Computer Architecture

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Architecture of a Computer
Components of a computer:
Chassis: The chassis is the frame, constructed of metal and high impact
plastic that houses all the internal components of the computer. When all the
parts are assembled, the chassis is covered by a plastic case coated on the
inside with conductive silver paint to reduce radio frequency emissions.
Motherboard: The motherboard is the main circuit board of a computer. The
motherboard holds the computers CPU, some memory and most of its
control circuitry.
Memory: Primary memory consists of chips mounted on their own small
circuit boards that plug into special sockets on the motherboard or they can
be soldered directly on the motherboard.
Power Supply: The power supply contains a transformer, which regulates the
voltage level required for the computer.
Expansion Slots: An expansion slot is an internal connector, which allows a
person to add additional circuits to the motherboard. The circuit is called an
adapter. Such boards permit the computer to be connected to auxiliary
peripheral
equipment.
Device Controllers: It is a set of chips or a circuit board that operates a piece
of equipment such as a disk drive, display, keyboard, mouse or printer. Now
a days, the hard disk controllers are on a removable expansion board so that
they can be easily upgraded with a faster or higher capacity hard disk.
Disk Drives: A disk drive is a piece of equipment that can read and write data
on magnetic disks. Most microcomputers have two kinds of disk drives. A
floppy disk drive works with floppy disks, which are inexpensive flexible
magnetic disks. The standard size of a floppy disk is 3 inches, which has a
capacity of 1.44 megabytes of programs and data. The computer also has a
hard disk drive, which in our computers has a storage capacity of 4
gigabytes.
Other Components: Other components present in the computer may be
sound cards, speakers,
battery pack, fan, a floppy disk connector etc.
Central Processing Unit
The computer primary deals with zeros and ones only. That means that it
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works on a binary number system which correspond to the on and off stage
of an electronic switch.
Further, textual information in a computer is processed by associating each
character with a number, which in turn is understood by the computer as per
the binary system. The most prevalent code is AMERICAN STANDARD CODE
FOR INFORMATION INTERCHNAGE or ASCII. In this system the no. 65
through 90 represent the capital letters from A to Z. The other characters are
assigned other numbers. EXTENDED BINARY CODED DECIMAL
INTERCHANGE CODE or EBIDC is the other computer-coding scheme. It has
8 bits per character. E.g. 'A' is represented by the number 193 (11000001
binary).
The actual processing of data takes place in the central processing unit. Ina
microcomputer, the CPU consists of a single chip. In larger computers, the
CPU may be constructed from several different chips and circuits. The major
conceptual components of the CPU are:
Arithmetic and Logic Unit: ALU is a part of the CPU where calculations and
logical operations are carried out. Calculations performed by the ALU involve
the four elementary arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. Programs that employ these basic functions
perform the other complex calculations. Logic operations performed by ALU
consist of comparing or combining two numbers in some manner. This
allows the computer to evaluate situations and take alternate courses of
action. 1 symbolizes the True and 0 symbolizes The False.
Registers: The ALU can only manipulate one or two inputs to produce an
output. The CPUs registers are the special high-speed storage locations that
temporarily hold the inputs and outputs for the ALU. In addition, registers
also hold program instructions and data merely being transferred from one
place to another. Registers are a part of CPU and not a part of primary
storage. They are much faster, but also possess much less capacity than
primary storage. Various types of registers are:
Accumulator: Accumulator holds the results of ALU computations and logic
operations. Some CPUs may have more than one accumulators.
Data Register: One or more of these registers is used to hold data just
transferred to or from primary storage.
Address Register: These indicate the location of the data to be stored or
retrieved from primary storage.
Program Counter: This register holds the primary storage address of the
next instruction to be executed. It is sometimes considered to be part of the
control unit.
Instruction Register: This register holds the information that is about to be
executed.
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Status register: This register contains individual bits, called flags that signal
the results of logic operations or indicate other computer conditions. The
arrangement of a CPUs registers in relation to its ALU and control unit is
often refereed to its architecture
An important aspect of a CPU is the size of its registers. The size of registers
basically defines their word length. The sizes are also given in bits, most
common sizes being 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 bits.
Control Unit
The control unit directs the operation of the CPU by interpreting program
instructions; telling the ALU to carry out those instructions, and
communicating with primary storage and input and out put device
controllers. Based on program instructions it takes from primary storage, the
control unit causes data to be transmitted back and forth between ALU,
registers, primary storage, and input/ output devices, and it tells the ALU
what operations are to be performed.
Primary Storage:
Primary storage, also called main memory, is where input, program
instructions, intermediate calculations, and output are held just before or
after the CPU processes them. Primary storage holds programs and data
only temporarily.
Functions of primary storage:
One basic function of the primary storage is to hold the program that is
being executed. The other basic function of the primary storage is to hold
data that are required by the program being executed. In an extensive
calculation, the results of carrying out the instructions using the input data
are usually twofold: there are some intermediate results, which are used in
subsequent calculations; and there are final results, which are to be
presented as output. Primary storage thus includes working storage as well
as space for input data and the final results.
Capacity of primary storage:
One feature of primary storage that distinguishes it from secondary storage
is that its contents can be transmitted very rapidly to the CPU for processing.
Also, its physical size is relatively small compared to that of secondary
storage since it must be close to the CPU.
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)
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An important characteristic of primary storage is that it takes the same

amount of time to retrieve a byte from any location. Since any randomly
selected location can be selected in the same amount of time, this feature is
known as random access memory (RAM). In most computers, the majority
of primary storage can hold its contents only as long as the computer is
turned on. That is the RAM chips are volatile. Some types of RAM chips are:
DYNAMIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (DRAM) chips: These chips must be
periodically refreshed with additional boosts of electricity.
STATIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (SRAM) chips: must be constantly
supplied with a tiny electrical charge.
SRAM chips require simple support circuitry and work faster than DRAM
chips and are also more expensive than them.
Other memory acronyms
ROM (Read Only Memory)
Although a ROM chip is a random access device, it is loaded only once, at
the factory. After a ROM chip has been manufactured, the programs and
data stored on it can only be retrieved. In other words, contents of a ROM
chip can never be altered.
PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory)
The contents of a basic ROM are loaded by the manufacturer and are
thereafter, essentially unalterable. In contrast, the user may initially load the
contents of a PROM with a special tool called a PROM burner.
EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory)
Since the programs and data stored in ROM chips are often complex,
programming errors of some kind are possible, and infact, are quite likely to
occur. The EPROM can only be erased by exposing the chip to a strong
ultraviolet light for several minutes.
EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory)
Unlike an EPROM Chip, an EEPROM chip can be erased with an electrical
charge while it is still in the computer. There is a limit, however, to the
number of times an EEPROM can be erased.
The BUS
The bus is a set of wires and connectors that link the CPU to primary
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storage. It is also the pathway that data and information travel between
memory and various input, output and secondary storage controllers. The
bus gives a computer flexibility to expand memory, accommodate alternate
input, output and secondary storage devices, and add interfaces to control
and interact with other machines.
System Clock
Directly connected to the CPU and also tied into the control lines of the bus is
an essential component of any computer known as the system clock. This
consists of a chip containing a crystal that vibrates, or ticks, at a certain
frequency, typically several million times per second. The speed of the
system clock determines how fast a computer can execute instructions. The
speed is measured in clock cycles per second.
How are programs executed?
Two major phases make up the machine cycle, during which a computer
executes an instruction.
The Fetch Cycle
During this phase, the control unit fetches the next instruction from memory
and decodes it.
The Execution Cycle
In this phase, any necessary data is obtained and the operation is actually
completed by the ALU
The Program Counter and Branching
The normal sequence of a program gets successive instructions from
consecutive primary storage addresses by simply incrementing the program
counter after each fetch. Branching allows the computer to deviate from this
sequence by loading new address into the program counter.

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