Introduction

Abstract

Computer architecture has been defined in a number of ways by different authors. Amdahl, Blaauw and Brooks [ABB64], for example, the designers of the IBM/360 architecture, used the term to “describe the attributes of a system as seen by the programmer, i.e. the conceptual structure and functional behaviour, as distinct from the organisation of the data flow and controls, the logical design and the physical implementation.” Stone [Sto75], on the other hand, states that “the study of computer architecture is the study of the organisation and interconnection of components of computer systems.” The material presented here is better described by this wider definition, but is particularly concerned with ways in which the hardware of a computer can be organised so as to maximise performance, as measured by, for example, average instruction execution time. Thus the architect of a high performance system seeks techniques whereby judicious use of increased cost and complexity in the hardware will give a significant increase in overall system performance.