Understanding Architectures: Insights from Computer Science Assignment Experts

Computer architecture represents human intellect at its finest. The last 100 years have witnessed astonishing and nigh-unbelievable advancements in architecture. It all began with the legendary Charles Babbage and Lady Ada Lovelace, who conceived the idea of operable computer architectures through their infamous Analytical Engine way back in 1833. Nearly 100 years later, German engineer Konrad Otto Zuse developed the first operable, programmable computer in 1941, the Zeus Z3. Alan Turing was another genius intellect whose ideas and work in theoretical computer science paved the way for modern computer architecture & AI. And, then there was John von Neumann, another revolutionary intellect and a contemporary of Turing, whose 1945 paper on EDVAC (the successor of the US government-funded ENIAC project of WW2) introduced the von Neumann architecture. Along with Turing’s paper on the design of an Automatic Computing Engine, Neuman’s proposed computer architecture was two of the most significant developments in the history of computer architecture.

Our focus in today’s article will be on modern computer architecture. Read on for some exceptional insights that come to you straight from the programming homework help experts of MyAssignmentHelp.com, USA’s leading academic service provider.

Features of Modern Computer Architecture

Abstraction is a key element in computer design. Use-friendly interfaces of operating systems and different kinds of software applications bely all the complex processes & electronic circuits in a computer system. With the power of abstraction, entities at higher levels only need to know about and work with interfaces at the lower levels. There do NOT NEED TO WORRY about implementations at lower levels. For example, web developers using TypeScript/SQL/Python do not really need to know about instruction set architectures, microarchitectures, & the like. Similarly, assembly & low-level programmers do not need to worry about specific control signals, biasing, etc., of the MOSFET circuits within the computer.

Abstraction improves productivity and is a central aspect of computer system/architecture design. Alongside abstraction, here are the other key features intrinsic to a successful modern computer architecture 🡪

• Parallelism and Pipelining

Parallel processing is a common & essential feature of every modern computer system. Parallel computation boosts performance drastically. Quite naturally, since completing different parts of a task concurrently consumes much less time than when it’s done sequentially. Multicore processors of today engage in parallel processing, with each core running multiple execution threads.

Pipelining is an extension or a pattern of parallelism. It handles all the activities involved in the execution of an instruction in a pipelined or assembly-line manner. Activities of different instructions are executed in parallel. As soon as the first activity of a particular instruction is complete, the second activity as well as the first instruction as well as the first activity of a new instruction are executed. More instructions are executed per unit time in this way, thereby, increasing throughput.

• Prediction

Operating a system becomes more efficient when it can predict, and the hardware is designed to compensate for predictive actions. It can be faster to guess and get started rather than wait. The only consideration is that the recovery mechanism should not be too expensive and that the accuracy of the predictions must be consistently good.

Modern processor microarchitectures engage in speculative execution, wherein they make informed guesses regarding the most probable outcome of the current instruction and the most likely instruction to be executed next. Penalties for wrong guesses are not too severe, and successful speculation improves performance substantially.

• Redundancy

Redundancy improves the performance and dependency of an engineering system. Hardware systems can fail, and applications/operating systems/drivers & even firmware can go awry. Including redundant modules can provide backup in case of any major mishap. A good example of redundancy is the RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) concept, where information is stored redundantly on multiple disks. If one disk fails, then the backup data can be used for recovery.

• Memory Hierarchy

Hierarchy of memories is another major feature of powerful computer architectures. Speed, capacity, and cost- these are three major considerations for memory design & operations. To that end, architects design memory hierarchy in a way so that the smallest, fastest & most expensive memories lie at the top of the hierarchy, and the largest, slowest & cheapest memories are at the bottom.

Cache memories use registers and work the fastest in any computer architecture of today. In tandem with other memory systems, they provide the illusion that main memories (RAM and permanent storage) are as fast as the ones on top of the hierarchy but are cheaper to work with. Caches store the most executed instructions & data. Modern microprocessors come with nearly three levels of caches to compensate for the large differences between the processor’s & the memory’s speed.

• Speeding up the Common Case

Identifying the common case is crucial for parallelism and pipelining. Quick executions of common cases have been found to enhance performance substantially, and improvements of common case areas are one design aspect that modern architects are focusing on most.

Amdahl’s Law is a mathematical law used for analyzing identifications and improvements in common case execution and parallel processing. Conceptualized by Gene Amdahl, it states that system performance improvements through enhancement of a particular aspect of a system due to parallelization are limited by those aspects that can only work sequentially. Amdahl’s Law is a crucial benchmark in designing parallel processing systems, aiding architects in identifying common cases for parallelization and bottlenecks in sequential processes.

• Following Moore’s Law

Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel Corporation, predicted that the capacity of the resources in an integrated circuit would double every 18 to 24 months. He made this prediction in 1965, and it has stood the test of time, so much so that it is now referred to as Moore’s Law. Computer architects follow this Law when developing new or upgrading existing designs, keeping in mind where the competition will be in the next three to four years.

• Abstraction

Finally, we have the key concept of abstraction that hides the complexities and operations of lower levels from higher-level stakeholders. Instruction set architecture hides the activities of ICs and transistors. High-level languages hide the compilation/interpretation and execution of operating systems through their interactions with drivers/firmware and, through them, with the hardware.

All the above features are critical considerations in today’s computer architecture. Every computational system, from smartphones to the most powerful supercomputers, operates according to its architecture. We wrap things up with a look at the three key segregations in computer architecture.

Sub-Categories of Modern Computer Architecture

• Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)

This is the set of instructions that a processor can execute. The instruction set architecture defines how software applications and operating systems can utilize the central processing unit of a microprocessor. ISA effectively serves as an interface between hardware and software. Software at every level, from the firmware to the word counters & processors, video players, etc., must abide by the scope & constraints of the instruction set architecture. The ISA is visible only to firmware designers, assembly language coders, compilers/interpreters, and application managers of operating systems.

• Microarchitecture

An important sub-category, it defines how exactly a processor implements its instruction set architecture. Instruction cycles, multicycle architecture, parallelism, and pipelining are some essential aspects of modern microarchitectures.

• Systems Architecture

Computer systems architecture considers every physical hardware element. All elements on the main printed circuit board or motherboard, the graphics processing unit, etc., are incorporated into system design architectures. The system design also considers how machine components and specifications will meet user requirements.

Alongside these three sub-categories, certain other types of architectures are considered benchmarks & the basis of modern computer design. They are 🡪

• The von Neumann Architecture has five key elements: the processing, control, and memory units, the main memory, and input/output mechanisms.
• The Harvard Architecture, an extension of the von Neumann Architecture
• The SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) architecture can process multiple data sources simultaneously
• The MIMD (Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data) architecture is a step up from MIMD and powers almost powerful distributed computing systems
• The Multicore Architecture incorporates multiple core-based processor design.

That’s all the space we have for today. I hope this was an interesting and informative read for everyone. Study hard to master computer science and connect with professional assignment/homework help services if you need expert assistance.

All the best!