CAAL Chapter 1

Computer Architecture
and Assembly
Language
A A ST U ,SO F TW A RE E NG I NEE R IN G DE P AR T MEN T

T A ME R U H .
What do you expect?
Why study this course?
Cont’d…
• Architecture is a very satisfying

profession
• A course in Architecture is a lot of
fun.
• Architecture gives you the liberty to

use the right side of your brain, the
creative part.
What’s Wrong With Assembly
Language
Assembly language has a pretty bad

reputation. Here are the reasons:
 Assembly is hard to learn.

 Assembly is hard to read and understand.
 Assembly is hard to debug.
 Assembly is hard to maintain.
 Assembly is hard to write.
Why Assembly language?
An old joke goes something like this:
“There are three reasons for using

assembly language: speed, speed,
and more speed.”
 Assembly language has several

benefits other than speed:
Cont’d…
 Speed. Assembly language programs are
generally the fastest programs around.
 Space. Assembly language programs are
often the smallest.
 Capability. You can do things in assembly
which are difficult or impossible in HLLs.
 Knowledge. Your knowledge of assembly
language will help you write better
programs, even when using HLLs.
What can you do Assembly?
Anything you want in the

software world
 boot loader, or device drivers

that live in ROM
Operating System
Course Outcome
At the end of this course you’ll be abele to:
 Understand the basics of computer hardware and

how software interacts with computer hardware
 Analyze and evaluate computer performance
 Understand how computers represent and
manipulate data
 Understand basics of Instruction Set Architecture
(ISA) – MIPS
 Understand Assembly Programming Language
Text Book
• American Computer Science,
Cryptography and Security
textbook author.
• Written textbooks on computer

science topics such as Operating
System, computer networks,
computer organization, and
cryptography.
Who is the Computer Architect ?
The computer architect need to have the following
principles:
Look Backward (to the past): understand trade-
offs, analyse the past
Look forward (to the future): be the dreamer, and
create new design.
Look Up (towards problems in the computing
stack): understand problems, Develop architecture
to solve them.
Look down (towards device/circuit technology:
platform for the future
Chapter 1: Introduction
Organization and Structure
 Computer architecture refers to those

attributes of a system visible to a
programmer.
 Computer organization refers to the
operational units and their
interconnections that realize the
architectural specifications.
Cont’d..
Example:
Architectural design issue: whether a
computer will have a multiply instruction.
An organizational issue: whether that

instruction will be implemented by a
special multiply unit or by a mechanism
that makes repeated use of the add unit
of the system.
Cont’d…
How to make the organizational

decision on this issue?
Cont’d…
The organizational decision may be based on:
 The anticipated frequency of use of the

multiply instruction,
 The relative speed of the two approaches,
 And the cost and physical size of a special

multiply unit.
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
Structure: The way in which the

components are interrelated.
Function: The operation of each

individual component as part of the
structure.
Function
In general terms, there are only four

basic functions that a computer can
perform:
Data processing
Data storage
Data movement
Control
Cont’d…
Structure
There are four main structural components:
 Central processing unit (CPU): Controls the operation of
the computer and performs its data processing functions;
often simply referred to as processor.
 Main memory: Stores data.
 I/O: Moves data between the computer and its external
environment.
 System interconnection: Some mechanism that provides
for communication among CPU, main memory, and I/O. A
common example of system interconnection is by means of
a system bus, consisting of a number of conducting wires
to which all the other components attach.
The Computer: Top-Level Structure
Cont’d…
Question?
Next Lecture
Chapter Two
Computer Evolution and

Performance

CAAL Chapter 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CAAL Chapter 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

CAAL Chapter 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Computer Architecture

A A ST U ,SO F TW A RE E NG I NEE R IN G DE P AR T MEN T

• Architecture is a very satisfying

• Architecture gives you the liberty to

Assembly language has a pretty bad

 Assembly is hard to learn.

An old joke goes something like this:

“There are three reasons for using

 Assembly language has several

Anything you want in the

 boot loader, or device drivers

 Understand the basics of computer hardware and

• Written textbooks on computer

 Computer architecture refers to those

An organizational issue: whether that

How to make the organizational

The organizational decision may be based on:

 The anticipated frequency of use of the

 The relative speed of the two approaches,

 And the cost and physical size of a special

Structure: The way in which the

Function: The operation of each

In general terms, there are only four

Computer Evolution and

You might also like