Computer Architecture (Grade A)

Summary:

This note covers various topics related to computer architecture, such as parallel processing, Flynn’s classification, pipelining, pipeline conflicts, and more. It discusses the advantages of parallel processing and the different levels of complexity it can be viewed from, as well as Flynn’s classification which categorizes computers into four major groups. The concept of pipelining is also introduced and its behavior is explained through diagrams, including the four-segment instruction pipeline. Lastly, the text describes pipeline conflicts and how they can be resolved, such as with hardware interlocks, operand forwarding, or delayed loads.

Excerpt:

COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE

Q#1

Advantages & Throughput of Parallel Processing

A parallel processing system provides concurrent data processing to increase the execution time.

In this, the system may have two or more ALUs and should be able to execute two or more instructions at the same time. At a higher level of complexity, parallel processing can be achieved by using multiple functional units that perform many operations simultaneously. The purpose of parallel processing is to speed up the computer processing capability and increase its throughput. Parallel processing can be viewed from various levels of complexity.

Throughput is a measure of how many units of information a system can process in a given amount of time.

Also, throughput is the number of instructions that can be executed in a unit of time. It is applied broadly to systems ranging from various aspects of computers to organizations. As, Related measures of system productivity include, the speed with which some specific workload can be completed, and response time, the amount of time between a single interactive user request and receipt of the response.

Q#2

Flynn’s Classification

Parallel computing is computing where the jobs are broken into discrete parts that can be executed concurrently. Parallel systems are more difficult to program than computers with a single processor because the architecture of parallel computers varies accordingly and the processes of multiple CPUs must be coordinated and synchronized.