Chapter 4.

Input/Output
Organization
Computer Architecture and
Organization

Instructor: Mustafa Mohamed

1
Overview
 Computer has ability to exchange data with
other devices.
 Human-computer communication
 Computer-computer communication
 Computer-device communication
 …

2
Accessing I/O Devices

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Single Bus

Processor Memory

Bus

I/O device 1 I/O device n

Figure 4.1. A single-bus structure.

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Memory-Mapped I/O
 When I/O devices and the memory share the same
address space, the arrangement is called memory-
mapped I/O.
 Any machine instruction that can access memory
can be used to transfer data to or from an I/O
device.
Move DATAIN, R0
Move R0, DATAOUT
 Some processors have special In and Out
instructions to perform I/O transfer.
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Interface
Address lines
Bus Data lines
Control lines

Address Control Data and I/O

decoder circuits status registers interface

Input device

Figure 4.2. I/O interface for an input device.

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Program-Controlled I/O
 I/O devices operate at speeds that are very
much different from that of the processor.
 Keyboard, for example, is very slow.
 It needs to make sure that only after a
character is available in the input buffer of the
keyboard interface; also, this character must
be read only once.

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Three Major Mechanisms
 Program-controlled I/O – processor polls the
device.
 Interrupt
 Direct Memory Access (DMA)

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Interrupts

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Overview
 In program-controlled I/O, the program enters
a wait loop in which it repeatedly tests the
device status. During the period, the
processor is not performing any useful
computation.
 However, in many situations other tasks can
be performed while waiting for an I/O device
to become ready.
 Let the device alert the processor.
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Enabling and Disabling
Interrupts
 Since the interrupt request can come at any
time, it may alter the sequence of events from
that envisaged by the programmer.
 Interrupts must be controlled.

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Enabling and Disabling
Interrupts
 The interrupt request signal will be active
until it learns that the processor has
responded to its request. This must be
handled to avoid successive interruptions.
 Let the interrupt be disabled/enabled in the interrupt-
service routine.
 Let the processor automatically disable interrupts before
starting the execution of the interrupt-service routine.

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Handling Multiple Devices
 How can the processor recognize the device requesting an
interrupt?
 Given that different devices are likely to require different
interrupt-service routines, how can the processor obtain the
starting address of the appropriate routine in each case?
 (Vectored interrupts)
 Should a device be allowed to interrupt the processor while
another interrupt is being serviced?
 (Interrupt nesting)
 How should two or more simultaneous interrupt requests be
handled?
 (Daisy-chain)

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Vectored Interrupts
 A device requesting an interrupt can identify
itself by sending a special code to the
processor over the bus.
 Interrupt vector
 Avoid bus collision

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Interrupt Nesting
 Simple solution: only accept one interrupt at a time, then disable
all others.
 Problem: some interrupts cannot be held too long.
 Priority structure

INTR 1 I NTR p
Processor

Device 1 Device 2 Device p

INTA1 INTA p

Priority arbitration
circuit

Figure 4.7. Implementation of interrupt priority using individual

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interrupt-request and acknowledge lines.
Simultaneous Requests I NTR

Processor
Device 1 Device 2 Device n
INTA

(a) Daisy chain

I NTR 1

Device Device
INTA1
Processor

INTR p

Device Device
INTA p
Priority arbitration
circuit

(b) Arrangement of priority groups

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Figure 4.8. Interrupt priority schemes.

Controlling Device Requests
 Some I/O devices may not be allowed to
issue interrupt requests to the processor.
 At device end, an interrupt-enable bit in a
control register determines whether the
device is allowed to generate an interrupt
request.
 At processor end, either an interrupt enable
bit in the PS register or a priority structure
determines whether a given interrupt request
will be accepted.
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Exceptions
 Recovery from errors
 Debugging
 Trace
 Breakpoint
 Privilege exception

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Use of Interrupts in Operating
Systems
 The OS and the application program pass
control back and forth using software
interrupts.
 Supervisor mode / user mode
 Multitasking (time-slicing)
 Process – running, runnable, blocked
 Program state

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Processor Examples

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 15 13 10 8 4 3 2 1 0

T S X N Z V C

Trace
Condition
Interrupt Codes
Supervisor
Priority

Figure 4.14. Processor status register in the 68000 processor.

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 Main program
MOVE.L #LINE,PNTR Initialize buffer pointer.
CLR EOL Clear end-of-line indicator.
ORI.B #4,CONTROL Set bit KEN.
MOVE #$100,SR Set pro cessor priority to 1.
..
.
Interrupt-service routine
READ MOVEM.L A0/D0, – (A7) Save registers A0, D0 on stack.
MOVEA.L PNTR,A0 Load address pointer.
MOVE.B DATAIN,D0 Get input character.
MOVE.B D0,(A0)+ Store it in memory buffer.
MOVE.L A0,PNTR Update pointer.
CMPI.B #$0D,D0 Check if Carriage Return.
BNE RTRN
MOVE #1,EOL Indicate end of line.
ANDI.B #$FB,CONTROL Clear bit KEN.
RTRN MOVEM.L (A7)+,A0/D0 Restore registers D0, A0.
RTE

Figure 4.15. A 68000 interrupt-service routine to read an input line from a keyboard based on Figure 4.9.

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Direct Memory Access

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DMA
 Think about the overhead in both polling and
interrupting mechanisms when a large block of data
need to be transferred between the processor and
the I/O device.
 A special control unit may be provided to allow
transfer of a block of data directly between an
external device and the main memory, without
continuous intervention by the processor – direct
memory access (DMA).
 The DMA controller provides the memory address
and all the bus signals needed for data transfer,
increment the memory address for successive
words, and keep track of the number of transfers.
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DMA Procedure
 Processor sends the starting address, the number of
data, and the direction of transfer to DMA controller.
 Processor suspends the application program
requesting DMA, starts DMA transfer, and starts
another program.
 After the DMA transfer is done, DMA controller
sends an interrupt signal to the processor.
 The processor puts the suspended program in the
Runnable state.

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DMA Register
31 30 1 0

Status and control

IRQ Done
IE R/ W

Starting address

Word count

Figure 4.18. Registers in a DMA interface.

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System
Main
Processor
memory

System bus

Disk/DMA DMA
controller controller Printer Keyboard

Disk Disk Network

Interface

Figure 4.19. Use of DMA controllers in a computer system. 27

Memory Access
 Memory access by the processor and the
DMA controller are interwoven.
 DMA device has higher priority.
 Among all DMA requests, top priority is given
to high-speed peripherals.
 Cycle stealing
 Block (burst) mode
 Data buffer
 Conflicts
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Bus Arbitration
 The device that is allowed to initiate data
transfers on the bus at any given time is
called the bus master.
 Bus arbitration is the process by which the
next device to become the bus master is
selected and bus mastership is transferred to
it.
 Need to establish a priority system.
 Two approaches: centralized and distributed
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Centralized Arbitration

B BS Y

BR

Processor

DMA DMA
controller controller
BG1 1 BG2 2

Figure 4.20. A simple arrangement for bus arbitration using a daisy chain.

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Centralized Arbitration
Time

BR

BG1

BG2

B BS Y

Bus
master
Processor DMA controller 2 Processor

Figure 4.21. Sequence of signals during transfer of b us mastership

for the devices in Figure 4.20.

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Distributed Arbitration
Vcc

ARB 3
ARB 2
ARB 1
ARB 0
Start-Arbitration

O.C.

0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1

Interface circuit
for device A

Figure 4.22. A distributed arbitration scheme. 32

Buses

33
Overview
 The primary function of a bus is to provide a
communications path for the transfer of data.
 A bus protocol is the set of rules that govern the
behavior of various devices connected to the bus as
to when to place information on the bus, assert
control signals, etc.
 Three types of bus lines: data, address, control
 The bus control signals also carry timing
information.
 Bus master (initiator) / slave (target)
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Synchronous Bus Timing
Time

Bus clock

Address and
command

Data

t0 t1 t2

Bus cycle

Figure 4.23. Timing of an input transfer on a synchronous bus.

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Synchronous Bus Detailed
Timing Time

Bus clock

Seen by master t AM
Address and
command

Data
t DM

Seen by slave
tAS

Address and
command

Data
tDS

t0 t1 t2

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Figure 4.24. A detailed timing diagram for the input transfer of Figure 4.23.
Multiple-Cycle Transfers
Time

1 2 3 4

Clock

Address

Command

Data

Slave-ready

Figure 4.25. An input transfer using multiple clock cycles. 37

Asynchronous Bus – Handshaking
Protocol for Input Operation
Time

Address
and command

Master-ready

Slave-ready

Data

t0 t1 t2 t3 t4 t5

Bus cycle

Figure 4.26. Handshake control of data transfer during an input operation.

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Asynchronous Bus – Handshaking
Protocol for Output Operation
Time

Address
and command

Data

Master-ready

Slave-ready

t0 t1 t2 t3 t4 t5

Bus cycle

Figure 4.27. Handshake control of data transfer during an output operation. 39

Discussion
 Trade-offs
 Simplicity of the device interface
 Ability to accommodate device interfaces that introduce
different amounts of delay
 Total time required for a bus transfer
 Ability to detect errors resulting from addressing a
nonexistent device or from an interface malfunction
 Asynchronous bus is simpler to design.
 Synchronous bus is faster.
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Interface Circuits

41
Function of I/O Interface
 Provide a storage buffer for at least one word of
data;
 Contain status flags that can be accessed by the
processor to determine whether the buffer is full or
empty;
 Contain address-decoding circuitry to determine
when it is being addressed by the processor;
 Generate the appropriate timing signals required by
the bus control scheme;
 Perform any format conversion that may be
necessary to transfer data between the bus and the
I/O device.
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Parallel Port
 A parallel port transfers data in the form of a
number of bits, typically 8 or 16,
simultaneously to or from the device.
 For faster communications

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Parallel Port – Input Interface (Keyboard
to Processor Connection)
Data

Address
DATAIN Data
Encoder
R /W and Keyboard
Processor SIN
debouncing switches
Master-ready circuit
Valid
Input
Slave-ready
interface

Figure 4.28. Keyboard to processor connection.

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 DATAIN

D7 Q7 D7

Keyboard
data

D0 Q0 D0

SIN
Status Valid
flag
Slave-
ready 1

Read-
status
Read-
data

R/ W
Master-
ready

A31
Address
decoder
A1

A0

Figure 4.29. Input interface circuit. 45

Parallel Port – Input Interface (Keyboard
to Processor Connection)

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Parallel Port – Output Interface
(Printer to Processor Connection)

Data

Address DATAOUT Data

Processor
CPU R /W SOUT Printer
Valid
Master-eady
Output Idle
Slave-ready interface

Figure 4.31. Printer to processor connection. 47

48
 Bus
D7 PA7

DATAIN
D1
D0 PA0

SIN
Input
status CA

PB7

DATAOUT

PB0
SOUT
Handshake CB1
control CB2
Slave-
Ready 1

Master-
Ready
R/ W

A31
Address My-address
decoder
A2

RS1
A1

RS0
A0
49

Figure 4.33. Combined input/output interface circuit.

 D7 P7

DATAIN

D0 P0

DATAOUT

Data
Direction
Register

My-address
RS2
RS1 Status C1
Register
RS0 and
select control
R /W C2
Ready
Accept

INTR

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Figure 4.34. A general 8-bit parallel interface.
Recall the Timing Protocol
Time

1 2 3 4

Clock

Address

Command

Data

Slave-ready

Figure 4.25. An input transfer using multiple clock cycles.

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 DATAOUT

D7 D7 Q7
Printer
data
D0 D1 Q1
D0 D0 Q0

SOUT
Handshake Idle
control Valid
Read Load
status data

R/W
Slav e-
ready
Go
A31
Address My-address Timing
decoder Logic
A1

A0
Clock

My-address

Idle Respond
Go=1

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Figure 4.35. A parallel point interface for the bus of Figure 4.25,
with a state-diagram for the timing logic.
Serial Port
 A serial port is used to connect the processor
to I/O devices that require transmission of
data one bit at a time.
 The key feature of an interface circuit for a
serial port is that it is capable of
communicating in bit-serial fashion on the
device side and in a bit-parallel fashion on
the bus side.
 Capable of longer distance communication
than parallel transmission.
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 Serial
Input shift register input

DATAIN

D7

D0

DATAOUT
My-address
RS1
RS0 Chip and
register Serial
R /W Output shift register output
select
Ready
Accept

Receiving clock
Status
I NTR and
control
Transmission clock

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Figure 4.37. A serial interface.
Standard I/O
Interfaces

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Overview
 The needs for standardized interface signals
and protocols.
 Motherboard
 Bridge: circuit to connect two buses
 Expansion bus
 ISA, PCI, SCSI, USB,…

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 Main
Processor
memory

Processor bus

Bridge

PCI bus

Additional SCSI Ethernet USB ISA

memory controller interf ace controller interf ace

SCSI bus
IDE
disk
Video
Disk CD-ROM
controller controller

CD-
Disk 1 Disk 2 ROM K eyboard Game

Figure 4.38. An example of a computer system using different interface standards.

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