Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. 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 computers work How they are organized
internally

How to fix computers How to build myself one

real cheap

What are the design tradeoffs How design affects

programming and applications

Which one to buy Knowing all about the

Pentium IV or PowerPC

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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

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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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

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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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

What is Computer Organization?

Electronic Devices

Desired 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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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

Role of General Purpose Computers

computer organization General Purpose Computer software

Electronic Devices

Desired Behavior

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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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

CPUs: the heart of computing systems

ca 1980 It took 10 of these boards to make a Central Processing Unit

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ca 2000 You can see why they called this CPU a microprocessor!

Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. 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).
Turings 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!
Thats what Computer Science and Computer Engineering are all about: a continuum that embraces software & hardware.

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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

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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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

Problem Transformation - levels of abstraction

The desired behavior: the application Natural Language Algorithm Program Machine Architecture Micro-architecture Logic Circuits The building blocks: electronic devices
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Devices

Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

Levels of Abstraction
These levels do not necessarily correspond to discrete components, but to well defined standard interfaces. Standard interfaces provide
portability third party software/hardware wider usage

Natural Language Algorithm Program Machine Architecture Micro-architecture Logic Circuits Devices

These levels are to some extent arbitrary there are other ways to draw the lines.

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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

The Program Level

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

An example:
This lecture PowerPoint Windows XP

Program (Software) Data Application Program Operating System

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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

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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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside

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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Copyright 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Slides prepared by Walid A. Najjar & Brian J. Linard, University of California, Riverside