The Architecture of Computer Hardware, Systems Software, & Networking: An Information Technology Approach, 5th Edition

PART THREE

COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE AND HARDWARE OPERATION

The basic operation of a computer, regardless of size or type, is defined by its hardware architecture. The hardware architecture establishes the CPU instruction set and the type of operations that are permitted. It defines the passage of data from one part of the computer to another. It establishes the ground rules for input and output operations.

The next six chapters introduce the fundamental architectural concepts that define computer operations and hardware organization. We will attempt to convey the basic simplicity and elegance of computer instruction sets. We will expose the inner workings of computer peripherals and show how the various pieces fit together to create a system.

For the past sixty plus years, and for the foreseeable future, basic computer architecture conforms to the general principles established by von Neumann that were introduced in Chapter 1. Chapter 6 introduces the principles of von Neumann architecture using a classic model of the computer called the Little Man Computer as an example. The Little Man Computer introduces the stored program concept, demonstrates the role of memory, describes the essential instructions that make up a computer instruction set, and explains the simple set of operations that implement an instruction set. We also show how the basic instructions of a computer work together to make up a program.

In Chapter 7 we extend the ideas introduced in Chapter 6 to the operation of ...