ECSE-2610 Computer Components & Operations (COCO)

ECSE-2610Computer Components & Operations (COCO) Welcome to the world of Computers!

PCs Laptop computer smartcards Mainframe/supercomputer Router CRT projector Router printer Router Television Scanner Data PDA Telephone Fax The Digital World

Information Processing Systems, especially computers, are driving the world economy. The Internet is changing the way we communicate, shop, learn, invest, and entertain ourselves. This is an amazingly fast moving business!! Processors double in speed every 18 months The Internet doubles in size every year Computers are the most amazing and complex things ever built by mankind The Intel Pentium III has 28 million transistors It runs at 1.3 billion cycles per second The Digital World COCO is about: 1. Computer building blocks 2. How the building blocks are assembled to build the computer

Sheer Complexity Intel Pentium III Chip • 28 million transistors • 1.3 billion cycles/sec clock • Just one part of a computer • Overall, a computer can have a billion transistors. The Design Process is a systematic way to cope with all this complexity.

Basic Ideas • To design is to represent • Divide and conquer • Successive Refinement • Use Math Tools: • Combinational Logic • Sequential Logic • Use Software tools

N E W N - S E - W S Traffic Signal Example Lights for N & S are the same, call them N-S Similarly, we have E-W

N E W N - S E - W S What the System Does • Cycles through the sequence GREEN-YELLOW-RED • N-S and E-W never GREEN or YELLOW at the same time • GREEN stays on for 45 seconds, YELLOW for 15, RED for 60

N E W N - S E - W S System Requirements • speed: compute changes in under 100 ms • power: consume less than 20 watts • boardarea: implementation in less than 20 square cm • cost: less than $20 in manufacturing costs

Start N-S Green E-W Red after 45 seconds N-S Yellow E-W Red after 15 seconds N-S Red E-W Green after 45 seconds N-S Red E-W Yellow after 15 seconds "To Design Is to Represent" 1. English language specification not precise and subject to ambiguity 2. Functional description more precise flow charts, program fragments 3. Structural description modules decomposed into simpler components 4. Physical description In terms of logic gates or transistors

Going from One Representation to Another Top Down: Complex functions replaced by more primitive functions Bottom Up: Build more and more complex assemblies out of smaller parts, respecting the rules of composition Rules of Composition: Electrical Rules Timing Rules

N-S Green N-S Green N-S Green N-S Yellow N-S Yellow N-S Yellow Start Traffic N-S Red N-S Red N-S Red E-W Green E-W Green E-W Green Subsystem E-W Yellow E-W Yellow E-W Yellow E-W Red E-W Red E-W Red 45 secs Light Start T imer Sequencer 15 secs 45 secs N-S Lights Start T imer Decoder Counter 15 secs E-W Lights Top-Down Design Example Refine Refine again

The Process of Building System Ex., a group of flip flops form a counter Modules groups of gates form flip flops, timers, sequencers etc. Gates a group of transistors form a gate Transistors

Functional Description Blocks Waveforms Truth Tables Boolean Algebra Gates Transistors Computer Simulation Computer Synthesis Tools Chip Design Rapid Prototyping Technologies Representations & Technologies Word description

Debugging the System What Can Go Wrong • Design Flaws • Design Flaws Implementation does not meet functional specification Logic design is incorrect (wrong function implemented) • Implementation Flaws • Implementation Flaws Individual modules function correctly but their compositions do not Misunderstanding of interface and timing behavior Wiring mistakes • Component Flaws

Debugging Methods Simulation before construction Simulation before construction Systematic testing Systematic testing Divide and conquer Divide and conquer Use lab Instruments, e.g., Logic Analyzers

Design Iteration Implementation Debug Design Initial concept: what is the function performed by the object? Constraints: How fast? How much area? How much cost? Refine abstract functional blocks into more concrete realizations Implementation Assemble primitives into more complex building blocks Composition via wiring Choose among alternatives to improve the design Debug Faulty systems: design flaws, composition flaws, component flaws Design to make debugging easier Hypothesis formation and troubleshooting skills Recap Of Design Process

Sec 1.1 in Randy Katz Textbook Be sure to read Sec 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 in the textbook (omit sec 1.3.5-1.3.7, and Sec 1.4) This reading is necessary for getting points in the Studio Activity! What did we cover ?

ECSE-2610 Computer Components & Operations (COCO)