Describes different families of computers.

1. General Aspects of Computer Organization
(Lecture-2)
R S Ananda Murthy
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering,
Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering,
Mysore 570 006
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

2. Specific Learning Outcomes
After completing this lecture the student should be able to –
Describe different types of computers.
Distinguish between embedded system and a general
purpose computer.
Briefly describe the evolution of x86, ARM and AVR family
of computers.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

3. Current Spectrum of Computers
Type Example Applications
Disposable Computers Greeting cards, RFID applications
Microcontrollers Watches, cars, appliances
Mobile and Game Computers Home video games and smart phones
Personal Computers Desktop or notebook computer
Servers Network servers
Mainframe Computers Batch data processing in a bank
Source: Andrew S Tanenbaum and Todd Austin,
“Structured Computer Organization”, 6th Edition, p. 31
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

4. Disposable Computers
Singing greeting cards, shown on the left side, have single
chips powered by battery.
Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) chips smaller than
0.5 mm×0.5 mm, shown on the right side, contain tiny
radio transponder and a built-in unique 128-bit ID number.
RFID chips are powered by the incoming radio signal long
enough to transmit the ID number to the querying antenna.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

5. Microcontrollers
Embedded systems have single-chip computers known as
microcontrollers.
Microcontrollers are available in different packages as
shown above.
Microcontrollers come with word lengths of 4-bit, 8-bit,
16-bit, and 32-bit.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

6. What is an Embedded System?
Any device or equipment having a special purpose
computer which is not a general purpose computer with
associated hardware and software that is designed to
perform a dedicated task.
Hardware and software which may be part of a larger
system which is expected to function without human
intervention.
A system that can monitor and/or control external
environment with sensors and actuators.
Most of the embedded systems operate in real time.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

7. Examples of Embedded Systems
A digital camera uses a 32-bit microcontroller.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

8. Examples of Embedded Systems
A cell phone uses a 32-bit microcontroller.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

9. Examples of Embedded Systems
A microwave oven uses a 16-bit or 32-bit microcontroller.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

10. Examples of Embedded Systems
A vending machine uses an 8-bit or 16-bit microcontroller.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

11. Examples of Embedded Systems
An ATM uses a 32-bit microcontroller.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

12. Examples of Embedded Systems
A washing machine uses a 16-bit microcontroller.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

13. Examples of Embedded Systems
A printer uses a 16-bit microcontroller.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

14. Examples of Embedded Systems
A modern car uses several 32-bit microcontrollers.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

15. Examples of Embedded Systems
This robot uses a 64-bit processor.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

16. Examples of Embedded Systems
This DVD player uses a 32-bit processor.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

17. Examples of Embedded Systems
This smart energy meter uses a 32-bit processor.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

18. What is Not an Embedded System?
A general purpose computer is NOT an embedded system.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

19. Features of Gaming Computers
64-bit multiple core CPU operating at high clock speed,
more R/W memory, large high speed secondary storage,
high speed Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), additional
input devices like joysticks, large HD monitor, good quality
speakers.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

20. Typical Features of Servers
64-bit multiple processors fault-tolerant architecture
operating at high clock speed, more R/W memory, large
high speed secondary storage, remote configuration
capability with high speed connectivity.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

21. Mainframes
These are old room-sized computers with huge data
storage capability, running typically 40-50 years old legacy
software.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

22. Supercomputers
Multiple processors fault-tolerant parallel processing
architecture operating at high clock speed, more R/W
memory, large high speed secondary storage, remote
configuration capability with high speed connectivity.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

23. Computer Families – x86, ARM, AVR
Nearly all PC’s (including Windows, Linux PCs and Macs)
and server systems belong to x86 family which was
originally started by Intel Corporation.
The ARM architecture dominates the mobile market. For
example, most smartphones and tablet computers are
based on ARM processors.
The AVR architecture is now predominant in low-cost
microcontrollers used in many embedded systems like
washing machines, televisions, cars, microwave ovens etc.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

24. Founders of Intel Corporation
Andy Grove, Robert Noyce, and Gordon Moore (Source: Intel)
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

25. Evolution of Intel x86 Family
Source: A. S.Tanenbaum and Todd Austin, “Structured
Computer Organization”, p. 40, 6th Edition, PHI, 2013.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

26. Evolution of ARM Architecture
In early 1980s, U.K.-based company Acron Computer
makes successful launch of BBC Micro Personal Computer
which had an an 8-bit microprocessor, called 6502,
manufactured by a company called MOS Technology, as
CPU.
In 1985, Acron released their own 32-bit CPU with 26-bit
address bus, called Acron-RISC Machine (ARM) which
borrowed ideas from Berkeley RISC project.
Acron released their PC called Archimedes based on ARM
CPU. This became very popular.
Acron-RISC Machine was renamed as Advanced RISC
Machine (ARM) when ARM developers at Acron left the
company and started their own company called ARM.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

27. Evolution of ARM Architecture
In 1993 Apple releases its Newton computer which used
ARM 610 CPU.
In mid 1990s, ARM collaborated with Digital Equipment
Corporation (DEC) to develop a high-speed, low-power
version ARM called StrongARM for applications in
low-power hand-held devices.
In 1994 ARM7 architecture was released which is widely
used even today in mobile devices.
At present ARM does not manufacture any processors but
creates designs and ARM-based developer tools and
libraries and licenses them to system designers and chip
manufacturers.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

28. Evolution of AVR Architecture
In 1996, at Norwegian Institute of Technology, students
Alf-Egil Bogen and Vegard Wollan designed an 8-bit RISC
CPU chip called AVR (Alf and Vegard’s RISC).
Atmel Norway bought AVR design and in 1997 released
their first AVR microcontroller AT90S1200 which was
pin-compatible with Intel 8051 which was the most popular
microcontroller at that time.
Arduino was started in 2005 as a project to develop
low-cost development boards for students by Massimo
Banzi and David Cuartielles at the Interaction Design
Institute, Ivrea, Italy.
Arduino makes AVR architecture very popolar in low-end
embedded system applications.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

29. Microcontroller Classes in the AVR Family
Source: A. S.Tanenbaum and Todd Austin, “Structured
Computer Organization”, p. 48, 6th Edition, PHI, 2013.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization

30. License
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
R S Ananda Murthy General Aspects of Computer Organization