CMPS 255 Lecture 01, Fall 2012

Lecture 1 Chapter 1: Computer Abstractions and Technology These slides are based on Patterson and Hennessy’s original slides Chapter 1 — Computer Abstractions and Technology — 2 The Computer Revolution  Progress in computer technology  Underpinned by Moore’s Law  Makes novel applications feasible  Computers in automobiles  Cell phones  Human genome project  World Wide Web  Search Engines  Computers are pervasive §1.1 Introduction Chapter 1 — Computer Abstractions and Technology — 3 Classes of Computers  Desktop computers  General purpose, variety of software  Subject to cost/performance tradeoff  Server computers  Network based  High capacity, performance, reliability  Range from small servers to building sized  Embedded computers  Hidden as components of systems  Stringent power/performance/cost constraints Chapter 1 — Computer Abstractions and Technology — 4 The Processor Market Chapter 1 — Computer Abstractions and Technology — 5 What You Will Learn  How programs are translated into the machine language  And how the hardware executes them  The hardware/software interface  What determines program performance  And how it can be improved  How hardware designers improve performance  What is parallel processing Chapter 1 — Computer Abstractions and Technology — 6 Understanding Performance  What impacts performance? Chapter 1 — Computer Abstractions and Technology — 7 Understanding Performance  Algorithm  Determines number of operations executed  Programming language, compiler, architecture  Determine number of machine instructions executed per operation  Processor and memory system  Determine how fast instructions are executed  I/O system (including OS)  Determines how fast I/O operations are executed