History and Overview of Computer Architecture

Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the discussion student is expected to:
1. Learn the overview of the evolution of computer technology from earlier digital
computers to the latest microprocessors.
2. Define computer architecture and Computer Organization.
3. Be familiar to the classification of Computer Architecture.
Computer Architecture refers to the attributes of a system visible to a programmer or
those that have a direct impact on the logical execution of a program. These attributes
include instruction set, the number of bits used to represent data types (e.g., numbers,
characters), I/O mechanisms, and techniques for addressing memory.
Computer Organization refers to the operational units and their interconnections that
realize the architectural specifications. These attributes include hardware details
transparent to the programmer, such as control signals; interfaces between the
computer and peripherals; and the memory technology used.
BRIEF HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
The First Generation: Vacuum-Tubes
The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), designed by and
constructed under the
supervision of Jonh Mauchly and John Presper Eckert at the University of
Pennsylvania, was the
world’s first general-purpose electronic digital computer.
o The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), designed by and
constructed under the supervision of Jonh Mauchly and John Presper Eckert at
the University of Pennsylvania, was the world’s first general-purpose electronic
digital computer.
- The ENIAC was decimal rather than a binary machine. That is, numbers were
represented in decimal form and arithmetic was performed in the decimal
system. Its memory consisted of 20 “accumulators” each capable of holding a
10-digit decimal number. Each digit was represented by a ring of 10 vacuum
tubes. At any time, only one vacuum tube was in the ON state, representing
one of the 10 digits. The major drawback of the ENIAC was that it had to be
programmed manually by setting switches and plugging and unplugging
cables.
- The ENIAC was completed in 1946, too late to be used in the war effort.
Instead, its first task was to perform a series of complex calculations that
were used to help determine the feasibility of the H-bomb. The ENIAC
continued to be used until 1955.
 -
o The von Neumann Machine
- This idea, known as the Stored-program concept, is usually attributed to the
ENIAC designers, most notably the mathematician John von Neumann, who
was a consultant on the ENIAC project. The idea was also developed at
about the same time by Turing. The first publication of the idea was in a 1945
proposal by von Neumann for a new computer, the EDVAC (Electronic
Discrete Variable Computer). In 1946, von Neumann and his colleagues
began the design of a new stored-program computer, referred to as the IAS
computer, at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies. The IAS computer,
although not completed until 1952, is the prototype of all subsequent general-
purpose computers.
- Figure 5 shows the general structure of the IAS computer. It consists of;
 A main memory, which stores both data and instructions.
 An arithmetic-logical unit (ALU) capable of operating on binary data.
 A control unit, which interprets the instructions in memory and causes
them to be executed.
 Input and output (I/O) equipment operated by the control unit.

o Commercial Computers
- The 1950s saw the birth of the computer industry with two companies, Sperry
and IBM, dominating the marketplace.
- The UNIVAC II, which had greater memory capacity and higher performance
than the UNIVAC I, was delivered in the late 1950s and illustrates several
trends that have remained characteristic of the computer industry. The
Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation became part of the UNIVAC division of
Sperry-Rand Corporation, which went on to build a series of successor
machines.
- IBM. which was then the major manufacturer of punched-card processing
equipment, delivered its first electronic stored-program computer, the 701, in
1953. The 70l was intended primarily for scientific applications. In 1955, IBM
introduced the companion 702 product, which had a number of hardware
features that suited it to business applications. These were the first of a long
series of 700/7000computers that established IBM as the overwhelmingly
dominant computer manufacturer.
-
The Second generation: Transistors

- The first major change in the electronic computer came with the replacement
of the vacuum tube by the transistor. The transistor is smaller, cheaper, and
dissipates less heal than a vacuum tube but can be used in the same way as
a vacuum tube to construct computers. Unlike the vacuum tube, which
 requires wires, metal plates, a glass capsule, and a vacuum, the transistor is
a solid-state device, made from silicon.
- The transistor was invented at Bell Labs in 1947 and by the 1950s had
launched an electronic revolution.

The 3rd Generation

- A single, self-contained transistor is called a discrete component.
Throughout the 1950s and early1960s, electronic equipment was composed
largely of discrete components—transistors, resistors, capacitors, and so on.
- Discrete components were manufactured separately, packaged in their own
containers, and soldered or wired together onto circuit boards, which were
then installed in computers, oscilloscopes, and other electronic equipment.
-
The 4th generation: Later Generation

o Semiconductor Memory
- The first application of integrated circuit technology to computers was
construction of the processor (the control unit and the arithmetic and logic
unit) out of integrated circuit chips. But it was also found that this same
technology could be used to construct memories.
- In 1970, Fairchild produced the first relatively capacious semiconductor
memory.
- In 1974, a seminal event occurred: The price per bit of semiconductor
memory dropped below the price per bit of core memory. There has been a
continuing and rapid decline in memory cost accompanied by a
corresponding increase in physical memory density. This has led the way to
smaller, faster machines with memory sizes of larger and more expensive
machines from just a few years earlier. Developments in memory technology,
together with developments in processor technology to be discussed next,
changed the nature of computers in less than a decade. Although bulky,
expensive computers remain a part of the landscape, the computer has also
been brought out to the “end user,” with office machines and personal
computers.
- Since 1970, semiconductor memory has been through 13 generations: 1K,
4K, 16K, 64K, 256K, 1M,4M, 16M, 64M, 256M, 1G, 4G, and, as of this writing,
16 G bits on a single chip (1K = 210, 1M = 220,1G = 230). Each generation
has provided four times the storage density of the previous generation,
accompanied by declining cost per bit and declining access time.
-
o Microprocessors
- Just as the density of elements on memory chips has continued to rise, so
has the density of elements on processor chips. As time went on, more and
 more elements were placed on each chip, so that fewer and fewer chips were
needed to construct a single computer processor.
- A breakthrough was achieved in 1971, when Intel developed its 4004. The
4004 was the first chip to contain all of the components of a CPU on a single
chip: The microprocessor was born.
- The 4004 can add two 4-bit numbers and can multiply only by repeated
addition. By today’s standards, the 4004 is hopelessly primitive, but it marked
the beginning of a continuing evolution of microprocessor capability and
power.

Overview of Computer Architecture

Computer Architecture is the design of computers, including their instruction sets,
hardware components and system organization.

refers to the attributes of a

system visible to a
programmer or those
that have a direct impact
on the logical execution of
a program. These attributes
include instruction
set, the number of bits
used to represent data
types (e.g., numbers,
characters), I/O
mechanisms,
and techniques for
addressing memory.
refers to the attributes of a
system visible to a
programmer or those
that have a direct impact
on the logical execution of
a program. These attributes
include instruction
set, the number of bits
used to represent data
types (e.g., numbers,
characters), I/O
mechanisms,
and techniques for
addressing memory.
Architecture

Instruction Set
Hardware System
Architecture (ISA)
Architecture (HSA)

Classification of Computer Architecture

 Von Neumann Model
- Von Neumann Architecture - also known as the Princeton architecture. It is
the design upon which many general-purpose computers are based.
- Non-Von Neumann Architecture – used two different memory units and those
pioneered parallelism. The Harvard Architecture and Modified Harvard
Architecture.

 Flynn’s Taxonomy
- SISD (Single Instruction stream, Single Data stream)
- SIMD (Single Instruction stream, Multiple Data steam)
- MISD (Multiple Instruction stream, Single Data stream)
- MIMD (Multiple Instruction stream, Multiple Data stream)

References
 https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/kalinga-state-university/computer-
architecture-and-organization/module-1-history-and-overview-of-computer-
architecture/47725730?fbclid=IwAR3BJt_59zS2fJSxAP-
YAVky4QYmMfwaYYaXIA6UrkFCzMVXgnKt9XCv_Wg
 https://youtu.be/GRInNLx3Tug?si=WBtCqyNmdAlDvmqL
 https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be
%2F6_PHIL4LZEU%3Fsi%3DaaOu4sfWCGf8BJ-X%26fbclid
%3DIwAR24ZP6wV4ABTXGvqbbLvPHJsoW_0huK9haZqmjNVLXVwf_jBFz1
vwN3xSE&h=AT0l3hGIms0daLFui191M1www16UIJfzLDrv_7jBIbFfsj57KTN
M-ByRlmrZn5JHT189g6WRYgxqIcidxcUjM-6e-
knb2b47o4GSjEYCfSM_Ylew7TgfmLhB0HIXugpSuf2y2jD5M521--U
 Activity 1
History and Overview of Computer Architecture

Name: ____________________ Date Submitted: _______________

Course and Section: ______________ Score:
Identification:
1. It is also known as the Princeton architecture which is the design upon which many
general-purpose computers are based.
Ans. _________________
2. It is the design of computers, including their instruction sets, hardware components
and system organization.
Ans. _________________
3. It is smaller, cheaper, and dissipates less heal than a vacuum tube but can be used
in the same way as a vacuum tube to construct computers.
Ans. _________________
4. It was the world’s first general-purpose electronic digital computer.
Ans. _________________
5. This refers to the operational units and their interconnections that realize the
architectural specifications.
Ans. _________________
6. Responsible for interpreting the instructions in memory and causing them to be
executed.
Ans. _________________
7. What do you call the single, self-contained transistor?
Ans. _________________
8. It is the categorization of forms of parallel computer architectures.
Ans. _________________
9 – 10. Name the two people who designed and supervised the construction of ENIAC.
Ans. _________________