Computer Architecture

Register organization is the arrangement of the registers in the processor. The processor designers decide the organization of the registers in a processor. Different processors may have different register organization. Depending on the roles played by the registers they can be categorized into two types, user-visible register and control and status register. Before learning … [Read more...] about Register Organization

Cache Coherence assures the data consistency among the various memory blocks in the system, i.e. local cache memory of each processor and the common memory shared by the processors. It confirms that each copy of a data block among the caches of the processors has a consistent value. In this section, we will discuss the cache coherence problem and the protocol for resolving … [Read more...] about Cache Coherence

Direct Memory Access (DMA) transfers the block of data between the memory and peripheral devices of the system, without the participation of the processor. The unit that controls the activity of accessing memory directly is called a DMA controller. The processor relinquishes the system bus for a few clock cycles. So, the DMA controller can accomplish the task of data … [Read more...] about Direct Memory Access (DMA)

RISC is an abbreviation of Reduced Instruction Set Computer. RISC processor has 'instruction sets' that are simple and have simple 'addressing modes'. A RISC style instruction engages "one word" in memory. Execution of the RISC instructions are faster and take one clock cycle per instruction. Although the forerunners of RISC computers were seen in 1960. But, due to the … [Read more...] about RISC Processor

The Hardwired and Microprogrammed control unit generates the control signals to fetch and execute instructions. The fundamental difference between hardwired and microprogrammed control unit is that hardwired is a circuitry approach whereas, the microprogram control unit is implemented by programming. The hardwired control unit is designed for the RISC style instruction set. … [Read more...] about Difference Between Hardwired and Microprogrammed Control Unit