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Computer Architecture & Organization
7 min read
Series opener: computer architecture vs organization, the four basic functions of a computer, the main components (CPU, memory, I/O), and the fetch–decode–execute instruction cycle.
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Processor Structure & Functions
6 min read
Inside the processor: the data path and control unit, bus organization from single-bus to multi-bus, register organization in x86, and the full five-stage instruction cycle.
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Instruction Set Architecture
5 min read
An introduction to the Instruction Set Architecture: machine instruction characteristics and their x86 formats and lengths, operand types, data types from Byte to QuadWord, and operation categories — arithmetic, logic, data transfer, and control flow.
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Addressing Modes
5 min read
Addressing modes in processor architectures: immediate, direct, indirect, register, indexed, and base+offset — then instruction format: its fields and fixed (ARM) versus variable (x86) lengths.
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Cache Memory
9 min read
Moving on to memory topics: the cache sitting between CPU and RAM, temporal and spatial locality, direct, fully associative, and set-associative mapping, and cache design elements from capacity to replacement and write policies.
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Internal Memory
6 min read
Concluding the memory topics: semiconductor main memory, the DRAM vs SRAM contrast, non-volatile memories from Flash to FRAM and ReRAM, MRAM and PCM techniques, and how memory arrays are built.
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I/O System
6 min read
The third essential part of a computer: the I/O system, device addressing via memory-mapped and port-mapped I/O, interfaces and I/O modules with their functions, and the three transfer techniques: Programmed I/O, interrupts (IRQ), and DMA.
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Interconnections
3 min read
Series finale: how do a computer's three main components interconnect? Bus interconnection with its three line groups, pros and cons, versus point-to-point links — then the PCIe standard and how it differs from PCI.