Computer Architecture: From Microprocessors to Supercomputers(The ^AOxford Series in Electrical and Computer Engineering)

PART I: sets the stage, provides context, reviews some of the prerequisite topics and gives a taste of what is to come in the rest of the book. Included are two refresher-type chapters on digital circuits and components, a discussion of types of computer systems, an overview of digital computer technology, and a detailed perspective on computer system 3erformance. PART II:lays out the user's interface to computer hardware known as the instruction-set architechture (ISA). For better understanding, the instruction set of MiniMIPS (a simplified, yet very realistic, machine for which open reference material and simulation tools exist) is described. Included is a chapter on variations in ISA (e.g. RISC vs CISC) and associated cost performace tradeoffs. The next two parts cover the central processing unit (CPU). PART III: describes the structure of arithmetic/logic units (ALUs) in some detail. Included are discussions of fixed- and floating-point number representations, design of high-speed adders, shift and logical operations, and hardware multipliers/dividers. Implementation aspects and pitfalls of floating-point arthimetic are also discussed. PART IV: is devoted to data path and control circuits comprising the CPU. Beginning with instruction execution steps, the needed components and control mechanisms are derived. These are followed by an exposition of control design strategies, use of a pipelined data path for performance enhancement, and various limitations of pipelining due to data and control dependencies. PART V: concerned with the memory system. The technologies in use for primary and secondary memories are described, along with their strengths and limitations. It is shown how the use of cache memories effectively bridges the speed gap between CPU and main memory. Similarly, the use of virtual memory to provide the illusion of a vast main memory is explained. PART VI: deals with input/output and interfacing topics. A discussion of I/O device technologies is followed by methods of I/O programming and the roles of buses and links (including standards) in I/O communication and interfacing. Elements of processes and context switching, for exception handling or multireaded computation, are also covered. PART VII: introduces advanced architectures. An overview of performance enhancement strategies, beyond simple pipelining, is presented and examples of applications requiring higher performance are cited. These are followed by design strategies and example architectures based on vector or array proccessing, multiprocessing, and multicomputing.

Table of Contents:
Preface PART 1: BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION 1. Combinational Digital Circuits 1.1.: Signals, Logic Operators, and Gates 1.2.: Boolean Functions and Expressions 1.3.: Designing Gate Networks 1.4.: Useful Combinational Parts 1.5.: Programmable Combinational Parts 1.6.: Timing and Circuit Considerations 2. Digital Circuits with Memory 2.1.: Latches, Flip-Flops, and Registers 2.2.: Finite-State Machines 2.3.: Designing Sequential Circuits 2.4.: Useful Sequential Parts 2.5.: Programmable Sequential Parts 2.6.: Clocks and Timing of Events 3. Computer System Technology 3.1.: From Components to Applications 3.2.: Computer Systems and Their Parts 3.3.: Generations of Progress 3.4.: Processor and Memory Technologies 3.5.: Peripherals, I/O, and Communications 3.6.: Software Systems and Applications 4. Computer Performance 4.1.: Cost, Performance, and Cost/Performance 4.2.: Defining Computer Performance 4.3.: Performance Enhancement and Amdahl's Law 4.4.: Performance Measurement vs. 4.5.: Reporting Computer Performance 4.6.: The Quest for Higher Performance PART 2: INSTRUCTION-SET ARCHITECTURE 5. Instructions and Addressing 5.1.: Abstract View of Hardware 5.2.: Instruction Formats 5.3.: Simple Arithmetic and Logic Instructions 5.4.: Load and Store Instructions 5.5.: Jump and Branch Instructions 5.6.: Addressing Modes 6. Procedures and Data 6.1.: Simple Procedure Calls 6.2.: Using the Stack for Data Storage 6.3.: Parameters and Results 6.4.: Data Types 6.5.: Arrays and Pointers 6.6.: Additional Instructions 7. Assembly Language Programs 7.1.: Machine and Assembly Languages 7.2.: Assembler Directives 7.3.: Pseudoinstructions 7.4.: Macroinstructions 7.5.: Linking and Loading 7.6.: Running Assembler Programs 8. Instruction-Set Variations 8.1.: Complex Instructions 8.2.: Alternative Addressing Modes 8.3.: Variations in Instruction Formats 8.4.: Instruction Set Design and Evolution 8.5.: The RISC/CISC Dichotomy 8.6.: Where to Draw the Line PART 3: THE ARITHMETIC/LOGIC UNIT 9. Number Representation 9.1.: Positional Number Systems 9.2.: Digit Sets and Encodings 9.3.: Number-Radix Conversion 9.4.: Signed Integers 9.5.: Fixed-Point Numbers 9.6.: Floating-Point Numbers 10. Adders and Simple ALUs 10.1.: Simple Adders 10.2.: Carry Propagation Networks 10.3.: Counting and Incrementation 10.4.: Design of Fast Adders 10.5.: Logic and Shift Operations 10.6.: Multifunction ALUs 11. Multipliers and Dividers 11.1.: Shift-Add Multiplication 11.2.: Hardware Multipliers 11.3.: Programmed Multiplication 11.4.: Shift-Subtract Division 11.5.: Hardware Dividers 11.6.: Programmed Division 12. Floating-Point Arithmetic 12.1.: Rounding Modes 12.2.: Special Values and Exceptions 12.3.: Floating-Point Addition 12.4.: Other Floating-Point Operations 12.5.: Floating-Point Instructions 12.6.: Result Precision and Errors PART 4: DATA PATH AND CONTROL 13. Instruction Execution Steps 13.1.: A Small Set of Instructions 13.2.: The Instruction Execution Unit 13.3.: A Single-Cycle Data Path 13.4.: Branching and Jumping 13.5.: Deriving the Control Signals 13.6.: Performance of the Single-Cycle Design 14. Control Unit Synthesis 14.1.: A Multicycle Implementation 14.2.: Clock Cycle and Control Signals 14.3.: The Control State Machine 14.4.: Performance of the Multicycle Design 14.5.: Microprogramming 14.6.: Dealing with Exceptions 15. Pipelined Data Paths 15.1.: Pipelining Concepts 15.2.: Pipeline Stalls or Bubbles 15.3.: Pipeline Timing and Performance 15.4.: Pipelined Data Path Design 15.5.: Pipelined Control 15.6.: Optimal Pipelining 16. Pipeline Performance Limits 16.1.: Data Dependencies and Hazards 16.2.: Data Forwarding 16.3.: Pipeline Branch Hazards 16.4.: Branch Prediction 16.5.: Advanced Pipelining 16.6.: Exceptions in a Pipeline PART 5: MEMORY SYSTEM DESIGN 17. Main Memory Concepts 17.1.: Memory Structure and SRAM 17.2.: DRAM and Refresh Cycles 17.3.: Hitting the Memory Wall 17.4.: Pipelined and Interleaved Memory 17.5.: Nonvolatile Memory 17.6.: The Need for a Memory Hierarchy 18. Cache Memory Organization 18.1.: The Need for a Cache 18.2.: What Makes a Cache Work? 18.3.: Direct-Mapped Cache 18.4.: Set-Associative Cache 18.5.: Cache and Main Memory 18.6.: Improving Cache Performance 19. Mass Memory Concepts 19.1.: Disk Memory Basics 19.2.: Organizing Data on Disk 19.3.: Disk Performance 19.4.: Disk Caching 19.5.: Disk Arrays and RAID 19.6.: Other Types of Mass Memory 20. Virtual Memory and Paging 20.1.: The Need for Virtual Memory 20.2.: Address Translation in Virtual Memory 20.3.: Translation Lookaside Buffer 20.4.: Page Replacement Policies 20.5.: Main and Mass Memories 20.6.: Improving Virtual Memory Performance PART 6: INPUT/OUTPUT AND INTERFACING 21. Input/Output Devices 21.1.: Input/Output Devices and Controllers 21.2.: Keyboard and Mouse 21.3.: Visual Display Units 21.4.: Hard-Copy Input/Output Devices 21.5.: Other Input/Output Devices 21.6.: Networking of Input/Output Devices 22. Input/Output Programming 22.1.: I/O Performance and Benchmarks 22.2.: Input/Output Addressing 22.3.: Scheduled I/O: Polling 22.4.: Demand-Based I/O: Interrupts 22.5.: I/O Data Transfer and DMA 22.6.: Improving I/O Performance 23. Buses, Links, and Interfacing 23.1.: Intra- and Intersystem Links 23.2.: Buses and Their Appeal 23.3.: Bus Communication Protocols 23.4.: Bus Arbitration and Performance 23.5.: Basics of Interfacing 23.6.: Interfacing Standards 24. Context Switching and Interrupts 24.1.: System Calls for I/O 24.2.: Interrupts, Exceptions, and Traps 24.3.: Simple Interrupt Handling 24.4.: Nested Interrupts 24.5.: Types of Context Switching 24.6.: Threads and Multithreading PART 7: ADVANCED ARCHITECTURES 25. Road to Higher Performance 25.1.: Past and Current Performance Trends 25.2.: Performance-Driven ISA Extensions 25.3.: Instruction-Level Parallelism 25.4.: Speculation and Value Prediction 25.5.: Special-Purpose Hardware Accelerators 25.6.: Vector, Array, and Parallel Processing 26. Vector and Array Processing 26.1.: Operations on Vectors 26.2.: Vector Processor Implementation 26.3.: Vector Processor Performance 26.4.: Shared-Control Systems 26.5.: Array Processor Implementation 26.6.: Array Processor Performance 27. Shared-Memory Multiprocessing 27.1.: Centralized Shared Memory 27.2.: Multiple Caches and Cache Coherence 27.3.: Implementing Symmetric Multiprocessors 27.4.: Distributed Shared Memory 27.5.: Directories to Guide Data Access 27.6.: Implementing Asymmetric Multiprocessors 28. Distributed Multicomputing 28.1.: Communication by Message Passing 28.2.: Interconnection Networks 28.3.: Message Composition and Routing 28.4.: Building and Using Multicomputers 28.5.: Network-Based Distributed Computing 28.6.: Grid Computing and Beyond Index

About the Author :
Behrooz Parhami is Professor of Computer Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has written several textbooks, including Computer Arithmetic (OUP, 2000), and more than 200 research papers. He is a fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the British Computer Society (BCS). He is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and a distinguished member of the Informatics Society of Iran, for which he served as a founding member and the first president.