How does computer architecture do?

How does Computer Architecture work?

Computer architecture can be split into three categories:

1-ISA (Instruction Set Architecture):

--This is a list of all the instructions processors can perform, it includes memory address modes, processor registers, and data formats….

2- Micro architecture (Computer Organization):

--This is a more detailed description of the system; it explains how the different parts of a computer are placed and how they are interconnected to implement the ISA.

3- System design (CPU design):

--This includes all other hardware components of a computer system, such as:

+ System interconnections è buses and switches

+ Memory controllers

+ CPU load-off mechanisms è direct memory access

*How does Computer Architecture affect computer performance?

First of all, Computer Performance is often described thru (Clock Speed) witch is the number of operations the computer can perform per second, and Computer Architecture introduces Pipelining, with allows the computer to perform several  operations at once, now that effects the computer’s speed!

Secondly, a computers performance is also affected by the amount of catche it has, “if the speed of the computer were a car, the catche would be a traffic light, no matter how fast the car goes, it will always stop at the red light, the faster the speed and the bigger the catche, the faster the processor will work”.

Finally, a very important factor considered during the design of a computer is the power consumption; mostly, performance is traded for power efficiency, and with the rapid escalation of transistors per chip, power efficiency is becoming increasingly important;, also, in imbedded computing, power efficiency remains the main goal next to performance.

*What about the history of Computer Architecture?

The term “Architecture” can be traced back to the year of 1959, where it was mentioned by Lyle R. Johnson in his proprietary research communication during his work at IBM‘s main research center.

Also, the word and its definition are mentioned in “Planning a Computer System”: By Stretch, ed. and W. Buchholz in 1962, at the beginning of chapter two it quotes “Computer architecture, like other architecture, is the art of determining the needs of the user of a structure and then designing to meet those needs as effectively as possible within economic and technological constraints.”.

And the first mention of architecture as in the refereed computer literature, was in an article describing the IBM system/360, it quotes “Architecture is the set of “attributes of a system as seen by the programmer”.