Advantage is use of fewer line, which saves space and cost.
─ Disadvantage is more complex circuitry is needed.
─ Performance is reduced as events that share the same line
cannot take place in parallel.
2. Method of Arbitration
• If more than one module need control of bus then some method
of arbitration is needed. Because only one module at a time can
transmit successfully over the bus.
• Methods are classified as:
• Centralized
• Distributed

• In centralized scheme, a single hardware device, bus controller

or arbiter is used for allocation time on the bus.
• In distributed scheme, there is no central controller. Here each
module contains access control logic and module act together to
share the bus.
3. Timing

• The way in which events are coordinated on the bus.

• Synchronous
—Events determined by clock signals
—Control Bus includes clock line
—A single 1-0 transmission is called as clock/bus cycle
—All devices on the line can read clock line

• Asynchronous
—Events follows and depend on occurrence of previous event
• Synchronous timing is simpler to implement and test but less
flexible than asynchronous timing
4. Bus Width
• Bus width refers to no. of line in a bus.
• Width of data bus has an impact on system performance
--wider the data bus, greater the no. of bits transferred at a time
• Width of address bus has an impact on system capacity
--wider the address bus, greater the range of locations that can be
referenced

5. Date Transfer Type

• Read
• Write
• Read-modify-write : read followed immediately by a write to the
same address. The whole operation is typically indivisible.
• Read-after-write : An indivisible operation consist of a write
followed immediately by a read from the same address
• Block data transfer : one address cycle is followed by n data cycles.