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Informatics 3
Computer Architecture
Nigel Topham Professor of Computer Systems
Institute for Computing Systems Architecture University of Edinburgh
http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/icsa/ Tel: +44 131 650 5122 Fax: +44 131 667 7209
Inf3 Computer Architecture – 2008/09 2
The Rise of the Electronic Computer
Today’s microprocessors evolved over a period of 40 years Key developments were:
– First transistor in 1947 – First integrated circuit in 1958 – First microprocessor in 1972
This course is NOT about electronics Semiconductor technology enables the evolution of
systems - but architecture defines those systems. We are concerned with the structure and behaviour of
microprocessors at “register transfer level”…
Intel 4004 (1972)
Intel Pentium 4 (2000)
William Shockley, and the first transistor (1947) Jack Kilbey with the first IC (1958)
Inf3 Computer Architecture – 2008/09 3
Underlying Technology Advancements
Moore’s Law is a “rising tide that lifts all boats” – exponential growth in transistor densities on silicon
Moore’s Law will continue to ~2016 – Chips will have 2.2 billion transistors – DRAM capacities will reach 128 Gbit – Logic density of 4.5 billion trans./cm2
Major impact on microprocessor design and the software they run – Greater complexity will be possible – Higher performance also possible – Parallelism becomes critically important
Computer Architecture provides an understanding of how to exploit these capabilities, both from a Software and a Hardware perspective.
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138276
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2209
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Poly 1/2 pitch
Gate length
Desktop Microprocessor Transistor Count
Source: International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, 2003
The Importance of Computer Architecture
Technology alone provides only 35% growth rate Architecture innovation provides the rest…
Inf3 Computer Architecture - 2006-2007 4
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DEC Alpha
Intel Pentium III
DEC Alpha
HP 9000IBM Pow er1
MIPS R2000
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What do we cover in this course?
Fundamental concepts – What is Computer Architecture? – How do we do Computer Architecture? – Technology trends under-pinning the subject
Processor architecture – How to design a high-performance microprocessor from the ground up – Concepts such as: pipelining, superscalar, and VLIW processors
Memory systems – Cache hierarchies – High-performance memory organizations
I/O and system interconnection – Disk systems and RAID – Busses
Parallel architectures
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General Information
Instructor Nigel Topham [email protected] 1.10 Informatics Forum
Lectures Second semester
Practicals 1 practical assignment – out week 4; due week 9
Book Hennessy & Patterson - Computer Architecture: A
Quantitative Approach – Morgan Kaufmann (4th ed.)
Lecture slides + book + blog = lecture notes www.inf.ed.ac.uk/teaching/courses/car/
