Modern Computer Architecture and Organization

Book excerpt: A no-nonsense, practical guide to current and future processor and computer architectures that enables you to design computer systems and develop better software applications across a variety of domains Key FeaturesUnderstand digital circuitry through the study of transistors, logic gates, and sequential logicLearn the architecture of x86, x64, ARM, and RISC-V processors, iPhones, and high-performance gaming PCsStudy the design principles underlying the domains of cybersecurity, bitcoin, and self-driving carsBook Description Are you a software developer, systems designer, or computer architecture student looking for a methodical introduction to digital device architectures, but are overwhelmed by the complexity of modern systems? This step-by-step guide will teach you how modern computer systems work with the help of practical examples and exercises. You'll gain insights into the internal behavior of processors down to the circuit level and will understand how the hardware executes code developed in high-level languages. This book will teach you the fundamentals of computer systems including transistors, logic gates, sequential logic, and instruction pipelines. You will learn details of modern processor architectures and instruction sets including x86, x64, ARM, and RISC-V. You will see how to implement a RISC-V processor in a low-cost FPGA board and write a quantum computing program and run it on an actual quantum computer. This edition has been updated to cover the architecture and design principles underlying the important domains of cybersecurity, blockchain and bitcoin mining, and self-driving vehicles. By the end of this book, you will have a thorough understanding of modern processors and computer architecture and the future directions these technologies are likely to take. What you will learnUnderstand the fundamentals of transistor technology and digital circuitsExplore the concepts underlying pipelining and superscalar processingImplement a complete RISC-V processor in a low-cost FPGAUnderstand the technology used to implement virtual machinesLearn about security-critical computing applications like financial transaction processingGet up to speed with blockchain and the hardware architectures used in bitcoin miningExplore the capabilities of self-navigating vehicle computing architecturesWrite a quantum computing program and run it on a real quantum computerWho this book is for This book is for software developers, computer engineering students, system designers, reverse engineers, and anyone looking to understand the architecture and design principles underlying modern computer systems: ranging from tiny, embedded devices to warehouse-size cloud server farms. A general understanding of computer processors is helpful but not required.