CA Session 3 Summary - muneeb-mbytes/computerArchitectureCourse GitHub Wiki

System Bus:

  • System Bus is a set of wires used to communicate between the major components of a computer
  • The system bus connects the CPU to other major components like memory and I/O devices
  • It is used to transfer data from one component to another, the source component outputs the requested data onto the bus and destination component then takes this information from the bus.
  • This is all done through the physical wiring etched on the motherboard.

The system has three buses.

  • Address bus: It is used to determine certain memory location.
  • Control bus: It is used to determine the operation to be performed. It indicates whether data is to be read or written in the determined memory location
  • Data bus: It is used to carry the information.

Why learn Computer Architecture?

Today, we can see computers everywhere and the world is connected through it for communication. We need to learn how things are organized in computers and how they work.

  • Since we are engineers, we design and develop computers which will solve complex technical issues as well as improve performance.
  • We will get to know about the advancement in technology which will open opportunities for research and innovation.
  • Having a deep knowledge in CA is a valuable skill which will offering the opportunities in both hardware and software related roles like designers The following are the benefits of studying CA:

Instruction Set Architecture :

  • An Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) defines the interface between software and hardware
  • In simple words an Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) defines the communication rules between the hardware and software of the computer

Types of ISA:

  • RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computers): MIPS, RISC V, ARM, AVR, PA - RISC, PIC, SUN SPARC
  • CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computers): Intel x86, AMD, MOTOROLA 68000, VAX, PDP -11, IBM 370

Difference between CISC and RISC

Toolchains for RISC –V architecture:

Toolchain consists of all the systems necessary for translation of high level to low level language like compiler, assembler, linker. Below are the different toolchains of RISC -V Architecture: