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

Electrical circuits

We begin this chapter with a brief review of the properties of electrical circuits.

Conductive materials, such as copper, exhibit the ability to easily produce an electric current in the presence of an electric field. Nonconductive materials, for example, glass, rubber, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), inhibit the flow of electricity so thoroughly that they are used as insulators to protect electrical conductors against short circuits. In metals, electrical current consists of electrons in motion. Materials that permit some electrical current to flow, while predictably restricting the amount allowed to flow, are used in the construction of resistors.

The relationship between electrical current, voltage, and resistance in a circuit is analogous to the relation between flow rate, pressure, and flow restriction in a hydraulic system. Consider a kitchen water tap: pressure in the pipe leading to the tap forces water to flow when the valve is opened. If the valve...