Unit I

Basic Structure of Computers

Department of Computer Science and

Engineering
S. B. Jain Institute of Technology, Management and Research,
Nagpur
 What is a
computer?
 Simply put, a computer is a sophisticated
electronic calculating machine that:
 Accepts input information,
 Processes the information according to a list of
internally stored instructions and
 Produces the resulting output information.
 Functions performed by a computer are:
 Accepting information to be processed as input.
 Storing a list of instructions to process the information.
 Processing the information according to the
list of instructions.
 Providing the results of the processing as output.
 What are the functional units of a computer?

2
 Functional units of a
computer
Input unit
accepts Arithmetic and logic unit(ALU):
information: • Performs the desired
• Human operators, operations on the input
information as
• Electromechanical
determined
devices
by instructions in the memory
• Other computers
Memory
Arithmetic
Input
Instr1 & Logic
Instr2
Instr3
Data1
Output Data2 Control

I/O Stores
Processor
informatio Control unit
Output unit sends n: coordinates various
results of • Instructi actions
processing: • Input,
ons,
• To a monitor • Output
display,
• Processing

3
 Information in a computer --
Instructions
 Instructions specify commands to:
 Transfer information within a computer (e.g., from
memory to ALU)
 Transfer of information between the computer and I/O
devices (e.g., from keyboard to computer, or computer to
printer)
 Perform arithmetic and logic operations (e.g., Add
two numbers, Perform a logical AND).
 A sequence of instructions to perform a task is
called a program, which is stored in the memory.
 Processor fetches instructions that make up a program
from the memory and performs the operations stated in
those instructions.
 What do the instructions operate upon?

4
 Information in a computer --
Data
 Data are the “operands” upon which instructions operate.
 Data could be:
 Numbers,
 Encoded characters.
 Data, in a broad sense means any digital information.

 Computers use data that is encoded as a string of

binary digits called bits.

5
 Input
unit
Binary information must be presented to a computer in a specific format.
This task is performed by the input unit:
- Interfaces with input devices.
- Accepts binary information from the input devices.
- Presents this binary information in a format expected by the computer.
- Transfers this information to the memory or processor.
Real Comput
world er
Memor
y
Keyboard
Audio
input Input Unit
……

Processo
r

6
 Memory
unit
 Memory unit stores instructions and data.
 Recall, data is represented as a series of bits.
 To store data, memory unit thus stores bits.
 Processor reads instructions and reads/writes data
from/to the memory during the execution of a program.
 In theory, instructions and data could be fetched one bit
at a time
 In practice, a group of bits is fetched at a time.
 Group of bits stored or retrieved at a time is termed as “word”
 Number of bits in a word is termed as the “word length”
of a computer.
 In order to read/write to and from memory, a
processor should know where to look:
 “Address” is associated with each word location.

7
 Memory unit
(contd..)
 Processor reads/writes to/from memory based on
the memory address:
 Access any word location in a short and fixed amount of
time based on the address.
 Random Access Memory (RAM) provides fixed access
time independent of the location of the word.
 Access time is known as “Memory Access Time”.
 Memory and processor have to “communicate”
with each other in order to read/write information.
 In order to reduce “communication time”, a small
amount of RAM (known as Cache) is tightly coupled
with the processor.
 Modern computers have three to four levels of RAM units
with different speeds and sizes:
 Fastest, smallest known as Cache
 Slowest, largest known as Main memory.

8
 Memory unit
(contd..)
 Primary storage of the computer consists of RAM units.
 Fastest, smallest unit is Cache.
 Slowest, largest unit is Main Memory.
 Primary storage is insufficient to store large
amounts of data and programs.
 Primary storage can be added, but it is expensive.
 Store large amounts of data on secondary storage devices:
 Magnetic disks and tapes,
 Optical disks (CD-ROMS).
 Access to the data stored in secondary storage in
slower, but take advantage of the fact that some
information may be accessed infrequently.
 Cost of a memory unit depends on its access time,
lesser access time implies higher cost.

9
 Arithmetic and logic unit
(ALU)
 Operations are executed in the Arithmetic and Logic
Unit (ALU).
 Arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction.
 Logic operations such as comparison of numbers.
 In order to execute an instruction, operands need
to be brought into the ALU from the memory.
 Operands are stored in general purpose registers
available in the ALU.
 Access times of general purpose registers are faster than
the cache.
 Results of the operations are stored back in the
memory or retained in the processor for immediate
use.

10
 Output
unit
• Computers represent information in a specific binary form. Output units:
- Interface with output devices.
- Accept processed results provided by the computer in specific binary form.
- Convert the information in binary form to a form understood
by an output device.

Computer Real world

Memor Printer
y Graphics
display
Speakers
……
Output Unit

Processor

11
 Control
unit
 Operation of a computer can be summarized as:
 Accepts information from the input units (Input unit).
 Stores the information (Memory).
 Processes the information (ALU).
 Provides processed results through the output units
(Output unit).
 Operations of Input unit, Memory, ALU and Output unit
are coordinated by Control unit.
 Instructions control “what” operations take place (e.g.
data transfer, processing).
 Control unit generates timing signals which
determines “when” a particular operation takes
place.

12
 How are the functional units
connected?
• For a computer to achieve its operation, the functional
units need to communicate with each other.
• In order to communicate, they need to be connected.

Input Output Memory Processor

Bus

• Functional units may be connected by a group of parallel wires.

• The group of parallel wires is called a bus.
• Each wire in a bus can transfer one bit of information.
• The number of parallel wires in a bus is equal to the word
length of a computer

13
Organization of cache and main
memory

Main Cache
memory memory Processor

Bus

Why is the access time of the cache memory lesser than the
access time of the main memory?

14
 Execution of an
instruction
 Recall the steps involved in the execution of an
instruction by a processor:
 Fetch an instruction from the memory.
 Fetch the operands.
 Execute the instruction.
 Store the results.
 Several issues:
 Where is the address of the memory location from which
the present instruction is to be fetched?
 Where is the present instruction stored while it is executed?
 Where and what is the address of the memory location
from which the data is fetched?
 ......
 Basic processor architecture has several registers to
assist in the execution of the instructions.

15
 Basic processor
architecture
Address of the memory
location to be accessed

Memory
Address of the next Data to be read into
instruction to be fetched or read out of the
and executed. current location

MAR MDR
Control

PC R0

R1 General purpose
IR registers

ALU
Instruction that is
R(n-1)
currently being -
executed n general
purpose registers Processor

16
Basic processor architecture
(contd..)

Contro Dat
l a
Path Pat
h

MAR MDR Processor

Control path is responsible for:
• Instruction fetch and execution
sequencing
• Operand fetch
• Saving
results Data
path:
Memory • Contains general purpose registers
• Contains ALU
17
 Registers in the control
path
 Instruction Register (IR):
 Instruction that is currently being executed.
 Program Counter (PC):
 Address of the next instruction to be fetched and executed.
 Memory Address Register (MAR):
 Address of the memory location to be accessed.

 Memory Data Register (MDR):

 Data to be read into or read out of the current
memory location, whose address is in the Memory
Address Register (MAR).

18
 Fetch/Execute
cycle
 Execution of an instruction takes place in two phases:
 Instruction fetch.
 Instruction execute.
 Instruction fetch:
 Fetch the instruction from the memory location whose
address is in the Program Counter (PC).
 Place the instruction in the Instruction Register (IR).
 Instruction execute:
 Instruction in the IR is examined (decoded) to determine
which operation is to be performed.
 Fetch the operands from the memory or registers.
 Execute the operation.
 Store the results in the destination location.
 Basic fetch/execute cycle repeats indefinitely.

19
Thank You!

20