Lecture 1.1.

1 (Digital computer with its block diagram, CPU, memory, input-output

subsystems, control unit)

COMPUTER ORGANISATION & ARCHITECTURE

● COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE is a set of rules and methods that describe the

functionality, organization, and implementation of computer systems. It is the
conceptual design and fundamental operational structure of a computer system. It
encompasses the layout of the hardware, the design of the instruction set, and the
techniques for data handling and processing. The objective is to outline a blueprint
that ensures optimal performance and efficiency.

● COMPUTER ORGANIZATION refers to the operational units and their

interconnections that realize the architectural specifications of a computer. It involves
the structural relations and the manner in which the components of the computer
system are connected and work together.

While architecture defines a computer’s functionality, organization determines how this

functionality is implemented. Both are essential to hardware design.

Computer Architecture Computer Organization

Architecture describes what the

The Organization describes how it does it.
computer does.

Computer Architecture deals with the

Computer Organization deals with a structural
functional behavior of computer
relationship.
systems.

In the above figure, it’s clear that it In the above figure, it’s also clear that it deals
deals with high-level design issues. with low-level design issues.

Whereas Organization indicates its

Architecture indicates its hardware.
performance.

As a programmer, you can view

The implementation of the architecture is called
architecture as a series of instructions,
organization.
addressing modes, and registers.

For designing a computer, its For designing a computer, an organization is

architecture is fixed first. decided after its architecture.

Computer Architecture is also called Computer Organization is frequently called

Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). microarchitecture.
 Computer Architecture Computer Organization

Computer Architecture comprises

Computer Organization consists of physical
logical functions such as instruction
units like circuit designs, peripherals, and
sets, registers, data types,
adders.
and addressing modes.

The different architectural categories

found in our computer systems are as CPU organization is classified into three
follows: categories based on the number of address
 Von-Neumann Architecture fields:
 Harvard Architecture  Organization of a single Accumulator.
 Instruction Set Architecture  Organization of general registers
 Micro-architecture  Stack organization
 System Design

It makes the computer’s hardware It offers details on how well the computer
visible. performs.

Architecture coordinates the hardware Computer Organization handles the segments of

and software of the system. the network in a system.

The software developer is aware of it. It escapes the software programmer’s detection.

Examples- Intel and AMD created the

Organizational qualities include hardware
x86 processor. Sun Microsystems and
elements that are invisible to the programmer,
others created the SPARC processor.
such as interfacing of computer and peripherals,
Apple, IBM, and Motorola created the
memory technologies, and control signals.
PowerPC.

Digital Computer

A digital computer is a programmable machine which read the binary instruction and
processes the data which are presented in binary form. Digital computers are different from
analog computers in the sense that analog computer process the analog data. Here the term
analog represents continuous data.
The digital computer takes the binary data at input, processes according to the set of
instructions called program and produces the digital output.
 Block Diagram of Computer

INPUT DEVICE
It is used to enter data and programs into a computer system. We input data and instructions
into the computer. Ex- Keyboard, Mouse, Floppy disk, Scanner etc.
We give data, which is in raw form, process the data and convert it into information.
MEMORY
The Memory unit can be referred to as the storage area in which programs are kept which are
running, and that contains data needed by the running programs. It enables a processor to
access running execution applications and services that are temporarily stored in a specific
memory location.

There are different types of memory in computer system.

1. Main Memory
 Also called primary memory.
 It is volatile i.e. the contents are lost if a power failure or a system crash occurs.
 Computer programs must be in main memory to be executed.
 Its size is small and it is expensive.
 Ex: RAM
 Main memory can be accessed directly. So, we want all the data to reside in main
memory, which is not possible because of 2 reasons:
 Main memory is usually too small to store all the needed programs and data
permanently.
 It is volatile and hence data is lost. So, we need secondary storage.

2. Secondary Memory
 Most computers have secondary storage as an extension to main memory.
  Main requirement is that it should be able to hold large quantities of data
permanently.
 Speed is slow.
 Cost is low.
 Ex: Hard disk drive (HDD), FDD (Floppy disk Drive), Pendrive etc.

3. Cache Memory
 Fastest and most costly.
 Frequently used data is copied into cache memory on a temporary basis.
 When we need some information, we first check whether it is in the cache. If it is
present, we use the information directly from the cache. If it is not, we use the
information from the main memory, putting a copy in the cache memory assuming
that it will be needed again.

CPU
 Central processing unit commonly known as CPU can be referred as an electronic
circuitry within a computer that carries out the instructions given by a computer
program by performing the basic arithmetic, logical, control and input/output (I/O)
operations specified by the instructions.
● It is the heart of the computer.

● It is a combination of control unit and ALU.

Control Unit
● The control unit is a component of a computer's central processing unit that
coordinates the operation of the processor. It tells the computer's memory,
arithmetic/logic unit and input and output devices how to respond to a program's
instructions.
● The control unit is also known as the nerve center of a computer system.

● It determines movement of electronic signals between the main memory and ALU as
well as control signals between CPU and I/O devices.
Arithmetic & Logic Unit
● Most of all the arithmetic and logical operations of a computer are executed in the
ALU (Arithmetic and Logical Unit) of the processor. It performs arithmetic
operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and also the logical
operations like AND, OR, NOT operations.
● Controls the speed of the calculations.

OUTPUT DEVICE
The primary function of the output unit is to send the processed results to the user. Output
devices display information in a way that the user can understand. Output devices are pieces
of equipment that are used to generate information or any other response processed by the
computer.
Output Unit of a computer provides the information and results of a computation to the
outside world. Ex: Printers, Monitors, FDD, HDD.
INPUT-OUTPUT SUBSYSTEMS
Input and output (I/O) devices allow us to communicate with the computer system. I/O is the
transfer of data between primary memory and various I/O peripherals. Input devices such as
keyboards, mouse, card readers, scanners, voice recognition systems, and touch screens
enable us to enter data into the computer. Output devices such as monitors, printers, plotters,
and speakers allow us to get information from the computer.
These devices are not connected directly to the CPU. Instead, there is an interface that
handles the data transfers. This interface converts the system bus signals to and from a format
that is acceptable to the given device. The CPU communicates to these external devices via
I/O registers. This exchange of data is performed in two ways. In memory-mapped I/O, the
registers in the interface appear in the computer’s memory map, and there is no real
difference between accessing memory and accessing an I/O device. Clearly, this is
advantageous from the perspective of speed, but it uses up memory space in the system. With
instruction-based I/O, the CPU has specialized instructions that perform the input and output.
Although this does not use memory space, it requires specific I/O instructions, which implies
that it can be used only by CPUs that can execute these specific instructions. Interrupts play a
very important part in I/O, because they are an efficient way to notify the CPU that input or
output is available for use. We explore these I/O methods in detail in later chapters.
References
Reference Books:

● J.P. Hayes, “Computer Architecture and Organization”, Third Edition.

● Mano, M., “Computer System Architecture”, Third Edition, Prentice Hall.

● Stallings, W., “Computer Organization and Architecture”, Eighth Edition, Pearson Education.

Text Books:

● Carpinelli J.D,” Computer systems organization &Architecture”, Fourth Edition, Addison

Wesley.

● Patterson and Hennessy, “Computer Architecture”, Fifth Edition Morgaon Kauffman.

Reference Links:

● https://youtu.be/cIHDV0HGH-Y?si=2fmhNL5KRjMGTjpi
● https://youtu.be/4u5sUq96BOg?si=BF0bDtrfPyapEF9u

● https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=oAneKttKjtA&list=PL5Rc9H5eTGY6MHqCKAarxhxqT7nipKgun