|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Computers have changed markedly over the last decade. Features, performance, and memory sizes representing a computer that filled a room with equipment and cost millions of dollars a decade ago now sit on the top of a desk. This revolution has been brought about by the enabling technology of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI). Yet, the revolution still goes forward. Increasingly, precise lithography enables even faster and more elaborate computers (processors plus memory). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
These faster processors enable, in turn, a myriad of advanced complex systems controlled by multiple embedded computers. They also enable the significant enhancement of human life through the amplification of human intelligence. This is an exciting time for computer designers. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For all the excitement surrounding developments in the field, the presentation of the ideas used in developing computing processors has also undergone an evolution. A traditional way of presenting computer design has been to study existing examples of computersa type of computer appreciation. The problem with this is that it falls short in understanding of design, because it is never possible to fully understand the tradeoffs that the design team had to face in concluding the implementation of their design. Moreover, many of these constraints have radically changed, so that the approaches taken to design have also changed. Techniques used to design the minicomputers of a decade ago are now totally obsolete. Techniques used to design mainframes are now largely incorporated into the current generation of microprocessors and will be superceded in the next generation of microprocessors. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This text is used at Stanford as the last in a series of texts for a one-year graduate-level course on computer architecture and organization. This material, especially the last half of the book, represents the most advanced material that a typical student sees before directly encountering the design process. In order to prepare the student for processor design, it is necessary to understand the tradeoffs that must be made and the tools that are available to make these tradeoffs during the design process. Rather than review the details of existing machines, this text takes an approach that abstracts the essential elements of processor design and stresses a design methodology. This includes: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Evaluation tools, especially those using basic probability theory and simple queueing theory. |
|
|
|
|
|