Book Image

Modern Computer Architecture and Organization

By : Jim Ledin
Book Image

Modern Computer Architecture and Organization

By: Jim Ledin

Overview of this book

Are you a software developer, systems designer, or computer architecture student looking for a methodical introduction to digital device architectures but overwhelmed by their complexity? This book will help you to learn how modern computer systems work, from the lowest level of transistor switching to the macro view of collaborating multiprocessor servers. You'll gain unique insights into the internal behavior of processors that execute the code developed in high-level languages and enable you to design more efficient and scalable software systems. The book will teach you the fundamentals of computer systems including transistors, logic gates, sequential logic, and instruction operations. You will learn details of modern processor architectures and instruction sets including x86, x64, ARM, and RISC-V. You will see how to implement a RISC-V processor in a low-cost FPGA board and how to write a quantum computing program and run it on an actual quantum computer. By the end of this book, you will have a thorough understanding of modern processor and computer architectures and the future directions these architectures are likely to take.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
1
Section 1: Fundamentals of Computer Architecture
8
Section 2: Processor Architectures and Instruction Sets
14
Section 3: Applications of Computer Architecture

Operating systems

An operating system is a multilayer suite of software, providing an environment in which applications perform useful functions such as word processing, placing telephone calls, or managing the operation of a car engine. Applications running within the operating system execute algorithms implemented as processor instruction sequences and perform I/O interactions with peripheral devices as required to complete their tasks.

The operating system provides standardized programming interfaces that application developers use to access system resources such as processor execution threads, disk files, input from a keyboard or other peripherals, and output to devices such as a computer screen or instruments on a dashboard.

Operating systems can be broadly categorized into real-time and non-real-time systems.

A real-time operating system (RTOS) provides features to ensure that responses to inputs occur within a defined time limit. Processors performing tasks such as...