Computer architecture facts for kids
Computer architecture is like the blueprint for a computer. It's all about how a computer system is designed and how its different parts work together. Think of it as the plan that shows how to build a computer, focusing on how the central processing unit (CPU) works inside and how it talks to the computer's memory.
It's both a science and an art to pick and connect the right hardware parts. The goal is to create computers that do what they're supposed to, perform well, and don't cost too much.
Computer architecture has three main parts:
Contents
Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
This is like the computer's language. The Instruction Set Architecture, or ISA, is an abstract model of how a computer system looks to a programmer who writes machine code (the lowest level computer language). It includes the set of commands (instructions) the computer understands, how it finds information in memory, and how its internal registers work.
Microarchitecture (Computer Organization)
This part goes into more detail about how the computer is built. Microarchitecture, also called Computer organization, describes how all the parts of the computer system operate. It explains how they are connected and how they work together to follow the ISA's instructions. For example, the size of a computer's cache (a type of fast memory) is a microarchitecture detail. It doesn't change what the computer can do, but it affects how fast it does it.
System Design
This covers all the other important hardware parts inside a computer system. These include:
- System interconnects: These are like the roads and bridges inside a computer, such as computer buses, that connect different parts.
- Memory controllers: These manage how the computer uses its memory.
- CPU off-load mechanisms: These are ways to help the CPU do less work, like direct memory access (DMA), which lets other parts access memory directly.
- Multiprocessing: This is about how a computer can use more than one CPU to do many things at once.
Making the Computer (Implementation)
Once the ISA and microarchitecture are planned, the computer system needs to be built into hardware. This building process is called implementation. It's a big part of hardware engineering.
Implementation has a few steps:
- Logic Implementation: This is about designing the smaller blocks of the computer, like how logic gates work together.
- Circuit Implementation: This involves designing the tiny parts like Transistors, multiplexers, and flip-flops. It also includes bigger parts like the ALU (which does math) and cache memory.
- Physical Implementation: This is where the actual circuits are drawn out. The different parts are placed on a chip or a board, and the wires connecting them are routed.
For CPUs, this whole building process is often called CPU design. Sometimes, a family of similar CPU designs, like RISC or CISC, are created this way.
Examples of Computer Architectures
Here are some well-known computer architectures:
- The x86 architecture, used by chips from Intel and AMD.
- The SPARC architecture, used by Sun Microsystems and others.
- The PowerPC architecture, used by Apple, IBM, and Motorola.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Block diagram of a basic computer with a single CPU. Black lines show where data flows, and red lines show control signals. Arrows point in the direction of flow.
See also
In Spanish: Arquitectura de computadoras para niños
