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Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside
 Introduction to Computing Systems
from bits & gates to C & beyond

Chapter 1

Welcome Aboard!
 This course is about:

• What computers consist of

• How to fix computers
• How computers work
• How to build myself one
• How they are organized real cheap
internally
• Which one to buy
• What are the design tradeoffs
• Knowing all about the
• How design affects Pentium IV or PowerPC
programming and applications

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 Computing Machines
 Ubiquitous ( = everywhere)
 General purpose: servers, desktops, laptops, PDAs, etc.
 Special purpose: cash registers, ATMs, games, telephone
switches, etc.
 Embedded: cars, hotel doors, printers, VCRs, industrial
machinery, medical equipment, etc.

 Distinguishing Characteristics
 Speed
 Cost
 Ease of use, software support & interface
 Scalability

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 Two recurring themes
Abstraction
 The notion that we can concentrate on one “level” of the big
picture at a time, with confidence that we can then connect
effectively with the levels above and below.
 Framing the levels of abstraction appropriately is one of the most
important skills in any undertaking.

Hardware vs. Software

 On the other hand, abstraction does not mean being clueless
about the neighboring levels.
 In particular, hardware and software are inseparably connected,
especially at the level we will be studying.

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 What is Computer Organization?

Electronic Desired
Devices Behavior

… a very wide semantic gap between the intended behavior and the
workings of the underlying electronic devices that will actually do
all the work.

The forerunners to modern computers attempted to assemble the raw

devices (mechanical, electrical, or electronic) into a separate
purpose-built machine for each desired behavior.
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 Role of General Purpose Computers
computer
software
organization

General
Electronic Desired
Purpose
Devices Behavior
Computer

A general purpose computer is like an island that helps span the gap
between the desired behavior (application) and the basic building
blocks (electronic devices).

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CPUs: the heart of computing systems

ca 2000
ca 1980 You can see why they called
It took 10 of these boards to this CPU a microprocessor!
make a Central Processing Unit

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1-8 Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside
 Two pillars of Computing

Universal Computational Devices

 Given enough time and memory, all computers are capable of
computing exactly the same things (irrespective of speed, size or
cost).
 Turing’s Thesis: every computation can be performed by some
“Turing Machine” - a theoretical universal computational device

Problem Transformation
 The ultimate objective is to transform a problem expressed in
natural language into electrons running around a circuit!
 That’s what Computer Science and Computer Engineering are all
about: a continuum that embraces software & hardware.

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 A Turing Machine

Also known as a Universal Computational Device: a theoretical

device that accepts both input data and instructions as to how to
operate on the data

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 Problem Transformation
- levels of abstraction
The desired behavior: Natural Language
the application
Algorithm

Program

Machine Architecture

Micro-architecture

Logic Circuits
The building blocks:
Devices
electronic devices
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 Levels of Abstraction

 These levels do not necessarily correspond Natural Language

to discrete components, but to well defined
standard interfaces. Algorithm

 Standard interfaces provide Program

 portability
Machine Architecture
 third party software/hardware
 wider usage Micro-architecture

 These levels are to some extent arbitrary - Logic Circuits

there are other ways to draw the lines.
Devices

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 The Program Level
 Most computers run a management
program called the operating system Application Program
(OS).
Operating System
 Application programs interface to the
machine architecture via the OS.

Program (Software)
An example:

This lecture Data

PowerPoint Application Program

Windows XP Operating System

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 The Machine Level - 1

Machine Architecture
 This is the formal specification of all the functions a particular
machine can carry out, known as the Instruction Set Architecture
(ISA).

Microarchitecture

 The implementation of the ISA in a specific CPU - i.e. the way in

which the specifications of the ISA are actually carried out.

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 The Machine Level - 2

Logic Circuits
 Each functional component of the microarchitecture is built up of
circuits that make “decisions” based on simple rules

Devices

 Finally, each logic circuit is actually built of electronic devices

such as CMOS or NMOS or GaAs (etc.) transistors.

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 Course Outline - What is Next?

 How to represent information

 The building blocks of computers: logic gates
 The basic algorithm: the von Neumann model
 An example: the LC-3 structure and language
 Programming the machine: assembly language
 A higher-level language: C

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