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Computer Types

Embedded computers - are integrated into a larger device or system in order to


automatically monitor and control a physical process or environment. They are used
for
specific
processing tasks. Examples are
appliances, telecommunication products, and
vehicles.
Personal computers - are dedicated for individual use. They are classified as:
a. Desktop computers - serve general needs and fit with
within a typical personal workspace.
b. Workstation computers - offer higher computational
capacity and more powerful graphical display capabilities
for scientific and engineering work.
c. Portable computers - provide the basic features of a
personal computer in a smaller lightweight package
Servers and Enterprise systems - are large computers that are meant to be shared by
a potentially large number of users who access them from some form of personal
computer over a public or private network.
Supercomputers and Grid computers - are used for highly demanding computations
since they offer the highest performance. These are the most expensive and
physically the largest category of computers.
A computer consists of five
logic, output, and control units.

(5) functional units: input, memory, arithmetic and

Input Unit - accepts coded information from human operators using devices such
as keyboard and mouse.
Memory Unit - stores the information received from the input unit.
Arithmetic and Logic Unit - performs operations such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication division, or comparison of numbers
Output Unit - sends processed information. Examples are printers and plotters.
Control Unit - manages all the activities in the computer are directed by the control
unit.
Basic Operational Concepts
Most computer operations are executed in the ALU (Arithmetic and Logic unit)
of a processor.
Example: Adding two (2) numbers that are both located in memory
Load R2, LOC
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Add R4, R2, R3


Store R4, LOC
Memory Locations and Addresses
Memory can be organized in two (2) ways:
1. One (1) process uses the entire space.
2.Each process gets its own partition in memory. This falls into two categories:
dynamically allocated and statically allocated.
Dynamic allocated memory is the allocation of memory storage for use in a
computer program during the run time of that program. Static allocated memory refers
to the process of allocating memory at compile-time before the associated program is
executed.
Dynamically allocated memory exists until it is released wither explicitly by the
programmer, exiting a block, or by the garbage collector while static memory allocation
has a fixed duration.
A memory address is an identifier for a memory location, at which a computer
program or a hardware device can store data and later retrieve it. Its a binary
number from a finite monotonically sequence that uniquely describes the memory
itself. In modern byte-addressable computers, each address identifies a single byte of
storage.
Memory Operations
Memory stores both program instructions and data operands. The processor
control circuits must cause the word (or words) containing the instruction to be transferred from
the memory to the processor to execute an instruction. Operands and results must also be
moved between the memory and the processor. Thus, two (2) basic operations involving the
memory are needed, namely, Read and Write.
Instructions and Instruction Sequencing
The tasks carried out by a computer program consist of a sequence of small steps
called instruction. A computer should have instructions that can perform four (4) types of
operations.
These are:
Data transfers between the memory and the processor registers
rithmetic and logic operations on data
Program sequencing and control
I/O transfers
To perform a particular task on the computer, it is the programmers job to select
and write appropriate instructions one after the other. The job of the programmer is
known as instruction sequencing. The instructions written in a proper sequence to
execute a particular task is called program.
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The complete instruction cycle involves three (3) operations:Instruction fetching, opcode
decoding and instruction execution as shown in Figure 2.1. Processor executes a program
with the help of program counter (PC). PC holds the address of the instruction to be
executed next. To begin execution of a program, the address of its first instruction is placed
into the PC. Then, the processor control circuits use the information (address of memory)
in the PC to fetch and execute instructions, one at a time, in the order of increasing
addresses. This is called straight-line sequencing.
During the execution of instruction, the PC is incremented by the length of the current
instruction in execution. For example, if currently executing instruction length is 4
bytes, then PC is incremented by 4 so that it points to instruction to be executed next.
Addressing Modes
The different ways in which the location of an operand is specified in an instruction are
referred to as addressing modes.
1. Register addressing mode - The operand is the content of a processor register; the
name (address) of the register is given in the instruction.
Example: Move R1, R2
2. Absolute addressing mode - The operand is in a memory location; the address of this
location is given explicitly in the instruction.
Example: Move LOC, R2
3. Immediate addressing mode - The operand is given explicitly in the instruction.
Example: Move #200, R0
The above statement places the value 200 in the register R0. A common convention is to
use the sharp sign (#) in front of the value to indicate that this value is to be used
as an
immediate operand.
4. Indirect addressing mode - The effective address of the operand is the contents of
a register or memory location whose address appears in the instruction.
Example: Add (R2), R0
Register R2 is used as a pointer to the numbers in the list, and the operands are
accessed indirectly through R2. The initialization section of the program loads the
counter value
n from memory location N into R1 and uses the immediate addressing mode to place
the address value NUM 1, which is the address of the first number in the list, into R2.
5.

Index mode - The effective address of the operand is generated by adding a


constant value to the contents of a register

6. Auto-increment mode - The effective address of the operand is the contents of a


register specified in the instruction. After accessing the operand, the contents of this
register are
automatically incremented to point to the next item in a list.
7. Auto-decrement mode - The contents of a register specified in the instruction is first
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automatically decremented and is then used as the effective address of the operand.

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