Essentials of Computer Architecture, 2nd Edition

This easy to read textbook provides an introduction to computer architecture, while focusing on the essential aspects of hardware that programmers need to know. The topics are explained from a programmer’s point of view, and the text emphasizes consequences for programmers. Divided in five parts, the book covers the basics of digital logic, gates, and data paths, as well as the three primary aspects of architecture: processors, memories, and I/O systems. The book also covers advanced topics of parallelism, pipelining, power and energy, and performance. A hands-on lab is also included. The second edition contains three new chapters as well as changes and updates throughout.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction And Overview

PART I Basics
Chapter 2 Fundamentals Of Digital Logic
Chapter 3 Data And Program Representation

PART II Processors
Chapter 4 The Variety Of Processors And Computational Engines
Chapter 5 Processor Types And Instruction Sets
Chapter 6 Data Paths And Instruction Execution
Chapter 7 Operand Addressing And Instruction Representation
Chapter 8 CPUs: Microcode, Protection, And Processor Modes
Chapter 9 Assembly Languages And Programming Paradigm

PART III Memories
Chapter 10 Memory And Storage
Chapter 11 Physical Memory And Physical Addressing
Chapter 12 Caches And Caching
Chapter 13 Virtual Memory Technologies And Virtual Addressing

PART IV Input And Output
Chapter 14 Input / Output Concepts And Terminology
Chapter 15 Buses And Bus Architectures
Chapter 16 Programmed And Interrupt-Driven I/O
Chapter 17 A Programmer’s View Of Devices, I/O, And Buffering

PART V Advanced Topics
Chapter 18 Parallelism
Chapter 19 Data Pipelining
Chapter 20 Power And Energy
Chapter 21 Assessing Performance
Chapter 22 Architecture Examples And Hierarchy
Chapter 23 Hardware Modularity

Appendix 1 Lab Exercises For A Computer Architecture Course
Appendix 2 Rules For Boolean Algebra Simplification
Appendix 3 A Quick Introduction To x86 Assembly Language
Appendix 4 ARM Register Definitions And Calling Sequence