Computer Architecture: Fundamental Concepts and ISA - Lecture 2 by Prof. Onur Mutlu at CMU, Assignments of Advanced Computer Architecture

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Computer Architecture

Lecture 2: Fundamental Concepts and ISA

Prof. Onur Mutlu Carnegie Mellon University Spring 2015, 1/14/

Agenda for Today

 Finish up logistics from last lecture

 Why study computer architecture?

 Some fundamental concepts in computer architecture

 ISA

Review: Key Takeaway (from 3 Problems)

 Breaking the abstraction layers (between components and transformation hierarchy levels) and knowing what is underneath enables you to solve problems and design better future systems

 Cooperation between multiple components and layers can enable more effective solutions and systems

A Note on Hardware vs. Software

 This course is classified under “Computer Hardware”

 However, you will be much more capable if you master both hardware and software (and the interface between them)  Can develop better software if you understand the underlying hardware  Can design better hardware if you understand what software it will execute  Can design a better computing system if you understand both

 This course covers the HW/SW interface and microarchitecture  We will focus on tradeoffs and how they affect software

Computer Architecture in Levels of Transformation

 Read: Patt, “Requirements, Bottlenecks, and Good Fortune: Agents for Microprocessor Evolution,” Proceedings of the IEEE 2001.

Microarchitecture

ISA (Architecture)

Program/Language

Algorithm

Problem

Logic Circuits

Runtime System (VM, OS, MM)

Electrons

Aside: What Is An Algorithm?

 Step-by-step procedure where each step has three properties:  Definite (precisely defined)  Effectively computable (by a computer)  Terminates

What Will You Learn?

 Fundamental principles and tradeoffs in designing the hardware/software interface and major components of a modern programmable microprocessor  Focus on state-of-the-art (and some recent research and trends)  Trade-offs and how to make them

 How to design, implement, and evaluate a functional modern processor  Semester-long lab assignments  A combination of RTL implementation and higher-level simulation  Focus is functionality first (then, on “how to do even better”)

 How to dig out information, think critically and broadly

 How to work even harder and more efficiently!

Course Goals

 Goal 1: To familiarize those interested in computer system design with both fundamental operation principles and design tradeoffs of processor, memory, and platform architectures in today’s systems.  Strong emphasis on fundamentals, design tradeoffs, key current/future issues  Strong emphasis on looking backward, forward, up and down

 Goal 2: To provide the necessary background and experience to design, implement, and evaluate a modern processor by performing hands-on RTL and C-level implementation.  Strong emphasis on functionality, hands-on design & implementation, and efficiency.  Strong emphasis on making things work, realizing ideas

Why Study Computer

Architecture?

What is Computer Architecture?

 The science and art of designing, selecting, and interconnecting hardware components and designing the hardware/software interface to create a computing system that meets functional, performance, energy consumption, cost, and other specific goals.

 We will soon distinguish between the terms architecture,

and microarchitecture.

16

Number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles ~ every two years Image source: Wikipedia

Recommended Reading

 Moore, “Cramming more components onto integrated circuits,” Electronics Magazine, 1965.

 Only 3 pages

 A quote:

“With unit cost falling as the number of components per

circuit rises, by 1975 economics may dictate squeezing as

many as 65 000 components on a single silicon chip.”

 Another quote:

“Will it be possible to remove the heat generated by tens of

thousands of components in a single silicon chip?”

Why Study Computer Architecture?

 Enable better systems: make computers faster, cheaper, smaller, more reliable, …  By exploiting advances and changes in underlying technology/circuits

 Enable new applications  Life-like 3D visualization 20 years ago?  Virtual reality?  Personalized genomics? Personalized medicine?

 Enable better solutions to problems  Software innovation is built into trends and changes in computer architecture  > 50% performance improvement per year has enabled this innovation

 Understand why computers work the way they do

Computer Architecture Today (I)

 Today is a very exciting time to study computer architecture

 Industry is in a large paradigm shift (to multi-core and beyond) – many different potential system designs possible

 Many difficult problems motivating and caused by the shift

 Power/energy constraints  multi-core?  Complexity of design  multi-core?  Difficulties in technology scaling  new technologies?  Memory wall/gap  Reliability wall/issues  Programmability wall/problem  Huge hunger for data and new data-intensive applications

 No clear, definitive answers to these problems