Computer Organization

Lecture 2
Computer Evolution and
Performance

1
Key Points
 The evolution of computers has been
characterized by
 Increasing processor speed,

 Decreasing component size,

 Increasing memory size, and

 Increasing I/O capacity and speed.

2
Key Points
 The processor speed true gains from
organization of the processor using new
techniques, including heavy use of
pipelining and parallel execution
techniques.
 All of these techniques are designed to
keep the processor busy as much of the
time as possible.

3
Key Points
 A critical issue in computer system design is
balancing the performance of the various
elements.
 In particular, processor speed has increased
more rapidly than memory access time.
 A variety of techniques is used to
compensate for this mismatch, including
caches, wider data paths from memory to
processor, and more intelligent memory
chips. 4
A BRIEF HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
 The First Generation: Vacuum Tubes
 The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical
Integrator And Computer), designed and
constructed at the University of
Pennsylvania, was the world’s first general
purpose electronic digital computer.
 The project was a response to U.S. needs
during World War II. The Army’s Ballistics
Research Laboratory (BRL)
5
ENIAC - Detail
 Started 1943 - Finished 1946
 Used until 1955
 Decimal (not binary)
 20 accumulators of 10 digits
 Programmed manually by switches
 18,000 vacuum tubes
 30 tons
 15,000 square feet
 140 kW power consumption
 5,000 additions per second
ENIAC - Detail
 A ring of 10 vacuum tubes represented each
digit.
 At any time, only one vacuum tube was in the
ON state, representing one of the 10 digits.
 The major drawback of the ENIAC was that it
had to be programmed manually by setting
switches and plugging and unplugging cables.
Von Neumann Machine
 Stored Program concept
 Main memory storing programs and data
 ALU operating on binary data
 Control unit interpreting instructions from
memory and executing
 Input and output equipment operated by control
unit
 Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies
 IAS Computer
 Completed 1952
Structure of von Neumann machine

Structure of the IAS Computer

Von Neumann Machine Structure
It consists of:
 A main memory, which stores both data and
instructions
 An arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) capable of
operating on binary data
 A control unit, which interprets the instructions
in memory and causes them to be executed
 Input and output (I/O) equipment operated by
the control unit
IAS - details
 1000 x 40 bit words
 Binary number

 2 x 20 bit instructions

 Set of registers (storage in CPU)

 Memory Buffer Register

 Memory Address Register

 Instruction Register

 Instruction Buffer Register

 Program Counter

 Accumulator

 Multiplier Quotient
IAS – Registers
Control Unit and the ALU contain storage
locations, called registers
 Memory buffer register (MBR): Contains a
word to be stored in memory or sent to the I/O
unit, or is used to receive a word from memory
or from the I/O unit.
 Memory address register (MAR): Specifies the
address in memory of the word to be written
from or read into the MBR.
 Instruction register (IR): Contains the 8-bit
opcode instruction being executed.
IAS – Registers
 Instruction buffer register (IBR): Employed to
hold temporarily the right hand instruction from
a word in memory.
 Program counter (PC): Contains the address of
the next instruction-pair to be fetched from
memory.
 Accumulator (AC) and multiplier quotient
(MQ): Employed to hold temporarily operands
and results of ALU operations.
Structure of IAS –
detail
IAS Structure Continue ……

Will be discuss later

Commercial Computers
 The 1950s saw the birth of the computer
industry with two companies, Sperry and IBM,
dominating the marketplace.
Commercial Computers
 1947 - Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation
 UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer)
 US Bureau of Census 1950 calculations
 Became part of Sperry-Rand Corporation
 Late 1950s - UNIVAC II
 Faster
 More memory
 The 1950s saw the birth of the computer industry
with two companies, Sperry and IBM, dominating
the marketplace.
IBM
 Punched-card processing equipment
 1953 - the 701

 IBM’s first stored program computer

 Scientific calculations

 1955 - the 702

 Business applications

 Lead to 700/7000 series

The Second Generation : Transistors
 Replaced vacuum tubes
 Smaller

 Cheaper

 Less heat dissipation

 Solid State device

 Made from Silicon (Sand)

 Invented 1947 at Bell Labs

Transistor Based Computers
 NCR and, more successfully, RCA were the front-
runners with some small transistor machines.
 IBM followed shortly with the 7000 series.
 The use of the transistor defines the second
generation of computers.
 It has become widely accepted to classify
computers into generations based on the
fundamental hardware technology employed
Transistor Based Computers
 The second generation saw the introduction of more
complex arithmetic and logic units and control
units, the use of high level programming languages,
and the provision of system software with the
computer.
 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) was founded
in 1957 and, in that year, delivered its first
computer, the PDP-1.
 This computer and this company began the
minicomputer phenomenon that would become so
prominent in the third generation.
THE IBM 7094
THE IBM 7094 - Configration
The Third Generation: Integrated Circuits
MICROELECTRONICS
 Microelectronics means, literally, “small electronics

 A computer is made up of gates, memory cells and

interconnections
 These can be manufactured on a semiconductor

 e.g. silicon wafer

Microelectronics
 The basic elements of a digital computer, must
perform
 storage,
 movement,
 processing, and
 control functions.
 Only two fundamental types of components are
required
 gates and
 memory cells
 Microelectronics
 Gate - implements a simple Boolean or logical function.
 Memory Cell - can store one bit of data.
 Computer constructed by interconnecting large numbers
of Gate & Memory Cell to perform four basic functions.
 Data storage: Provided by memory cells.
 Data processing: Provided by gates.
 Data movement: The paths among components are used to move
data from memory to memory and from memory through gates to
memory.
 Control: The paths among components can carry control signals.
Moore’s Law
 Increased density of components on chip
 Gordon Moore – co-founder of Intel
 Number of transistors on a chip will double every year
 Since 1970’s development has slowed a little
 Number of transistors doubles every 18 months

 Cost of a chip has remained almost unchanged

 Higher packing density means shorter electrical paths,
giving higher performance
 Smaller size gives increased flexibility
 Reduced power and cooling requirements
 Fewer interconnections increases reliability
Growth in CPU Transistor Count
IBM 360 series
 1964
 Replaced (& not compatible with) 7000 series
 First planned “family” of computers
 Similar or identical instruction sets
 Similar or identical O/S
 Increasing speed
 Increasing number of I/O ports (i.e. more terminals)
 Increased memory size
 Increased cost
 Multiplexed switch structure
IBM 360 series
DEC PDP-8
 1964
 First minicomputer (after miniskirt!)
 Did not need air conditioned room
 Small enough to sit on a lab bench
 $16,000
 $100k+ for IBM 360
 Embedded applications & OEM
 BUS STRUCTURE
DEC PDP-8
DEC - PDP-8 Bus Structure
Later Generations
 Vacuum tube - 1946-1957
 Transistor - 1958-1964
 Small scale integration (SSI) - 1965 on
 Up to 100 devices on a chip
 Medium scale integration - to 1971
 100-3,000 devices on a chip
 Large scale integration (LSI) - 1971-1977
 3,000 - 100,000 devices on a chip
 Very large scale integration (VLSI)- 1978 -1991
 100,000 - 100,000,000 devices on a chip
 Ultra large scale integration(ULSI) – 1991 -
 Over 100,000,000 devices on a chip
Later Generations
SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY
 The first application of integrated circuit technology
to computers was construction of the processor (the
control unit and the arithmetic and logic unit) out of
integrated circuit chips.
 But it was also found that this same technology could
be used to construct memories.
 In 1970, Fairchild produced the first relatively
capacious semiconductor memory.
 It hold 256 bits of memory.
 It was much faster & took only 70 billionths of a
second to read a bit. But was costly.
MICROPROCESSORS
 As time went on, more and more elements were
placed on each chip, so that fewer and fewer chips
were needed to construct a single computer processor.
 A breakthrough was achieved in 1971, when Intel
developed its 4004.
 The 4004 was the first chip to contain all of the
components of a CPU on a single chip: The
microprocessor was born.
Intel
 1971 - 4004
 First microprocessor
 All CPU components on a single chip
 4 bit
 Followed in 1972 by 8008
 8 bit
 Both designed for specific applications
 1974 - 8080
 Intel’s first general purpose microprocessor
Intel
Intel