IT1910

Hardware Architecture
Computer hardware is the collection of physical parts of a computer system. It can be categorized as having
either external or internal components. External components, also called peripheral components, are those
items that are often connected to the computer in order to control either its input or output. These include
the computer case and monitor (output component), and keyboard and mouse (common input components).
Internal components include items such as the hard disk drive, motherboard, video card, and many others.

Generation and Advancements

Each generation is defined with a specific technological advancement that made a mark throughout the
computer hardware’s history.
 1st Generation (Vacuum Tubes)
• The vacuum tube was invented in parallel to the electric bulb and used a similar concept.
• The switching capability, which is translated into turning on and off a particular bit, was the main
reason for the important role the vacuum tubes played in early computers.
• It can also amplify specific signals that are used to boost specific frequencies.
 2nd Generation (Transistors)
• Transistors became faster, smaller, highly reliable, and significantly cheaper than vacuum tubes.
• Through this generation, the transistor miniaturization process has occurred, reducing the size of
transistors into smaller packages.
 3rd Generation (Integrated Circuit)
• Sometimes referred to as a “semiconductor chip,” the integrated circuit is a collection of transistors
integrated and compacted into a single chip.
• Keyboards and mice had been used as inputs.
• See Moore’s Law for reference.
 4th Generation (Microprocessors)
• Computers in this generation were characterized by a significant increase in the number of transistors
integrated into a single chip and by the invention of the microprocessor.
• The aim of inventing the new processor was to use it for the development of calculators.
 5th Generation (Artificial Intelligence [AI])
• VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) technology in this generation became ULSI (Ultra Large Scale
Integration) technology, resulting in the production of microprocessor chips having ten million
electronic components.
• This generation is based on parallel processing hardware and AI software.
• AI is an emerging branch in computer science, which interprets the means and methods of making
computers think like human beings.

What is a Microprocessor?
• It is composed of integrated circuits that hold thousands of transistors responsible for processing the
unique set of instructions and processes.
• It is designed to execute logical and computational tasks with typical operations such as arithmetic
interprocess, device communication, input/output management, etc.

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Microprocessor Components
These are the components that made microprocessors more powerful and efficient throughout its invention
and development:
1. Central Processing Unit (CPU) – It is responsible for accepting data from input devices, processing the data
into information, and transferring the information to memory and output devices.
2. Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) – As the name implies, its function is to perform arithmetic operations, such
as addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication, and logic operations such as AND, OR, and NOT.
3. Control Unit (CU) – Its function is to control the input and output devices, generate control signals to the
other components of the computer such as read and write signals, and perform instruction execution.
4. Registers – It is the fastest memory in a
computer that holds information.
5. Main Memory – This device is capable of
storing information temporarily.
6. Clock – It refers to a microchip that regulates
the timing and speed of all computer
functions.
7. Input/Output Devices – These are any
hardware used to communicate with a
computer.
8. Input/Output Interfaces – These are physical
devices, ports, or connections that interact
with the computer or other hardware devices. Figure 1. Microprocessor components abstraction
9. Direct Memory Access – It is a feature of some
computer bus architectures that allows data to be sent from a storage device to memory without using
the CPU.
10. Bus – It is a pathway of data or instruction from one (1) element to the other.
a. Data Bus – This bus is used to carry data to and from the memory.
b. Address Bus – This bus defines the number of addressable locations in a memory IC.
c. Control Bus – This bus carries control signals from the control unit to the computer components in
order to control the operation of each component.
Registers
In computer architecture, a
processor register provides the
fastest way for a CPU to access
data. Modern computer
architectures operate on the
principle of moving data from the
main memory into registers, and
vice versa.
• It holds a temporary value
(IN BINARY) like data,
instructions, memory
addresses or I/O address,
and special binary codes. Table 1. Comparison of registers and memory
• It can store, manipulate,
and calculate values which vary from 16-bit, 32-bit, up to 64-bit registers sizes.

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Kinds of Registers
Registers assist in a particular transfer of data or an instruction to be processed. The following are the basic
kinds of registers:
• General-Purpose Registers / Accumulator – These store any transient data required by the processor.
• Program Counter Register / Instruction Pointer – This holds the address of the current instruction
being executed.
• Memory Address Register – This holds the address of a memory location.
• Memory Data Register – This holds a data value that is being stored to or retrieved from the memory
location currently addressed by the memory address register.
• Status Registers / Flags – These are used to allow the computer to keep track of special conditions
such as arithmetic carry and overflow, power failure, and internal computer error.

CPU Architecture
Generally, an architecture defines what an object looks like, behaves, processes, and responds. In the aspect
of computers, it defines how a processor operates through hardware/software and how it is being handled by
the user.
Von Neumann Architecture
• It is a program consisting of code (instructions)
and data.
• It uses a data bus to transfer data and
instructions from the memory to the CPU.
Memory holds both programs and data.
• It is still the standard architecture for all
computers and computer-based devices.

Harvard Architecture
• It uses separate buses for instructions and
data.
• The instruction address bus and instruction
bus are used for reading instructions from the
memory.
• The address bus and data bus are used for
writing and reading data to and from the
memory.

Instruction Set Architecture

It allows communication between the hardware component and the software component of a computer. It is
a group of commands for a CPU in a machine language.
• Commands/Instructions – Operation Code (Opcode)
• Example: ADD, SUB, MULT, DIV, JUMP, CMP, etc.

Two (2) Types of ISA

• Complex Instruction Set Computer – It is a computer where single instructions can execute several
low-level operations (such as a load from memory, an arithmetic operation, and a memory store) or
can do multi-step operations or address modes within single instructions. Example: x86-x64 processors
(Intel)

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• Reduced Instruction Set Computer – It is a computer which only uses simple instructions that can be
divided into multiple instructions and perform low-level operations within a single clock cycle.
Example: ARM (iPhone)

Table 2. Comparison of CISC and RISC Architectures

Microprocessor Operations
These are the operations that a microprocessor has:
• Fetch – It is designed to fetch several instructions at a time in parallel.
• Decode – It identifies the opcode in which it determines the type of instruction.
• Execute – It executes the part/s for each different instruction.
Each computer has a specific operation to which it will be processed. With a different instruction set,
instructions may be processed differently. In the future, the exact parallel computing might be possible to
grasp. Most of the computer processes today are more inclined into pipelining in which it can be near to
parallel processing.

Parallel Processing
It is a method of simultaneously breaking up and running
program tasks on multiple microprocessors, thereby
reducing processing time. It can be accomplished via a
computer with two (2) or more processors or via a
computer network. It induces problems resulting in not
being synchronized.

Pipelining
It is the process of
accumulating and executing
computer instructions and
tasks from the processor via a
logical pipeline. It allows
storing, prioritizing, managing,
and executing tasks and
instructions in an orderly
process.

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Process Comparison
Normal Processing Parallel Processing Pipelining

References:
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