A no-nonsense, practical guide to help you learn the current and future processor and computer architectures that will enable you to design computer systems and develop better software applications across a variety of domains.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright and Credits
• About Packt
• Contributors
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Section 1: Fundamentals of Computer Architecture
• Chapter 1: Introducing Computer Architecture
  • The evolution of automated computing devices
    • Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine
    • ENIAC
    • IBM PC
    • The iPhone
  • Moore's law
  • Computer architecture
    • Binary and hexadecimal numbers
    • The 6502 microprocessor
    • The 6502 instruction set
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 2: Digital Logic
  • Electrical circuits
  • The transistor
  • Logic gates
  • Latches
  • Flip-flops
  • Registers
  • Adders
    • Propagation delay
  • Clocking
  • Sequential logic
  • Hardware description languages
    • VHDL
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 3: Processor Elements
  • A simple processor
    • Control unit
    • Arithmetic logic unit
    • Registers
  • The instruction set
  • Addressing modes
    • Immediate addressing mode
    • Absolute addressing mode
    • Absolute indexed addressing mode
    • Indirect indexed addressing mode
  • Instruction categories
    • Memory load and store instructions
    • Register-to-register data transfer instructions
    • Stack instructions
    • Arithmetic instructions
    • Logical instructions
    • Branching instructions
    • Subroutine call and return instructions
    • Processor flag instructions
    • Interrupt-related instructions
    • No operation instruction
  • Interrupt processing
    • IRQ processing
    • NMI processing
    • BRK instruction processing
  • Input/output operations
    • Programmed I/O
    • Interrupt-driven I/O
    • Direct memory access
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 4: Computer System Components
  • Technical requirements
  • Memory subsystem
  • Introducing the MOSFET
  • Constructing DRAM circuits with MOSFETs
    • The capacitor
    • The DRAM bit cell
    • DDR4 SDRAM
    • Graphics DDR
    • Prefetching
  • I/O subsystem
    • Parallel and serial data buses
    • PCI Express
    • SATA
    • M.2
    • USB
    • Thunderbolt
  • Graphics displays
    • VGA
    • DVI
    • HDMI
    • DisplayPort
  • Network interface
    • Ethernet
    • Wi-Fi
  • Keyboard and mouse
    • Keyboard
    • Mouse
  • Modern computer system specifications
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 5: Hardware-Software Interface
  • Device drivers
    • The parallel port
    • PCIe device drivers
    • Device driver structure
  • BIOS
    • UEFI
  • The boot process
    • BIOS boot
    • UEFI boot
    • Embedded devices
  • Operating systems
  • Processes and threads
    • Scheduling algorithms and process priority
  • Multiprocessing
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 6: Specialized Computing Domains
  • Real-time computing
    • Real-time operating systems
  • Digital signal processing
    • ADCs and DACs
    • DSP hardware features
    • Signal processing algorithms
  • GPU processing
    • GPUs as data processors
  • Examples of specialized architectures
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Section 2: Processor Architectures and Instruction Sets
• Chapter 7: Processor and Memory Architectures
  • Technical Requirements
  • The von Neumann, Harvard, and modified Harvard architectures
    • The von Neumann architecture
    • The Harvard architecture
    • The modified Harvard architecture
  • Physical and virtual memory
  • Paged virtual memory
    • Page status bits
    • Memory pools
  • Memory management unit
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 8: Performance-Enhancing Techniques
  • Cache memory
    • Multilevel processor caches
    • Static RAM
    • Level 1 cache
    • Direct-mapped cache
    • Set associative cache
    • Fully associative cache
    • Processor cache write policies
    • Level 2 and level 3 processor caches
  • Instruction pipelining
    • Superpipelining
    • Pipeline hazards
    • Micro-operations and register renaming
    • Conditional branches
  • Simultaneous multithreading
  • SIMD processing
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 9: Specialized Processor Extensions
  • Technical requirements
  • Privileged processor modes
    • Handling interrupts and exceptions
    • Protection rings
    • Supervisor mode and user mode
    • System calls
  • Floating-point mathematics
    • The 8087 floating-point coprocessor
    • The IEEE 754 floating-point standard
  • Power management
    • Dynamic voltage frequency scaling
  • System security management
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 10: Modern Processor Architectures and Instruction Sets
  • Technical requirements
  • x86 architecture and instruction set
    • The x86 register set
    • x86 addressing modes
    • x86 instruction categories
    • x86 instruction formats
    • x86 assembly language
  • x64 architecture and instruction set
    • The x64 register set
    • x64 instruction categories and formats
    • x64 assembly language
  • 32-bit ARM architecture and instruction set
    • The ARM register set
    • ARM addressing modes
    • ARM instruction categories
    • ARM assembly language
  • 64-bit ARM architecture and instruction set
    • 64-bit ARM assembly language
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 11: The RISC-V Architecture and Instruction Set
  • Technical requirements
  • The RISC-V architecture and features
  • The RISC-V base instruction set
    • Computational instructions
    • Control flow instructions
    • Memory access instructions
    • System instructions
    • Pseudo-instructions
    • Privilege levels
  • RISC-V extensions
    • The M extension
    • The A extension
    • C extension
    • The F and D extensions
    • Other extensions
  • 64-bit RISC-V
  • Standard RISC-V configurations
  • RISC-V assembly language
  • Implementing RISC-V in an FPGA
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Section 3: Applications of Computer Architecture
• Chapter 12: Processor Virtualization
  • Technical requirements
  • Introducing virtualization
    • Types of virtualization
    • Categories of processor virtualization
  • Virtualization challenges
    • Unsafe instructions
    • Shadow page tables
    • Security
  • Virtualizing modern processors
    • x86 processor virtualization
    • ARM processor virtualization
    • RISC-V processor virtualization
  • Virtualization tools
    • VirtualBox
    • VMware Workstation
    • VMware ESXi
    • KVM
    • Xen
    • QEMU
  • Virtualization and cloud computing
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Domain-Specific Chapter 13: Computer Architectures
  • Technical requirements
  • Architecting computer systems to meet unique requirements
  • Smartphone architecture
    • iPhone X
  • Personal computer architecture
    • Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition gaming desktop
    • Ryzen 9 3950X branch prediction
    • Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GPU
    • Aurora subsystems
  • Warehouse-scale computing architecture
    • WSC hardware
    • Rack-based servers
    • Hardware fault management
    • Electrical power consumption
    • The WSC as a multilevel information cache
  • Neural networks and machine learning architectures
    • Intel Nervana neural network processor
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Chapter 14: Future Directions in Computer Architectures
  • The ongoing evolution of computer architectures
  • Extrapolating from current trends
    • Moore's law revisited
    • The third dimension
    • Increased device specialization
  • Potentially disruptive technologies
    • Quantum physics
    • Spintronics
    • Quantum computing
    • Carbon nanotubes
  • Building a future-tolerant skill set
    • Continuous learning
    • College education
    • Conferences and literature
  • Summary
  • Exercises
• Answers to Exercises
  • Chapter 1, Introducing Computer Architecture
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Exercise 4
  • Answer
  • Exercise 5
  • Answer
  • Exercise 6
  • Answer
  • Chapter 2, Digital Logic
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Exercise 4
  • Answer
  • Exercise 5
  • Answer
  • Exercise 6
  • Answer
  • Chapter 3, Processor Elements
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Exercise 4
  • Answer
  • Exercise 5
  • Answer
  • Exercise 6
  • Answer
  • Chapter 4, Computer System Components
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Chapter 5, Hardware-Software Interface
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Chapter 6, Specialized Computing Domains
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Chapter 7, Processor and Memory Architectures
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Chapter 8, Performance-Enhancing Techniques
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Chapter 9, Specialized Processor Extensions
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Exercise 4
  • Answer
  • Exercise 5
  • Answer
  • Exercise 6
  • Answer
  • Exercise 7
  • Answer
  • Exercise 8
  • Answer
  • Chapter 10, Modern Processor Architectures and Instruction Sets
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Exercise 4
  • Answer
  • Exercise 5
  • Answer
  • Exercise 6
  • Answer
  • Exercise 7
  • Answer
  • Exercise 8
  • Answer
  • Chapter 11, The RISC-V Architecture and Instruction Set
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Exercise 4
  • Answer
  • Chapter 12, Processor Virtualization
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Chapter 13, Domain-Specific Computer Architectures
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Chapter 14, Future Directions in Computer Architectures
  • Exercise 1
  • Answer
  • Exercise 2
  • Answer
  • Exercise 3
  • Answer
  • Exercise 4
  • Answer
• Other Books You May Enjoy
  • Leave a review - let other readers know what you think
• Index