William Stallings

Computer Organization
and Architecture
6th Edition

Chapter 3
System Buses
(revised 9/7/02)
Program Concept
• Hardwired systems are inflexible
• General purpose hardware can do different
tasks, given correct control signals
• Instead of re-wiring, supply a new set of control
signals
Hardware vs. HW + SW
What is a program?
• A sequence of steps
• For each step, an arithmetic or logical operation
is done
• For each operation, a different set of control
signals is needed
Function of Control Unit
• For each operation a unique code (opcode) is
provided
—e.g. ADD, MOVE
• A hardware segment accepts the code and
issues the control signals

• We have a computer!
Components
• The Control Unit (CU) and the Arithmetic and
Logic Unit (ALU) constitute the Central
Processing Unit (CPU)
• Data and instructions need to get into the
system and results need to get out
—Input/output (I/O module)
• Temporary storage of code and results is needed
—Main memory (RAM)
Computer Components:
Top Level View
Instruction Cycle
• Two steps:
—Fetch
—Execute
Fetch Cycle
• Program Counter (PC) holds address of next
instruction to fetch
• Processor fetches instruction from memory
location pointed to by PC
• Increment PC
—Unless told otherwise
• Instruction loaded into Instruction Register (IR)
Execute Cycle
• Processor interprets instruction and performs
required actions, such as:
—Processor - memory
– data transfer between CPU and main memory
—Processor - I/O
– Data transfer between CPU and I/O module
—Data processing
– Some arithmetic or logical operation on data
—Control
– Alteration of sequence of operations
– e.g. jump
—Combination of above
Consider a simple example using a
hypothetical machine
 Example of Program Execution

Fetch Execution
Both instructions
and data are 16
bits long.
The instruction
format provides
• 4 bits for the
opcode
• 16 different
opcodes
• 4096 (4K)
words of
memory can be
directly
addressed
Instruction Cycle -
State Diagram

CPU-
RAM-I/O
Operations

CPU
Operations
• The PDP-11 processor includes an instruction,
expressed symbolically as
• ADD B, A
—that stores the sum of the contents of memory
locations B and A into memory location A.

• Find out the sequence of states as a result of

above instruction execution?
Interrupts

• Mechanism by which other modules (e.g. I/O) may

interrupt normal sequence of processing
• Program
— e.g. overflow, division by zero
• Timer
— Generated by internal processor timer
— Used in pre-emptive multi-tasking
• I/O
— from I/O controller
• Hardware failure
— e.g. memory parity error
Program Flow Control
Program Timing
Short I/O Wait
Program Timing
Long I/O Wait
Interrupt Cycle

• Added to instruction cycle

• Processor checks for interrupt
— Indicated by an interrupt signal
• If no interrupt, fetch next instruction
• If interrupt pending:
— Suspend execution of current program
— Save context
— Set PC to start address of interrupt handler routine
— Process interrupt
— Restore context and continue interrupted program
Transfer of Control via Interrupts
Instruction Cycle with Interrupts
Instruction Cycle (with Interrupts) -
State Diagram
Multiple Interrupts
• Disable interrupts (approach #1)
—Processor will ignore further interrupts whilst
processing one interrupt
—Interrupts remain pending and are checked after first
interrupt has been processed
—Interrupts handled in sequence as they occur
• Define priorities (approach #2)
—Low priority interrupts can be interrupted by higher
priority interrupts
—When higher priority interrupt has been processed,
processor returns to previous interrupt
Multiple Interrupts - Sequential
Multiple Interrupts – Nested
Time Sequence of Multiple Interrupts
Connecting
• All the units must be connected
• Different type of connection for different type of
unit
—Memory
—Input/Output
—CPU
Computer Modules
Memory Connection
• Receives and sends data
• Receives addresses (of locations)
• Receives control signals
—Read
—Write
—Timing
Input/Output Connection(1)
• Similar to memory from computer’s viewpoint
• Output
—Receive data from computer
—Send data to peripheral
• Input
—Receive data from peripheral
—Send data to computer
Input/Output Connection(2)
• Receive control signals from computer
• Receive addresses from computer
—e.g. port number to identify peripheral
• Send interrupt signals (control)
CPU Connection
• Reads instruction and data
• Writes out data (after processing)
• Sends control signals to other units
• Receives (& acts on) interrupts
Buses
• There are a number of possible interconnection
systems
• Single and multiple BUS structures are most
common
• e.g. Control/Address/Data bus
• e.g. Unibus (DEC-PDP)
What is a Bus?
• A communication pathway connecting two or
more devices
• Usually broadcast (all components see signal)
• Often grouped
—A number of channels in one bus
—e.g. 32 bit data bus is 32 separate single bit channels
• Power lines may not be shown
Bus Interconnection Scheme
Data Bus
• Carries data
—Remember that there is no difference between “data”
and “instruction” at this level
• Width is a key determinant of performance
—8, 16, 32, 64 bit
Address bus
• Identify the source or destination of data
• e.g. CPU needs to read an instruction (data)
from a given location in memory
• Bus width determines maximum memory
capacity of system
—e.g. 8080 has 16 bit address bus giving 64k address
space
Control Bus
• Control and timing information
—Memory read/write signal
—Interrupt request
—Clock signals
• Typical control lines include
• • Memory write: Causes data on the bus to be written into the addressed location
• • Memory read: Causes data from the addressed location to be placed on the bus
• • I/O write: Causes data on the bus to be output to the addressed I/O port
• • I/O read: Causes data from the addressed I/O port to be placed on the bus
• • Transfer ACK: Indicates that data have been accepted from or placed on
• the bus
• • Bus request: Indicates that a module needs to gain control of the bus
• • Bus grant: Indicates that a requesting module has been granted control of the bus
• • Interrupt request: Indicates that an interrupt is pending
• • Interrupt ACK: Acknowledges that the pending interrupt has been recognized
• • Clock: Is used to synchronize operations
• • Reset: Initializes all modules
Big and Yellow?
• What do buses look like?
—Parallel lines on circuit boards
—Ribbon cables
—Strip connectors on mother boards
– e.g. PCI
—Sets of wires
Single Bus Problems
• Lots of devices on one bus leads to:
—Propagation delays
– Long data paths mean that co-ordination of bus use can
adversely affect performance
– If aggregate data transfer approaches bus capacity
• Most systems use multiple buses to overcome
these problems
Traditional (ISA)
(with cache)
High Performance Bus
Bus Types
• Dedicated
—Separate data & address lines
• Multiplexed
—Shared lines
—Address valid or data valid control line
—Advantage - fewer lines
—Disadvantages
– More complex control
– Ultimate performance
Bus Arbitration
• More than one module controlling the bus
—e.g. CPU and DMA controller
• Only one module may control bus at one time
• Arbitration may be centralised or distributed
Centralised Arbitration
• Single hardware device controlling bus access
—Bus Controller
—Arbiter
• May be part of CPU or separate
Distributed Arbitration
• Each module may claim the bus
• Control logic on all modules
Timing
• Co-ordination of events on bus
• Synchronous
—Events determined by clock signals
—Control Bus includes clock line
—A single 1-0 is a bus cycle
—All devices can read clock line
—Usually sync on leading edge
—Usually a single cycle for an event
Synchronous Timing Diagram
Asynchronous Timing – Read Diagram
Asynchronous Timing – Write Diagram
PCI Bus
• Peripheral Component Interconnection (PCI)
• Intel released to public domain
• 32 or 64 bit
• 50 lines
PCI Bus Lines (required)
• Systems lines
—Including clock and reset
• Address & Data
—32 time mux lines for address/data
—Interrupt & validate lines
• Interface Control
• Arbitration
—Not shared
—Direct connection to PCI bus arbiter
• Error lines
PCI Bus Lines (Optional)
• Interrupt lines
—Not shared
• Cache support
• 64-bit Bus Extension
—Additional 32 lines
—Time multiplexed
—2 lines to enable devices to agree to use 64-bit
transfer
• JTAG/Boundary Scan
—For testing procedures
PCI Commands
• Transaction between initiator (master) and
target
• Master claims bus
• Determine type of transaction
—e.g. I/O read/write
• Address phase
• One or more data phases
PCI Read Timing Diagram
PCI Bus Arbitration
Foreground Reading
• Stallings, chapter 3 (all of it)
• www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/buses/

• In fact, read the whole site!

• www.pcguide.com/