Unit: 4
Input-Output Organization
Lecture-2
I/O Interface
Interface is a shared boundary between two separate components of the
computer system which can be used to attach two or more components to the
system for communication purposes.
There are two types of interface:
CPU interface
I/O interface
Input-Output Interface:
Peripherals connected to a computer need special communication links for
interfacing with CPU. In computer system, there are special hardware
components between the CPU and peripherals to control or manage the input-
output transfers. These components are called input-output interface units
because they provide communication links between processor bus and
peripherals. They provide a method for transferring information between
internal system and input-output devices.
The purpose of the communication link is to resolve the differences that exist
between the central computer and each peripheral. The major differences are:
Peripherals are electromechanical and electromagnetic devices and their
manner of operation is different from operation of CPU and memory,
which are electronic devices. Therefore, a conversion of signal values may
be required.
The data transfer rate of peripherals is usually slower than the transfer
rate of CPU, and consequently , a synchronization mechanism may be
needed.
Data codes and formats in peripherals differ from word format in the
CPU and memory.
The operating modes of peripherals are different from each other and
each must be controlled so as not to disturb the operation of other
peripherals connected to CPU.
To resolve these differences, computer systems include special hardware
components between the CPU and Peripherals to supervises and synchronizes
all input and out transfers. These components are called Interface Units
because they interface between the processor bus and the peripheral devices.
The main function of input-output interface circuit are:
Data conversion:
o Data conversion refers to conversion between digital and analog
signals and conversion between serial and parallel data formats.
Synchronization:
o Synchronization refers to matching of operating speed of CPU and
other peripherals.
Device selection:
o Device selection refers to the selection of I/O device by CPU in a
queue manner.
A typical communication link between the processor and several peripherals is
shown in fig above.
The I/O bus consists of data lines, address lines and control lines.
The I/O bus from the processor is attached to all peripherals interface.
To communicate with a particular device, the processor places a device address
on address lines.
Each Interface decodes the address and control received from the I/O bus,
interprets them for peripherals and provides signals for the peripheral
controller. It is also synchronizes the data flow and supervises the transfer
between peripheral and processor.
Each peripheral has its own controller. For example, the printer controller
controls the paper motion, the print timing.
The control lines are referred as I/O command. The commands are as
following:
Control command- A control command is issued to activate the
peripheral and to inform it what to do.
Status command- A status command is used to test various status
conditions in the interface and the peripheral.
Data Output command- A data output command causes the interface to
respond by transferring data from the bus into one of its registers.
Data Input command- The data input command is the opposite of the
data output. In this case the interface receives on item of data from the
peripheral and places it in its buffer register
To communicate with I/O, the processor must communicate with the memory
unit. Like the I/O bus, the memory bus contains data, address and read/write
control lines.
There are 3 ways that computer buses can be used to communicate with
memory and I/O:
Use two Separate buses , one for memory and other for I/O.
Use one common bus for both memory and I/O but separate
control lines for each.
Use one common bus for memory and I/O with common control
lines
