Download Architecture Examples And Hierarchy

Architecture
Examples And
Hierarchy
Samuel Njoroge
Architecture Examples and
Hierarchy - Overview
Architecture Levels
 Bus interconnection and Bridging
 Controller chips
 System Level architecture
 Board level architecture
 Chip Level architecture

What are the architectural ranges?
Macroscopic – Entire Computer
System
Microsocopic – an integrated
chip
Some Architectural terms

System: This is the complete computer; it includes CPU, memory and
I/O devices. System architecture describes the interconnection of
components and buses

Board: Individual circuit board that forms part of a computer. Board
architecture describes the interconnection of chips and the interface
to the bus

Chip: Individual integrated chip that is used on a circuit board. Chip
architecture describes the interconnection of functional units and
gates

Bus: Subsystem that transfers data and power between computer
components
Functional Unit: An entity of hardware capable of accomplishing
specified purpose.

System level Architecture of PC

Functional Units
 Processor
 Memory
 I/O
Interfaces

Interconnections
 High
Speed Buses: For functional units requiring
high speed
 Low speed buses:
For functional units requiring
low seed
Bus Interconnection and Bridging
To interconnect buses we use Bridging
 With Bridge technology we can have
multiple bridges
 Bridge technology enables backward
compatibility (.e.g. old I/O devices can be
used with new processor

Example of bridging




A processor uses
Peripheral Component
Interconnect Bus (PCI)
I/O devices uses
Industrial Standard
Architecture (ISA).
These buses are
incompatible and cannot
be connected
Solution: use Bridge
Technology.
Physical Architecture of Bridge

Design of bridge is complex

The architecture of the Bridge uses special
controllers – Controller Chips

Separates high speed and low speed units onto
separate chips.
A controller can also provide an illusion of a bus

Example of PC architecture
Two Controller chips
A). Northbridge Chip:Processor, Memory
Advanced Graphic
port (AGP).

B.) Southbridge Chip:LAN interface, PCI Bus,
Printer and Input Ports
PC controller layout
Board Level Architecture
For Board level Architecture I’ll use an
example of a LAN Interface
 LAN Interface:

 Connect
computer to a Network
 Transmit data between computers and
network
 Comprised of an individual circuit board with
Processor and memory.
Board Level Architecture – LAN
Interface.
SRAM
 Highest
Speed
 Used for Instructions.
DRAM

Lower Speeds
 Used for data transfer
Chip Level Architecture – Intel
Network Processor

Chip Level
Architecture shows us
the internal design of
an integrated circuit
that are concealed in
a board level
architecture
Example of the functional units on
a Chip
Summary





Architecture level of a system can be viewed at
several layers of abstraction
System architecture shows the entire computer
system
Board Architecture shows individual circuit board
Chip architecture shows Individual integrated
circuit
Functional unit architecture shows individual
functional unit on integrated circuit.
Works Cited.
http://www.eca.cs.purdue.edu/
 http://www.cstp.umkc.edu/~mullinsj/cs282/
 Essentials of Computer Architecture

 Douglas
E. Corner