Computer Abstractions

and Technology
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 2
The Computer Revolution
Progress in computer technology
Underpinned by Moores Law
Makes novel applications feasible
Computers in automobiles
Cell phones
Human genome project
World Wide Web
Search Engines
Computers are pervasive

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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 Computer/Processor Market
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 5
What You Will Learn
Computer organization
Design a faster, and cheaper computer system
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
Below Your Program
Application software
Written in high-level language (HLL)
E.g. MS Word, Power Point
System software
Compiler: translates HLL code to machine
code
Operating System: service code
Handling input/output
Managing memory and storage
Scheduling tasks & sharing resources
Hardware
Processor, memory, I/O controllers

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Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 7
Levels of Program Code
High-level language
Level of abstraction closer to
problem domain
Provides for productivity and
portability
Assembly language
Textual representation of
instructions
Hardware representation
Binary digits (bits)
Encoded instructions and data
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Levels of Representation
From High Level Language to Hardware Language
High Level Language
Program (e.g., C)
Assembly Language
Program (e.g.,MIPS)
Machine Language
Program (MIPS)
Hardware Architecture Description
(e.g., Verilog Language)
Compiler
Assembler
Machine
Interpretation
temp = v[k];
v[k] = v[k+1];
v[k+1] = temp;
lw $t0, 0($2)
lw $t1, 4($2)
sw $t1, 0($2)
sw $t0, 4($2)
0000 1001 1100 0110 1010 1111 0101 1000
1010 1111 0101 1000 0000 1001 1100 0110
1100 0110 1010 1111 0101 1000 0000 1001
0101 1000 0000 1001 1100 0110 1010 1111
Logic Circuit Description
(Verilog Language)
Architecture
Implementation
wire [31:0] dataBus;
regFile registers (databus);
ALU ALUBlock (inA, inB, databus);
wire w0;
XOR (w0, a, b);
AND (s, w0, a);
9
Abstractions
* Coordination of many levels of abstraction
I/O system Processor
Compiler
Operating
System
(Windows)
Application (Netscape)
Digital Design
Circuit Design
Instruction Set
Architecture
Datapath & Control
transistors
Memory
Hardware
Software
Assembler
Instruction Set Architecture
Also called architecture
A very important abstraction
interface between hardware and low-level software
Includes instructions, registers, memory access, I/O and so on
advantage: different implementations of the same architecture
disadvantage: sometimes prevents using new innovations
True or False: Binary compatibility is extraordinarily important?
Modern instruction set architectures:
IA-32, PowerPC, MIPS, SPARC, ARM, and others
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 11
Components of a Computer
Same components for
all kinds of computer
Desktop, server,
embedded
Input/output includes
User-interface devices
Display, keyboard, mouse
Storage devices
Hard disk, CD/DVD, flash
Network adapters
For communicating with other
computers

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The BIG Picture
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 12
Anatomy of a Computer
Output
device
Input
device
Input
device
Network
cable
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 13
Opening the Box
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 14
A Safe Place for Data
Volatile main memory
Loses instructions and data when power off
Non-volatile secondary memory
Magnetic disk
Flash memory
Optical disk (CDROM, DVD)
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 15
Networks
Communication and resource sharing
Local area network (LAN): Ethernet
Within a building
Wide area network (WAN): the Internet
Wireless network: WiFi, Bluetooth
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 16
Inside the Processor (CPU)
Datapath: performs operations on data
Control: sequences datapath, memory, ...
Cache memory
Small fast SRAM memory for immediate
access to data
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 17
Inside the Processor
AMD Barcelona: 4 processor cores
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 18
Why do all computer look alike?
Back to History: Milestones
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 19
ENIAC
the worlds rst
general-purpose
electronic computer
1936 1944/1946 1947
Transistors
John Von Neumann
Stored program
1958
Integrated
circuits
IBM 360
Family of computers
Compatible computer
1964 1971
Intel 4004
First uP
1977
Apple I
Personal
computer
Information from wiki
Alan Turing
Universal computing
machine
1961
IBM Stretch
Instruction
pipeline
1980
RISC
Load-store
Arch
SUN/MIPS
1970
C.mmp
von Neumann Architecture
a stored-program digital computer that uses a central processing unit (CPU)
and a single separate storage structure ("memory") to hold both instructions
and data.
von Neumann bottleneck
Throughput between CPU and memory
Memory speed is much slower than CPU (Needs a cache memory, in chapter 5)
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 20
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 21
Other CPUs beyond von Neumann Arch.
Modified Harvard arch (in DSP)
separated instruction and data
Found in DSP like TI OMAP in handset
Dataflow architecture
No program counter
Found in graphic processing, network routing
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 22
Abstractions
Abstraction helps us deal with complexity
Hide lower-level detail
Instruction set architecture (ISA)
The hardware/software interface
Application binary interface
The ISA plus system software interface
Implementation
The details underlying and interface
The BIG Picture
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 23
Technology Trends
Electronics technology
continues to evolve
Increased capacity and
performance
Reduced cost
Year Technology Relative performance/cost
1951 Vacuum tube 1
1965 Transistor 35
1975 Integrated circuit (IC) 900
1995 Very large scale IC (VLSI) 2,400,000
2005 Ultra large scale IC 6,200,000,000
DRAM capacity
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Technology Trends: Memory Capacity
(Single-Chip DRAM)
si ze
Year
B
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s
1000
10000
100000
1000000
10000000
100000000
1000000000
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
year size (Mbit)
1980 0.0625
1983 0.25
1986 1
1989 4
1992 16
1996 64
1998 128
2000 256
2002 512
Now 1.4X/yr, or 2X every 2 years.
8000X since 1980!
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Year
T
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s
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t
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s
1000
10000
100000
1000000
10000000
100000000
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
i 80386
i 4004
i 8080
Penti um
i 80486
i 80286
i 8086
Technology Trends: Microprocessor
Complexity
2X transistors/Chip
Every 1.5 years
Called
Moores Law
Alpha 21264: 15 million
PentiumPro: 5.5 million
PowerPC 620: 6.9 million
Alpha 21164: 9.3 million
Sparc Ultra: 5.2 million
Moores Law
Athlon (K7): 22 Million
Itanium 2: 410 Million
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Technology Trends: Processor Performance
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97
DEC Alpha
21264/600
DEC Alpha 5/500
DEC Alpha 5/300
DEC Alpha 4/266
IBM POWER 100
1.54X/yr
Intel P4 2000 MHz
(Fall 2001)
Well talk about processor performance later on
year
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Computer Technology - Dramatic Change!
Memory
DRAM capacity: 2x / 2 years (since 96);
64x size improvement in last decade.
Processor
Speed 2x / 1.5 years (since 85);
100X performance in last decade.
Disk
Capacity: 2x / 1 year (since 97)
250X size in last decade.
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 28
Why do you need to know the technology trend?
Or What is the impact of technology trend to
computer design
The meaning of technology drive
Forecast the expected design performance
within the next few years
It change the way that you design your
computer, and software
Multi-processor, VLIW, parallel processor,
efficient access via caches
Size, speed, probability
Other technology may change the way of the
computer/processor design
Quantum computer, DNA computer, bio-computer
29
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 30
Performance? How fast is my computer?
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 31
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
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 32
Defining Performance
Which airplane has the best performance?
0 100 200 300 400 500
Douglas
DC-8-50
BAC/Sud
Concorde
Boeing 747
Boeing 777
Passenger Capacity
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Douglas DC-
8-50
BAC/Sud
Concorde
Boeing 747
Boeing 777
Cruising Range (miles)
0 500 1000 1500
Douglas
DC-8-50
BAC/Sud
Concorde
Boeing 747
Boeing 777
Cruising Speed (mph)
0 100000 200000 300000 400000
Douglas DC-
8-50
BAC/Sud
Concorde
Boeing 747
Boeing 777
Passengers x mph

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Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 33
Response Time and Throughput
Response time
How long it takes to do a task
Throughput
Total work done per unit time
e.g., tasks/transactions/ per hour
How are response time and throughput affected
by
Replacing the processor with a faster version?
Adding more processors?
Well focus on response time for now
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 34
Relative Performance
Define Performance = 1/Execution Time
X is n time faster than Y
n = =
X Y
Y X
time Execution time Execution
e Performanc e Performanc
Example: time taken to run a program
10s on A, 15s on B
Execution Time
B
/ Execution Time
A
= 15s / 10s = 1.5
So A is 1.5 times faster than B
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 35
Measuring Execution Time
Elapsed time
Total response time, including all aspects
Processing, I/O, OS overhead, idle time
Determines system performance
CPU time
Time spent processing a given job
Discounts I/O time, other jobs shares
Comprises user CPU time and system CPU time
Different programs are affected differently by CPU
and system performance
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 36
CPU Clocking
Operations of digital hardware governed by a
constant-rate clock
Clock (cycles)
Data transfer
and computation
Update state
Clock period
Clock period: duration of a clock cycle
e.g., 250ps = 0.25ns = 25010
12
s
Clock frequency (rate): cycles per second
e.g., 4.0GHz = 4000MHz = 4.010
9
Hz
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 37
CPU Time
Performance improved by
Reducing number of clock cycles
Increasing clock rate
Hardware designer must often trade off clock
rate against cycle count
Rate Clock
Cycles Clock CPU
Time Cycle Clock Cycles Clock CPU Time CPU
=
=
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 38
CPU Time Example
Computer A: 2GHz clock, 10s CPU time
Designing Computer B
Aim for 6s CPU time
Can do faster clock, but causes 1.2 clock cycles
How fast must Computer B clock be?
4GHz
6s
10 24
6s
10 20 1.2
Rate Clock
10 20 2GHz 10s
Rate Clock Time CPU Cycles Clock
6s
Cycles Clock 1.2
Time CPU
Cycles Clock
Rate Clock
9 9
B
9
A A A
A
B
B
B
=

=

=
= =
=

= =
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 39
Instruction Count and CPI
Instruction Count for a program
Determined by program, ISA and compiler
Average cycles per instruction (CPI)
Determined by CPU hardware
If different instructions have different CPI
Average CPI affected by instruction mix
Rate Clock
CPI Count n Instructio
Time Cycle Clock CPI Count n Instructio Time CPU
n Instructio per Cycles Count n Instructio Cycles Clock

=
=
=
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 40
CPI Example
Computer A: Cycle Time = 250ps, CPI = 2.0
Computer B: Cycle Time = 500ps, CPI = 1.2
Same ISA
Which is faster, and by how much?
1.2
500ps I
600ps I
A
Time CPU
B
Time CPU
600ps I 500ps 1.2 I
B
Time Cycle
B
CPI Count n Instructio
B
Time CPU
500ps I 250ps 2.0 I
A
Time Cycle
A
CPI Count n Instructio
A
Time CPU
=

=
= =
=
= =
=
A is faster
by this much
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 41
CPI in More Detail
If different instruction classes take different
numbers of cycles

=
=
n
1 i
i i
) Count n Instructio (CPI Cycles Clock
Weighted average CPI

=
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= =
n
1 i
i
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Count n Instructio
Count n Instructio
CPI
Count n Instructio
Cycles Clock
CPI
Relative frequency
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 42
CPI Example
Alternative compiled code sequences using
instructions in classes A, B, C
Class A B C
CPI for class 1 2 3
IC in sequence 1 2 1 2
IC in sequence 2 4 1 1
Sequence 1: IC = 5
Clock Cycles
= 21 + 12 + 23
= 10
Avg. CPI = 10/5 = 2.0
Sequence 2: IC = 6
Clock Cycles
= 41 + 12 + 13
= 9
Avg. CPI = 9/6 = 1.5
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 43
Performance Summary
Performance depends on
Algorithm: affects IC, possibly CPI
Programming language: affects IC, CPI
Compiler: affects IC, CPI
Instruction set architecture: affects IC, CPI, T
c
The BIG Picture
cycle Clock
Seconds
n Instructio
cycles Clock
Program
ns Instructio
Time CPU =
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 44
What Improvement can I gain if I speedup
something?
Limit of speedup Gain

4
0.5
0.5

Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 46

enhance: 0.5 + 0.5 = 1
enhance4
=> 4/(4+1) = 0.8 = F
, enhance1
=> S = 4/1 = 4
4 + 1
speedup = -----------------------= ----------= 2.5
1 + 1
(Amdahls Law):
1 1
speedup = ------------------------ = -------------------------
((1 - 0.8) + 0.8/4) (1 0.8) + 0.8/4
When S -> , speedup -> 5
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 47
Speedup due to enhancement E:
Suppose that enhancement E accelerates a fraction F of the task by
a factor S and the remainder of the task is unaffected then,
E w/o e Performanc
E w/ e Performanc
E w/ Time Execution
E w/o Time Execution
Speedup(E) = =
E) Time(w/o Execution )
S
F
F) ((1 E) Time(w/ Execution + =
F 1
1
S
F
F) - (1
1
E) Speedup(w/
S
+

~ =
Amdahl's Law
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 48
Pitfall: Amdahls Law
Improving an aspect of a computer and
expecting a proportional improvement in
overall performance

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n
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unaffected
affected
improved
T
factor t improvemen
T
T + =
Example: multiply accounts for 80s/100s
How much improvement in multiply performance to
get 5 overall?
Corollary: make the common case fast
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 49
CPU Time is great? But how fast is my computer?
Or how faster is my computer than that one?
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 50
Performance Measurement
Two different machines X and Y.
X is n times faster than Y
Since execution time is the reciprocal of performance
Says n -1 = m/100
This concludes that X is m% faster than Y
n =
X
Y
time Execution
time Execution
Y
X
X
Y
e Performanc
e Performanc
time Execution
time Execution
= = n
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 51
What Programs for Comparison?
Whats wrong with this program as a workload?
integer A[][], B[][], C[][];
for (I=0; I<100; I++)
for (J=0; J<100; J++)
for (K=0; K<100; K++)
C[I][J] = C[I][J] + A[I][K]*B[K][J];
What measured? Not measured? What is it good for?
Ideally run typical programs with typical input before purchase, or
before even build machine
Called a workload; For example:
Engineer uses compiler, spreadsheet
Author uses word processor, drawing program, compression software
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 52
5 Levels of Programs Used for Evaluation
Real applications
Portability, compiler, OS
Modified (or scripted) applications
To enhance portability or to focus on one particular aspect of system
performance
Kernels
Small, key pieces from real programs
Best way to isolate performance of individual features
Toy benchmark
10~100 code lines
Usually, the user already knows the evaluation results
Synthetic benchmark
Whetstone, Dhrystone
Be created artificially to match an average execution profile
No user runs it
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 53
SPEC CPU Benchmark
Programs used to measure performance
Supposedly typical of actual workload
Standard Performance Evaluation Corp (SPEC)
Develops benchmarks for CPU, I/O, Web,
SPEC CPU2006
Elapsed time to execute a selection of programs
Negligible I/O, so focuses on CPU performance
Normalize relative to reference machine
Summarize as geometric mean of performance ratios
CINT2006 (integer) and CFP2006 (floating-point)
n
n
1 i
i
ratio time Execution
[
=
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 54
CINT2006 for Opteron X4 2356
Name Description IC10
9
CPI Tc (ns) Exec time Ref time SPECratio
perl Interpreted string processing 2,118 0.75 0.40 637 9,777 15.3
bzip2 Block-sorting compression 2,389 0.85 0.40 817 9,650 11.8
gcc GNU C Compiler 1,050 1.72 0.47 24 8,050 11.1
mcf Combinatorial optimization 336 10.00 0.40 1,345 9,120 6.8
go Go game (AI) 1,658 1.09 0.40 721 10,490 14.6
hmmer Search gene sequence 2,783 0.80 0.40 890 9,330 10.5
sjeng Chess game (AI) 2,176 0.96 0.48 37 12,100 14.5
libquantum Quantum computer simulation 1,623 1.61 0.40 1,047 20,720 19.8
h264avc Video compression 3,102 0.80 0.40 993 22,130 22.3
omnetpp Discrete event simulation 587 2.94 0.40 690 6,250 9.1
astar Games/path finding 1,082 1.79 0.40 773 7,020 9.1
xalancbmk XML parsing 1,058 2.70 0.40 1,143 6,900 6.0
Geometric mean 11.7
High cache miss rates
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 55
Reporting Performance
Guiding principle: reproducible
List everything another experimenter would need to duplicate the results
(especially, the input set)
Example
Hardware
CPU 3.2-GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition
L3 Cache size 2048KB (I+D) on chip
Memory 4 x 512 MB
Disk subsystem1 x 80GB ATA/100 7200RPM
Software
OS Windows XP Professional SP1
Compiler Intel C++ Compiler 7.1
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 56
Compare/Summarize Performance
WLOG, 2 different ways
1. Arithmetic mean
Time
i
is the execution time for the ith program in the workload
Weighted arithmetic mean
Weight
i
factors add up to 1
2. Geometric mean
To normalize to a reference machine (e.g. SPEC)
Execution time ratio
i
is the execution time normalized to the reference
machine, for the ith program

=
n
i
n
1
i
Time
1

=

n
i 1
i i
Time Weight
n
n
i
i [
=1
ratio time Execution
Which one is better ? Or is there any difference?
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 57
Example
1. The arithmetic mean performance varies from ref. to ref.
2. The geometric mean performance is consistent
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 58
Remark
SPECRatio is just a ratio rather than an absolute esecution time
Note that when comparing 2 computers as a ratio, execution times on
the reference computer drop out, so choice of reference computer is
irrelevant
B
A
A
B
B
reference
A
reference
B
A
e Performanc
e Performanc
ime ExecutionT
ime ExecutionT
ime ExecutionT
ime ExecutionT
ime ExecutionT
ime ExecutionT
SPECRatio
SPECRatio
= =
= = 25 . 1 e.g.
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 59
SPEC CINT2000 and CFP2000 Rating for
Pentium III and 4 at Different Clock Rates
1.Performance scales with the clock frequency. Not the usual case.
Losses in memory system is not presented.
2. Pentium III performs better for CINT2000 than for CFP2000.
Pentium 4 is reverse.
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 60
Pitfall: MIPS as a Performance Metric
MIPS: Millions of Instructions Per Second
Doesnt account for
Differences in ISAs between computers
Differences in complexity between instructions
6
6
6
10 CPI
rate Clock
10
rate Clock
CPI count n Instructio
count n Instructio
10 time Execution
count n Instructio
MIPS

=
CPI varies between programs on a given
CPU
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 61
Why do we need parallel processing?
Fact behind multiprocessor?
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 62
Uniprocessor Performance

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t
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s
Constrained by power, instruction-level parallelism,
memory latency
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 63
Power Trends
In CMOS IC technology

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Frequency Voltage load Capacitive Power
2
=
1000 30 5V 1V
64
Power is a Limiter
5KW
18KW
1.5KW
500W
4004
8008
8080
8085
8086
286
386
486
Pentium
0.1
1
10
100
1000
10000
100000
1971 1974 1978 1985 1992 2000 2004 2008
P
o
w
e
r

(
W
a
t
t
s
)
Power delivery and dissipation will be prohibitive !
Source: Borkar, De Intel
P6
transition
from NMOS
to CMOS
65
Power Density will Increase
4004
8008
8080
8085
8086
286
386
486
Pentium
P6
1
10
100
1000
10000
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
P
o
w
e
r

D
e
n
s
i
t
y

(
W
/
c
m
2
)
Hot Plate
Nuclear
Reactor
Rocket
Nozzle
Power densities too high to keep junctions at low temps
Suns
Surface
Source: Borkar, De Intel
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 66
Reducing Power
Suppose a new CPU has
85% of capacitive load of old CPU
15% voltage and 15% frequency reduction
0.52 0.85
F V C
0.85 F 0.85) (V 0.85 C
P
P
4
old
2
old old
old
2
old old
old
new
= =


=
The power wall
We cant reduce voltage further
We cant remove more heat
How else can we improve performance?
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 67
Multiprocessors
Multicore microprocessors
More than one processor per chip
Requires explicitly parallel programming
Compare with instruction level parallelism
Hardware executes multiple instructions at once
Hidden from the programmer
Hard to do
Programming for performance
Load balancing
Optimizing communication and synchronization
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 68
SPEC Power Benchmark
Power consumption of server at different
workload levels
Performance: ssj_ops/sec
Power: Watts (Joules/sec)
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=

= =
10
0 i
i
10
0 i
i
power ssj_ops Watt per ssj_ops Overall
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 69
SPECpower_ssj2008 for X4
Target Load % Performance (ssj_ops/sec) Average Power (Watts)
100% 231,867 295
90% 211,282 286
80% 185,803 275
70% 163,427 265
60% 140,160 256
50% 118,324 246
40% 920,35 233
30% 70,500 222
20% 47,126 206
10% 23,066 180
0% 0 141
Overall sum 1,283,590 2,605
ssj_ops/ power 493
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 70
Fallacy: Low Power at Idle
Look back at X4 power benchmark
At 100% load: 295W
At 50% load: 246W (83%)
At 10% load: 180W (61%)
Google data center
Mostly operates at 10% 50% load
At 100% load less than 1% of the time
Consider designing processors to make
power proportional to load
Chapter 1 Computer Abstractions and Technology 71
Concluding Remarks
Cost/performance is improving
Due to underlying technology development
Hierarchical layers of abstraction
In both hardware and software
Instruction set architecture
The hardware/software interface
Execution time: the best performance measure
Power is a limiting factor
Use parallelism to improve performance

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