Book Image

Modern Computer Architecture and Organization – Second Edition - Second Edition

By : Jim Ledin
Book Image

Modern Computer Architecture and Organization – Second Edition - Second Edition

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 are overwhelmed by the complexity of modern systems? This step-by-step guide will teach you how modern computer systems work with the help of practical examples and exercises. You’ll gain insights into the internal behavior of processors down to the circuit level and will understand how the hardware executes code developed in high-level languages. This book will teach you the fundamentals of computer systems including transistors, logic gates, sequential logic, and instruction pipelines. 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 write a quantum computing program and run it on an actual quantum computer. This edition has been updated to cover the architecture and design principles underlying the important domains of cybersecurity, blockchain and bitcoin mining, and self-driving vehicles. By the end of this book, you will have a thorough understanding of modern processors and computer architecture and the future directions these technologies are likely to take.

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Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Get in touch
Free Chapter
1
Introducing Computer Architecture
Introducing Computer Architecture
Technical requirements
The evolution of automated computing devices
Moore’s law
Computer architecture
Summary
Exercises
2
Digital Logic
Digital Logic
Technical requirements
Electrical circuits
The transistor
Logic gates
Latches
Flip-flops
Registers
Adders
Clocking
Sequential logic
Hardware description languages
Summary
Exercises
3
Processor Elements
Processor Elements
Technical requirements
A simple processor
The instruction set
Addressing modes
Instruction categories
Interrupt processing
Input/output operations
Summary
Exercises
4
Computer System Components
Computer System Components
Technical requirements
Memory subsystem
Introducing the MOSFET
Constructing DRAM circuits with MOSFETs
I/O subsystem
Graphics displays
Network interface
Keyboard and mouse
Modern computer system specifications
Summary
Exercises
5
Hardware-Software Interface
Hardware-Software Interface
Technical requirements
Device drivers
BIOS
The boot process
Operating systems
Processes and threads
Multiprocessing
Summary
Exercises
6
Specialized Computing Domains
Specialized Computing Domains
Technical requirements
Real-time computing
Digital signal processing
GPU processing
Examples of specialized architectures
Summary
Exercises
7
Processor and Memory Architectures
Processor and Memory Architectures
Technical requirements
The von Neumann, Harvard, and modified Harvard architectures
Physical and virtual memory
Memory management unit
Summary
Exercises
8
Performance-Enhancing Techniques
Performance-Enhancing Techniques
Technical requirements
Cache memory
Instruction pipelining
Simultaneous multithreading
SIMD processing
Summary
Exercises
9
Specialized Processor Extensions
Specialized Processor Extensions
Technical requirements
Privileged processor modes
Floating-point arithmetic
Power management
System security management
Summary
Exercises
10
Modern Processor Architectures and Instruction Sets
Modern Processor Architectures and Instruction Sets
Technical requirements
x86 architecture and instruction set
x64 architecture and instruction set
32-bit ARM architecture and instruction set
64-bit ARM architecture and instruction set
Summary
Exercises
11
The RISC-V Architecture and Instruction Set
The RISC-V Architecture and Instruction Set
Technical requirements
The RISC-V architecture and applications
The RISC-V base instruction set
RISC-V extensions
RISC-V variants
64-bit RISC-V
Standard RISC-V configurations
RISC-V assembly language
Implementing RISC-V in an FPGA
Summary
Exercises
12
Processor Virtualization
Processor Virtualization
Technical requirements
Introducing virtualization
Virtualization challenges
Virtualizing modern processors
Virtualization tools
Virtualization and cloud computing
Summary
Exercises
13
Domain-Specific Computer Architectures
Domain-Specific Computer Architectures
Technical requirements
Architecting computer systems to meet unique requirements
Smartphone architecture
Personal computer architecture
Warehouse-scale computing architecture
Neural networks and machine learning architectures
Summary
Exercises
14
Cybersecurity and Confidential Computing Architectures
Cybersecurity and Confidential Computing Architectures
Technical requirements
Cybersecurity threats
Features of secure hardware
Confidential computing
Designing for security at the architectural level
Ensuring security in system and application software
Summary
Exercises
15
Blockchain and Bitcoin Mining Architectures
Blockchain and Bitcoin Mining Architectures
Technical requirements
Introduction to blockchain and bitcoin
The bitcoin mining process
Bitcoin mining computer architectures
Alternative types of cryptocurrency
Summary
Exercises
16
Self-Driving Vehicle Architectures
Self-Driving Vehicle Architectures
Technical requirements
Overview of self-driving vehicles
Safety concerns of self-driving vehicles
Hardware and software requirements for self-driving vehicles
Autonomous vehicle computing architecture
Summary
Exercises
17
Quantum Computing and Other Future Directions in Computer Architectures
Quantum Computing and Other Future Directions in Computer Architectures
Technical requirements
The ongoing evolution of computer architectures
Extrapolating from current trends
Potentially disruptive technologies
Building a future-tolerant skill set
Summary
Exercises
18
Other Books You May Enjoy
Other Books You May Enjoy
19
Index
Index
Appendix
Chapter 1: Introducing Computer Architecture
Chapter 2: Digital Logic
Chapter 3: Processor Elements
Chapter 4: Computer System Components
Chapter 5: Hardware-Software Interface
Chapter 6: Specialized Computing Domains
Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Architectures
Chapter 8: Performance-Enhancing Techniques
Chapter 9: Specialized Processor Extensions
Chapter 10: Modern Processor Architectures and Instruction Sets
Chapter 11: The RISC-V Architecture and Instruction Set
Chapter 12: Processor Virtualization
Chapter 13: Domain-Specific Computer Architectures
Chapter 14: Cybersecurity and Confidential Computing Architectures
Chapter 15: Blockchain and Bitcoin Mining Architectures
Chapter 16: Self-Driving Vehicle Architectures
Chapter 17: Future Directions in Computer Architectures

RISC-V assembly language

The following RISC-V assembly language example is a complete application that runs on a RISC-V processor:

.section .text
.global main
main:
    # Reserve stack space and save the return address
    addi    sp, sp, -16
    sd      ra, 0(sp)
    # Print the message using the C library puts function
1:  auipc   a0, %pcrel_hi(msg)
    addi    a0, a0, %pcrel_lo(1b)
    jal     ra, puts
    # Restore the return address and sp, and return to caller
    ld      ra, 0(sp)
    addi    sp, sp, 16
    jalr    zero, ra, 0
.section .rodata
msg:
    .asciz "Hello, Computer Architect!\n"

This program prints the following message in a console window and then exits:

Hello, Computer Architect!

The following are some points of interest within the assembly code:

  • The %pcrel_hi and %pcrel_lo directives select the high 20 bits (%pcrel_hi) or low 12 bits (%pcrel_lo) of the PC-relative address of the label provided as an argument. The combination...
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