Chapter 15: Advanced Computer Architecture Topics

The previous chapters considered the fundamental concepts of computer architecture from a perspective of increasing system complexity.

After analysing the binary number system and elementary logic gates, we studied combinational circuits and increasingly sophisticated sequential circuits. Chapter 12 began the study of computer architectures. That chapter presents a possible internal structure for an implementation of the P3 processor instruction set, based on a microprogrammed control unit and in a datapath which included a register file, an arithmetic logic unit and the main memory as building blocks. Chapters 13 and 14, are devoted to the study of memory and input/output systems, external modules connected to the central processing unit, which are an integral part of a computer.