18-04-2012, 05:02 PM
CPSC 321Computer Architecture
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What’s In It For Me
In-depth understanding of the inner-workings of modern computers, their evolution, and trade-offs present at the hardware/software boundary.
Insight into fast/slow operations that are easy/hard to implementation hardware
Experience with the design process in the context of a large complex (hardware) design.
Functional Spec --> Control & Datapath --> Physical implementation
Modern CAD tools
Impact of changing ISA
Early 1990’s Apple switched instruction set architecture of the Macintosh
From Motorola 68000-based machines
To PowerPC architecture
Intel 80x86 Family: many implementations of same architecture
program written in 1978 for 8086 can be run on latest Pentium chip
Technology Trends
Processor
logic capacity: about 30% per year
clock rate: about 20% per year
Memory
DRAM capacity: about 60% per year (4x every 3 years)
Memory speed: about 10% per year
Cost per bit: improves about 25% per year
Disk
capacity: about 60% per year
Total use of data: 100% per 9 months!
Network Bandwidth
Bandwidth increasing more than 100% per year!
Summary
Computer Architecture = Instruction Set Architure + Machine Organization
All computers consist of five components
Processor: (1) datapath and (2) control
(3) Memory
(4) Input devices and (5) Output devices
Not all “memory” are created equally
Cache: fast (expensive) memory are placed closer to the processor
Main memory: less expensive memory--we can have more
Interfaces are where the problems are - between functional units and between the computer and the outside world
Need to design against constraints of performance, power, area and cost