Advanced Computer Architecture - Case Study Example

Advanced Computer Architecture Table of Contents Introduction 3 Analysis 4 Comparison of the Microprocessors 7 Assembly Language Used in Instruction Set 10 Conclusion and Recommendations 11 References 12 Introduction Microprocessors are also recognised as modernised ‘Central Processing Units’ (CPUs). These are generally a chip comprises various programs that include control circuits, ‘Arithmetic Logical Unit’ (ALU) and register circuits. Microprocessors are used for serving multipurpose purposes that tends to accept input of digital data and process data according to stored programs. These are usually regarded as semiconductor devices that are accountable for fetching, decoding along with executing various sorts of instructions (GEC ASSETS, 2013). In the present day context, microprocessors are used as integrated devices with the aim of performing numerous functions like text editing, communication, multimedia display and calculation. These can be identified as important devices especially for computers. Specially mentioning, microprocessors can perform information-processing tasks in an effective manner. It is usually considered as an information-processing device performing different tasks with the assistance of embedded programs. Microprocessors are developed in an identical manner to that of the advancement of integrated circuits. The structure of microprocessors can be viewed as quite complex. They are developed through a procedure of deposition along with removal of insulating, semi conducting as well as conducting materials (Cankaya, n.d.). In this regard, the report intends to discuss about the currently used microprocessors that include Core i3 of Intel, Phenom II of AMD and QuadCore of VIA technologies. Additionally, a detailed analysis and comparison would be conducted between the aforesaid microprocessors in relation to their design, cost, performance and energy consumption among others. Analysis Intel Core i3 Core i3 is regarded as the 3rd Generation microprocessor, which has been proven to be quite effective in its performance for embedded ‘22nn Tri-gate transistor technology’. Additionally, the processor possesses Intel HD Graphics 4000, which assists in providing better visuals and developing performances with enhanced efficiency. The processor with the assistance of innovative as well as enhanced media capabilities is able to convert videos at increased speed and provides better gaming experience. The processor is facilitated with ‘Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0’, which aids in performing additional tasks in a speedy way. Moreover, ‘Intel Hyper-Threading Technology 1’ enables each core of the microprocessor to perform two tasks simultaneously. In this regard, the Core i3 processor facilitates in multitasking, resulting in performing various sorts of tasks time efficiently. The ‘22nn Tri-gate transistor technology’ assists in performing operations with enhanced power consumption along with efficiency (Dabs, 2014). The cost of Core i3 processor is around $125 including tax. Thus, it can be comprehended that the price of the processor is seemed to be justified as it is embedded with different innovative technologies (Leather, 2013). Intel Core i3 processor is facilitated with IA-32 architecture offering extensive assistance towards system-development along with operating-system software. The ‘IA-32 system-level architecture’ possess certain significant and valuable features such as memory management, multitasking, protection of software modules, exception along with interrupt handling, cache administration, multiprocessing, debugging as well as performance monitoring and hardware along with power management. The system-level architecture comprises data structures, set of registers along with instruction designs supporting different system-level operations like task management, memory administration and interrupt along with exception handling. The data arrangement of the processor is based on the perception of “little endian” machines, which signifies that ‘bytes of a word’ are provided with a number from the least noteworthy byte. The IA-32 architecture is provided with physical address space of around 4 Giga Bytes (232 bytes) and this space is used for address bus. The cache organisation is used for storing instructions along with data and the microprocessor is based on Cache L3 with specification of 3M (Intel Corporation, 2011). The i3 microprocessor is embedded with ‘error correcting code’ (ECC) memory for preserving better integrity as well as reliability of data (Intel Corporation, 2010). AMD Phenom II AMD Phenom II has been developed with the intention of providing better entertainment, creativity along with gaming experiences to the users. The processor is based on the design of the next-generation quad-core, facilitating in performing different operations in an effective as well as time efficient manner. Additionally, the microprocessor is embedded with ‘AMD Turbo Core technology’ assisting in increasing the speed of performing different tasks efficiently. AMD is identified for its leadership in the segment of energy efficiency and in this regard, the microprocessor consumes less energy as compared to other microprocessors (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 2014). The cost of the microprocessor is around $101, which seemed to be quite expensive due to its specifications (Corke, 2009). AMD Phenom II has been embedded with ‘Direct Connect Architecture’. The architecture assists in developing a better connection amid the processor, input/output system and the memory controller. Moreover, the architecture also aids in simultaneously operating in both 32 along with 64 bit applications. The processor is also integrated with ‘Integrated Memory Controller’, which assists in performing related operational tasks time efficiently. Apart from this, the microprocessor is embedded with ‘Hyper Transport Technology’, which offers bandwidth of 16 GB per second. In this similar context, Hyper Transport bus and memory bus of around 37 GB per second facilities generating better performance of the microprocessor by a certain level. The microprocessor is embedded with ‘Balanced Smart Cache’ of L3 cache (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 2014). AMD Phenom II is not provided with ECC memory (Versus, n.d.). The microprocessor is also facilitated with 64 bit instruction set with the assistance of AMD64 Technology (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 2014). VIA QuadCore VIA QuadCore is developed based on multi-core architecture, facilitating the processor to perform different tasks that include multi-tasking, productivity, multimedia playback along with browsing efficiently. Additionally, the microprocessor is viewed to be added with optimised along with energy-efficient architecture, performing operations with low power consumption. The microprocessor is offered at low cost with adequate added features. The bus architecture of the microprocessor is fundamentally based upon 1333MHz V4 Bus system. The processor is embedded with 4MB L2 cache and there is no ECC memory, instruction sets along with memory management system present in it. The processor is also embedded with Adaptive Overclocking and ‘low power design’ that aids in operating various tasks efficiently. Moreover, the microprocessor with the aforementioned added features is able to perform different operations in a highly optimised as well as productive manner (VIA Technologies, Inc., 2014). Comparison of the Microprocessors As depicted in the above section, microprocessors are responsible for effective functioning of central unit of any computer device with the assistance of a single integrated circuit. In the present day scenario, various sorts of microprocessors are manufactured by diverse reputed companies including Intel, AMD and VIA among others. Amid the various microprocessors that these companies manufacture, the design features of Core i3 microprocessor of Intel, Phenom microprocessor of AMD and QuadCore processor of VIA will be compared. One of the major similarities between these three microprocessors can be apparently observed as that all these three appears with x86 architectures. This denotes that all the three microprocessors comprising i3 of Intel, Phenom of AMD and QuadCore is compatible with the computers that are developed with an x86 set structure. Launched in the year 2011, the performance of i3 processor of Intel is seen to be quite impressive owing to its user friendly nature. It comes with a 1023 BGA socket along with a clock speed of 2.2 GHZ. It also deemed to provide greater battery life of the devices. The i3 processor also comes with a deeper security protection as compared to other microprocessors in this series (Intel, n.d.). Similar to that of i3 processor, Phenom of AMD also delivers powerful performance with its next generation quad core design. The processor possesses the capability of executing the most demanding tasks or operations. Furthermore, similar to that of i3 processor, Phenom also comes with HD graphics. However, one crucial difference between Phenom and i3 processor is that i3 comes with 2.2 GHZ, while Phenom with 2.7 GHZ frequency. In this similar context, the performance of QuadCore from VIA also show signs of delivering enhanced performance with its ability of multi-tasking and super multimedia performance. However, it differs from the other two processors in terms of its frequency as it is embedded with 1.0+ GHZ as compared to 2.2 GHZ of Intel and 2.7 GHZ of AMD (PassMark, 2014; AMD, 2014; VIA, 2014). In terms of cost, all the three microprocessors differ from each other upto a certain extent. This can be justified with reference to the fact that i3 of Intel is priced at $125, while the price of Phenom is ranged as $101. On the other hand, the price of QuadCore processor from VIA has been viewed to be ranging around $59.79. However, it would be vital to mention that the price of all the microprocessors tends to change in accordance with the change in the models (PassMark, 2014). With regard to the aspect of energy consumption of all the three microprocessors chosen, it can be affirmed that all the three models are equally energy efficient. However, there lays a considerable difference between the aforesaid three microprocessors relating to the facet of Thermal Design Power (TDP). In this regard, the TDP of Intel microprocessor can be identified as around 55 W, while the same for Phenom is recorded as 95 W. The TDP of VIA QuadCore processor stands around 27.5 W (AMD, 2014; VIA, 2014; Intel, n.d). In terms of architecture, there lay certain other disparities between the above discussed microprocessors. Similar to this particular aspect, the VIA QuadCore processor is based on a multi-core architecture, while Intel i3 is based on IA-32 architecture. The AMD Phenom appears with a direct connect architecture. Again, a considerable difference lies between the three microprocessors in terms of cache organisation. For Intel i3 processor, the cache organisation is 32 KB for first level, 256 KB for second level and 4 MB for the third level. On the other hand, the cache organisation of AMD involves 512 KB for the first level and 2 MB for the last level, while for VIA QuadCore processor, the cache organisation is recorded as 4 MB at all levels. Observably, there is a data link layer in the i3 processor of Intel, which further ensures error correction and error detection. While for the other two processors, the aspects of error correction and error detection are often viewed to be quite weak and negligible. Again for Intel i3 processor, the aspect of memory management is viewed to be quite strong as it is produced inbuilt with IA-32 architecture. In contrast, the memory management ability of the other two processors is often viewed to remain quite weak due to the absence of effective architectures (AMD, 2014; VIA, 2014; Intel, 2011; Intel, n.d). Hence, it is quite apparent that there lay several disparities between the three chosen microprocessors along with certain minimal similarities in terms of their performance and energy efficiency. Assembly Language Code Used in Instruction Set Instruction Set (Program) Algorithm START: LXI H, F100 MOV C, M SUB A MOV B,A BR RO LOOP: INX H ADD M JNC LOOP1 INR B LOOP1: DCR C JNZ LOOP MOV H,B MOV L,A SHLD F200 CALL UPDAD HLT Step 1: Initialize the starting address of the Data block Step 2: Initialise the count Step 3: Initialise the initial sum to zero Step 4: Add the data bytes one by one Step 5: No Branch Step 6: Increment the memory pointer one by one for each addition Step 7: Decrement the count by one for each Condition. Check for zero condition Step 8: If the count is not zero, repeat step 4 to 6 Step 9: If the count is zero halt the processor Source: (SSIT, n.d.) Conclusion and Recommendations Based on the above discussion, it can be stated that microprocessor is one the integral parts of any particular computer device. In the present day context, there are various top players that are associated with the production of microprocessors. Amid the presence of various players in this particular industry, this report emphasised analysing and comparing the microprocessors of Intel, AMD and VIA. Observably, there lay both similarities and disparities between the three microprocessors in terms of their performance, cost and energy consumption among others. It has been apparently noted that all the three microprocessors are quite impressive in terms of their performance as they are user friendly and appears with effective internal article architecture. However, there exist considerable differences amid the chosen microprocessors in terms of their cost and other performance related aspects that should not be ignored. From the above analysis, it can be noted that all the chosen three processors are quite similar in terms of their performance. However, the existence of certain differences between the three further provides a clear picture of their effectiveness. Thus, as per the analysis, it can be recommended that the i3 processor of Intel is one of the widely used microprocessors, which possess several effective distinct facets in comparison with the other two processors. References Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 2014. AMD Phenom II Processor Competitive Comparison. Products. [Online] Available at: http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/phenom-ii/Pages/phenom-ii-competitve-comparison.aspx [Accessed January 23, 2014]. AMD, 2014. Key Architectural Features of AMD Phenom X4 Quad-Core Processors. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/phenom/Pages/AMD-phenom-processor-X4-features.aspx [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 2014. AMD Phenom II Key Architectural Features. Products. [Online] Available at: http://www.amd.com/uk/products/desktop/processors/phenom-ii/Pages/phenom-ii-key-architectural-features.aspx [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Corke, G., 2009. AMD Phenom II X4 Processor. Hardware. [Online] Available at: http://www.develop3d.com/hardware/amd-phenom-ii-x4-processor [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Cankaya, No Date. Microprocessors. Introduction. [Online] Available at: http://academic.cankaya.edu.tr/~o.gazi/microprocessors_Aldosari.pdf [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Dabs, 2014. Intel 3rd Generation Intel Core i3 Processors. Components and Storage. [Online] Available at: http://www.dabs.com/learn-more/components-and-storage/intel-3rd-generation-core-i3-processor-11945.html [Accessed January 23, 2014]. GEC ASSETS, 2013. Microprocessor 8085. What is Microprocessor? [Online] Available at: http://www.gecassets.co.in/8085%20Microprocessor%20-%20Ramesh%20Gaonkar.pdf [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Intel Corporation, 2010. Intel Core i5-660 and Core i3-540 Processors for Embedded Computing. Product Brief. [Online] Available at: http://www.intel.in/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/core-i5-660-i3-540-brief.pdf [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Intel Corporation, 2011. Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual. System Programming Guide. [Online] Available at: http://www.intel.com/Assets/en_US/PDF/manual/253668.pdf [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Intel, 2011. Intel Core i5-600, i3-500 Desktop Processor Series, Intel Pentium Desktop Processor 6000 Series. Datasheet, Vol. 1, pp. 1-89. Intel, No Date. 4th Generation Intel Core i3 Processors. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-i3-processor.html [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Leather, A., 2013. Intel Core i3-4130 (Haswell) Review. Hardware. [Online] Available at: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/11/14/intel-core-i3-4130-haswell-review/1 [Accessed January 23, 2014]. PassMark, 2014. VIA QuadCore U4650 @ 1.0+ GHz. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=VIA+QuadCore+U4650+%40+1.0%2B+GHz [Accessed January 23, 2014]. SSIT, No Date. 8085 Microprocessor Lab Manual. Department of Telecommunication Engineering. [Online] Available at: http://www.ssit.edu.in/dept/assignment/8085labmanual.pdf [Accessed January 23, 2014]. VIA, 2014. VIA Quad Core Processor. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/quadcore/ [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Versus, No Date. Intel Celeron G1620 vs AMD Phenom II X4 965. Top Eleven Reasons for the Intel Celeron G1620. [Online] Available at: http://versus.com/en/intel-celeron-g1620-vs-amd-phenom-ii-x4-965 [Accessed January 23, 2014]. VIA Technologies, Inc., 2014. VIA QuadCore Processor. Products. [Online] Available at: http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/quadcore/ [Accessed January 23, 2014]. Read More