CST1500

Computer Systems Architecture and

Operating Systems

Lecture 3 – Computer Architecture 1 and Assembly

language

1
 Overview
• Last Lecture
– Data representation
• This Lecture
– Computers
• Next Lecture
– Digital Logic

2
 CPU and Memory
• Every instruction executed by the CPU requires
memory access

• Primary memory holds program instructions and data

• Secondary storage is used for long term storage

- Data is moved from secondary storage to primary memory for CPU execution

6-3
 CPU: Major Components
• ALU (arithmetic logic unit)
- Performs calculations and comparisons
- Uses the accumulator which is a register in which intermediate
arithmetic and logic results are stored.

• CU (control unit)
- Performs fetch/execute cycle
• Accesses program instructions and issues commands to the ALU
• Moves data to and from CPU registers and other hardware
components
- Subcomponents:
• Memory management unit: supervises fetching instructions and
data from memory
• I/O Interface: sometimes combined with memory management unit
as Bus Interface Unit

System Block Diagram

6-4
Flip Flop
Memory (Write)
Data
D1 D0
Address
A1 A0

D Q D Q
>C >C
Y3

Demux D Q D Q
>C >C
Y2

Write Enable D Q D Q
>C >C
Y1

D Q D Q
>C >C
Y0
5
Tristate Buffer Memory (Read)
Data
Q1Q0
Address
A1 A0

D Q D Q
>C >C
Y3

Demux D Q D Q
>C >C
Y2

Output Enable D Q D Q
>C >C
Y1

D Q D Q
>C >C
Y0

6
 Memory (Read / Write)
• The wide arrows represent several wires
– We’re going to call these arrows buses

• The computer has:

– A data bus
• D and Q multiplexed together
– An address bus
• Which memory cells to use
– A control bus
• Output enable and write enable + others

• Buses Used to communicate between parts of the computer

• Only one transmitter at a time
• Only the addressed device can respond
– Because the tristate buffers disconnect the other devices
• 2 levels of busses: Internal to chip and External between chips
7
 Memory
• Flip flops are grouped into bytes (or larger)
– Each byte has a unique address
– To write
• Present the address and the data
• Tell chip to write
– To read
• Present the address
• Tell the chip to read
• Look at the data

• Memory size is dependant on address bus “width”

– 2n bytes for n-lines on the address bus
• 28=256B, 216=64KB, 232=4GB, 264=16EB
8
 Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
• Performs arithmetic operations
– addition, subtraction, etc.
• Performs logical operations
– AND, OR, SHIFT, etc.
• Subunits
– Adder (and subtraction)
– Logical tests (if, >0, <0, =0, <=0, etc.)
– Logical operations (AND, OR, XOR, etc.)
– Shifting
– Comparison (done by subtraction)
– Multiplication and division

9
 Control Unit
Data In (D)
Data In (E)

OE OE OE
+ Load

Command
X1 X0 Data Out (Q)

High Demux Y3

Y2

Y1
Instruction
Y0 X1 X0 ● ●

10
 Control Unit
• Coordinates the operation of the computer
• Generates control signals
– Connect registers to the bus
– Control the function of the ALU
– Provides timing signals to the system

• The actions of the control unit are associated with the

decoding and execution of instructions

11
 Registers
Data In (D)
Data In (E)

OE OE OE
+ Load

OE
Command Register
X1 X0 WE Data Out (Q)

Clock Demux Y3

Y2

Y1
Instruction
Y0 X1 X0 ● ●

12
 Registers
• Registers are memory cells with names
– Hold data, instructions, or other items
– Various sizes (typically: 8, 16, 32, or 64 bits)
– Program counter (PC) and memory address registers must be
same width as address bus
– Registers which hold data must be same width as memory
words
• The accumulator is a special register
– Source of one of the operands
– Destination of the result

• The Status Flags is a special register

– Individual bits store information about results of operations
• Result is zero, Carry, Overflow, Result is negative.

13
 CPU
Data In (D)
Data In (E)

OE OE OE
Data Out (Q) Load + Load
OE

OE
Command Register
X1 X0 Data Out (Q)
WE

Clock Demux Y3

Y2

Y1
Instruction
Y0 X1 X0 ● ●

14
 Computer!

• Instructions are bit patterns

• Can be split into a number
of fields
– One field specifies the
operation to be executed
– Other fields specify the
address in memory (or
registers) of operands and
where to place the result

15
 Stored Program Computer
Address (A)

Output Enable Data In (D)

Write Enable Memory

Data Out (Q) Data Out (Q)

PC
CPU
Data In (D) IR

Control Bus Command (X)

Instruction
X1 X0 A1 A0

16
 Von Neumann Architecture
• Three key concepts:
– Data and instructions are stored in a single read-write
memory
– Contents of memory are addressable by location, without
regard to the type of data contained
– Execution occurs in a sequential fashion, unless explicitly
altered, from one instruction to the next
• Programs and Data are the same thing
– And so it is possible to write source codes (data) and compile them
into executables (programs) that can be loaded as data and then
executed as programs

17
High vs. Low Level Language

18
 Machine Code
• These numbers tell the computer what to do
• They tell the CPU to
– Assign values to registers
– Load registers from memory
– Add numbers to registers
– Store registers in memory
– And so on

• However, it is very difficult to program using numbers

• Programs are slow to enter

– Each individual bit must be chosen by the
programmer
• The programs are not human readable

• Programs are long and tiresome to write

19
• Debugging is extremely difficult
 Assembly Language
• If we give mnemonics (names) to the numbers
– It is easier to remember them
– We can program symbolically

• We call this assembly language programming

• Each different CPU has its own mnemonics and its own
assembly language (its own machine language)

- Assembly language programs are not portable across CPU architectures

 Why the assembly language program is not a portable program?

• Because assembly languages are tied to one specific computer architecture, they
are not portable. A program written in one assembly language would need to be
completely rewritten for it to run on another type of machine. Portability is one of
the main advantages of higher-level languages.
20
Assembly Language Example

21
 Assembly Language
• We can give names (labels) to memory locations
– In this case PRINT is the name of the memory location where the
routine is stored. DONE is the name of the memory location where
the return statement is stored
• There is a direct correspondence between mnemonic
assembly language and machine code.
– An assembler translates from assembly to machine code, a
disassembler translates from machine code to assembly language
• The assembler assigns absolute addresses to these
labels

22
 Multiple Data Instructions
• Perform a single operation on multiple pieces of data
simultaneously
- SIMD: Single Instruction, Multiple Data
- Commonly used in multimedia, vector and array processing
applications

23
 Instruction Elements
OPCODE: task

Source OPERAND(s) Addresses

Result OPERAND

- Location of data (register, memory)

Source Result
OPCODE
OPERAND OPERAND

24
 Instruction Format

Machine-specific template that specifies

- Length of the op code
- Number of operands
- Length of operands

Simple
32-bit
Instruction
Format

25
 Instructions
• Instruction
- Direction given to a computer
- Causes electrical or optical signals to be sent through specific
circuits for processing

• Instruction set
- Design defines functions performed by the processor
- Differentiates computer architecture by the
• Number of instructions
• Complexity of operations performed by individual instructions
• Data types supported
• Format (layout, fixed vs. variable length)
• Use of registers
• Addressing (size, modes)

26
 Instruction Set
• The set of all instructions for the particular CPU is called the
instruction set
– It is determined by the designers (or micro-coded)

• Instructions consist of one or more fields

– The mnemonic opcodes that indicate the operations to be
performed.
E.g. Increment the X register (INX)
– And (optionally) parameters called operands
E.g. Goto (JMP PRINT)
• Instructions are of different lengths
– RTS is one byte on the 6502
– JMP PRINT is three bytes on the 6502
27
Instruction Format Examples

28
 Summary
• ALU, CU and I/O interface are the main components of the CPU

• Every instruction executed by the CPU requires memory access

• Registers are memory cells with names and they are close to the
CPU for quick access

• Registers are used to quickly store, and transfer data and

instructions that are being used immediately by the CPU.

• The instruction set is the code that the CPU can understand. It
contains the task that the CPU needs to execute.