Computer

Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Ref Page Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 1/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Learning Objectives

In this chapter you will learn about:

Internal structure of processor

Memory structure
Determining the speed of a processor
Different types of processors available
Determining the capacity of a memory
Different types of memory available
Several other terms related to the processor and
main memory of a computer system

Ref Page 101 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 2/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Basic Processor & Memory Architecture

of a Computer System
ROM PROM Flash
Main Memory (RAM)

Cache
Memory

Accumulato
Decode r register
r I/
Program General- O
control register purpose register
D
Instruction General- E
register purpose V
register I
Memory
address register C
E
Memory buffer
S
register
Input/Output
register
General- General-purpose
purpose register register

Control Unit Arithmetic Logic Unit

Central Processing Unit

Ref Page 102 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 3/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The brain of a computer system

Performs all major calculations and comparisons
Activates and controls the operations of other units of a
computer system
Two basic components are
Control Unit (CU)
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

No other single component of a computer determines

its overall performance as much as the CPU

Ref Page 101 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 4/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Control Unit (CU)

One of the two basic components of CPU

Acts as the central nervous system of a computer
system
Selects and interprets program instructions, and
coordinates execution
Has some special purpose registers and a decoder to
perform these activities

Ref Page 101 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 5/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

One of the two basic components of CPU.

Actual execution of instructions takes place in ALU
Has some special purpose registers
Has necessary circuitry to carry out all the
arithmetic and logic operations included in the CPU
instruction set

Ref Page 103 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 6/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Instruction Set

CPU has built-in ability to execute a particular set of machine

instructions, called its instruction set
Most CPUs have 200 or more instructions (such as add,
subtract, compare, etc.) in their instruction set
CPUs made by different manufacturers have different
instruction sets
Manufacturers tend to group their CPUs into families having
similar instruction sets
New CPU whose instruction set includes instruction set of its
predecessor CPU is said to be backward compatible with its
predecessor

Ref Page 103 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 7/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Registers

Special memory units, called registers, are used to

hold information on a temporary basis as the
instructions are interpreted and executed by the CPU
Registers are part of the CPU (not main memory) of a
computer
The length of a register, sometimes called its word
size, equals the number of bits it can store
With all other parameters being the same, a CPU with
32-bit registers can process data twice larger than
one with 16-bit registers

Ref Page 103 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 8/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Functions of Commonly Used Registers

Sr.
Name of Register Function
No.
Holds address of the active memory
1 Memory Address (MAR)
location
Holds contents of the accessed
2 Memory Buffer (MBR)
(read/written) memory word
Holds address of the next instruction to
3 Program Control (PC)
be executed
Holds data to be operated upon,
4 Accumulator (A)
intermediate results, and the results
Holds an instruction while it is being
5 Instruction (I)
executed
Used to communicate with the I/O
6 Input/Output (I/O)
devices

Ref Page 104 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 9/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Processor Speed

Computer has a built-in system clock that emits millions of

regularly spaced electric pulses per second (known as
clock cycles)
It takes one cycle to perform a basic operation, such as
moving a byte of data from one memory location to
another
Normally, several clock cycles are required to fetch,
decode, and execute a single program instruction
Hence, shorter the clock cycle, faster the processor
Clock speed (number of clock cycles per second) is
measured in Megahertz (106 cycles/sec) or Gigahertz (109
cycles/sec)

Ref Page 105 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 10/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Types of Processor

Type of
Features Usage
Architecture
Large instruction set
CISC (Complex Variable-length instructions Mostly used in
Instruction Set Variety of addressing modes personal
Computer) Complex & expensive to computers
produce
Small instruction set
RISC (Reduced
Fixed-length instructions Mostly used in
Instruction Set
Reduced references to workstations
Computer)
memory to retrieve operands

(Continued on next slide)

Ref Page 105 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 11/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Types of Processor
(Continued from previous slide..)

Type of
Features Usage
Architecture
Allows software to
communicate explicitly to the
processor when operations
are parallel
EPIC (Explicitly
Uses tighter coupling Mostly used in
Parallel
between the compiler and the high-end servers
Instruction
processor and workstations
Computing)
Enables compiler to extract
maximum parallelism in the
original code, and explicitly
describe it to the processor

(Continued on next slide)

Ref Page 106 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 12/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Types of Processor
(Continued from previous slide..)

Type of
Features Usage
Architecture
Processor chip has multiple
cooler-running, more energy-
efficient processing cores
Improve overall performance
Mostly used in
Multi-Core by handling more work in
high-end servers
Processor parallel
and workstations
can share architectural
components, such as memory
elements and memory
management

Ref Page 106 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 13/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Main Memory

Every computer has a temporary storage built into

the computer hardware
It stores instructions and data of a program mainly
when the program is being executed by the CPU.
This temporary storage is known as main memory,
primary storage, or simply memory.
Physically, it consists of some chips either on the
motherboard or on a small circuit board attached to
the motherboard of a computer
It has random access property.
It is volatile.

Ref Page 108 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 14/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Storage Evaluation Criteria

Primary Secondary
Property Desirable
storage storage
Storage
Large storage capacity Small Large
capacity

Access Time Fast access time Fast Slow

Cost per bit of
Lower cost per bit High Low
storage
Volatility Non-volatile Volatile Non-volatile
Pseudo-
random
Random
Access Random access access or
access
sequential
access

Ref Page 108 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 15/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Main Memory Organization

0
1
2
3
4
Addresses of The words
a memory 5
of a memory
(total N words)

N-2
N-1 Each word
contains the same
number of bits =
Bit 1 Bit 2 word length
(Continued on next slide)

Ref Page 109 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 16/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Main Memory Organization

(Continued from previous slide..)

Machines having smaller word-length are slower in

operation than machines having larger word-length
A write to a memory location is destructive to its previous
contents
A read from a memory location is non-destructive to its
previous contents

Ref Page 110 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 17/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Fixed Word-length Memory

Word
0501 B O M B A Y
0502 D E L H I
Address 0503
Numbers

1024

Storage space is always allocated in multiples of word-length

Faster in speed of calculation than variable word-length memory
Normally used in large scientific computers for gaining speed of
calculation

Ref Page 110 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 18/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Variable Word-length Memory

0025 B 0051 D Each memory location

0026 O can store only a single
0052 E character
0027 M L
0053 Slower in speed of
0028 B 0054 H calculation than fixed
Address Address world-length memory
0029 A 0055 I
Numbers Numbers
0030 Y Used in small business
0056
computers for
0031 optimizing the use of
storage space

4096 4096

Note: With memory becoming cheaper and larger day-by-day, most

modern computers employ fixed-word-length memory organization

Ref Page 110 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 19/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Memory Capacity

Memory capacity of a computer is equal to the number

of bytes that can be stored in its primary storage

Its units are:

Kilobytes (KB) : 1024 (210) bytes

Megabytes (MB) : 1,048,576 (220) bytes

Gigabytes (GB) : 1,073,741824 (230) bytes

Ref Page 111 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 20/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Primary storage of a computer is often referred to as RAM

because of its random access capability
RAM chips are volatile memory
A computers motherboard is designed in a manner that
the memory capacity can be enhanced by adding more
memory chips
The additional RAM chips, which plug into special sockets
on the motherboard, are known as single-in-line memory
modules (SIMMs)

Ref Page 112 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 21/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Read Only Memory (ROM)

ROM a non-volatile memory chip

Data stored in a ROM can only be read and used they
cannot be changed
ROMs are mainly used to store programs and data, which
do not change and are frequently used. For example,
system boot program

Ref Page 112 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 22/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Types of ROMs
Type Usage
Data is burnt by the manufacturer
Manufacturer-programmed
of the electronic equipment in
ROM
which it is used.

User-programmed ROM
or The user can load and store
read-only programs and data in
Programmable ROM it
(PROM)

The user can erase information

stored in it and the chip can be
Erasable PROM (EPROM)
reprogrammed to store new
information

(Continued on next slide)

Ref Page 112 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 23/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Types of ROMs
(Continued from previous slide..)

Type Usage

A type of EPROM chip in which the

Ultra Violet EPROM stored information is erased by
(UVEPROM) exposing the chip for some time
to ultra-violet light

Electrically EPROM
(EEPROM) A type of EPROM chip in which the
or stored information is erased by
using high voltage electric pulses
Flash memory

Ref Page 113 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 24/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Cache Memory

It is commonly used for minimizing the memory-

processor speed mismatch.
It is an extremely fast, small memory between CPU
and main memory whose access time is closer to the
processing speed of the CPU.
It is used to temporarily store very active data and
instructions during processing.

Cache is pronounced as cash

Ref Page 113 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 25/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Key Words/Phrases

Accumulator Register (AR) Flash Memory

Address Input/Output Register (I/O)
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) Instruction Register (I)
Branch Instruction Instruction set
Cache Memory Kilobytes (KB)
Central Processing Unit (CPU) Main Memory
CISC (Complex Instruction Set Manufacturer-Programmed ROM
Computer) architecture Megabytes (MB)
Clock cycles Memory
Clock speed Memory Address Register (MAR)
Control Unit Memory Buffer Register (MBR)
Electrically EPROM (EEPROM) Microprogram
Erasable Programmable Read- Multi-core processor
Only Memory (EPROM) Non-Volatile storage Processor
Explicitly Parallel Instruction Program Control Register (PC)
Computing (EPIC) Programmable Read-Only Memory
Fixed-word-length memory (PROM)
Random Access Memory (RAM)
(Continued on next slide)

Ref Page 114 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 26/27

 Computer
Computer Fundamentals:
Fundamentals: Pradeep
Pradeep K.
K. Sinha
Sinha &
& Priti
Priti Sinha
Sinha

Key Words/Phrases
(Continued from previous slide..)

Read-Only Memory (ROM)

Register
RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)
architecture
Single In-line Memory Module (SIMM)
Ultra Violet EPROM (UVEPROM)
Upward compatible
User-Programmed ROM
Variable-word-length memory
Volatile Storage
Word length
Word size

Ref Page 114 Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Slide 27/27