Computer Organization and Design, Fourth Edition: The Hardware/Software Interface (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Architecture and Design) [Paperback]

David A. Patterson (Author), John L. Hennessy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2008 | ISBN-13: 978-0123744937 | Edition: 4

The best-selling computer organization book is thoroughly updated to provide a new focus on the revolutionary change taking place in industry today: the switch from uniprocessor to multicore microprocessors. This new emphasis on parallelism is supported by updates reflecting the newest technologies, with examples highlighting the latest processor designs and benchmarking standards. As with previous editions, a MIPS processor is the core used to present the fundamentals of hardware technologies, assembly language, computer arithmetic, pipelining, memory hierarchies and I/O. Sections on the ARM and x86 architectures are also included.

A companion CD provides a toolkit of simulators and compilers along with tutorials for using them, as well as advanced content for further study and a search utility for finding content on the CD and in the printed text.

• Covers the revolutionary change from sequential to parallel computing, with a new chapter on parallelism and sections in every chapter highlighting parallel hardware and software topics.
• Includes a new appendix by the Chief Scientist and the Director of Architecture of NVIDIA covering the emergence and importance of the modern GPU, describing in detail for the first time the highly parallel, highly multithreaded multiprocessor optimized for visual computing.
• Describes a novel approach to measuring multicore performance--the "Roofline model"--with benchmarks and analysis for the AMD Opteron X4, Intel Xeon 5000, Sun UltraSPARC T2, and IBM Cell.
• Includes new content on Flash memory and Virtual Machines.
• Provides a large, stimulating set of new exercises, covering almost 200 pages.
• Features the AMD Opteron X4 and Intel Nehalem as real-world examples throughout the book.
• Updates all processor performance examples using the SPEC CPU2006 suite.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Patterson and Hennessy have greatly improved what was already the gold standard of textbooks. In the rapidly-evolving field of computer architecture, they have woven an impressive number of recent case studies and contemporary issues into a framework of time-tested fundamentals.--Fred Chong, University of California, Santa Barbara

The new coverage of multiprocessors and parallelism lives up to the standards of this well-written classic. It provides well-motivated, gentle introductions to the new topics, as well as many details and examples drawn from current hardware.--John Greiner, Rice University

From the Back Cover

Computer Organization and Design

The Hardware/Software Interface

David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy

Patterson and Hennessy have greatly improved what was already the gold standard of textbooks. In the rapidly-evolving field of computer architecture, they have woven an impressive number of recent case studies and contemporary issues into a framework of time-tested fundamentals.--Fred Chong, University of California, Santa Barbara

The new coverage of multiprocessors and parallelism lives up to the standards of this well-written classic. It provides well-motivated, gentle introductions to the new topics, as well as many details and examples drawn from current hardware.--John Greiner, Rice University

 

The best-selling computer organization book is thoroughly updated to provide a new focus on the revolutionary change taking place in industry today: the switch from uniprocessor to multicore microprocessors. This new emphasis on parallelism is supported by updates reflecting the newest technologies, with examples highlighting the latest processor designs and benchmarking standards. As with previous editions, a MIPS processor is the core used to present the fundamentals of hardware technologies, assembly language, computer arithmetic, pipelining, memory hierarchies and I/O. Sections on the ARM and x86 architectures are also included.

A companion CD provides a toolkit of simulators and compilers along with tutorials for using them, as well as advanced content for further study and a search utility for finding content on the CD and in the printed text.

Fourth Edition Features:

• Covers the revolutionary change from sequential to parallel computing, with a new chapter on parallelism and sections in every chapter highlighting parallel hardware and software topics.
• Includes a new appendix by the Chief Scientist and the Director of Architecture of NVIDIA covering the emergence and importance of the modern GPU, describing in detail for the first time the highly parallel, highly multithreaded multiprocessor optimized for visual computing.
• Describes a novel approach to measuring multicore performance--the "Roofline model"--with benchmarks and analysis for the AMD Opteron X4, Intel Xeon 5000, Sun UltraSPARC T2, and IBM Cell.
• Includes new content on Flash memory and Virtual Machines.
• Provides a large, stimulating set of new exercises, covering almost 200 pages.
• Features the AMD Opteron X4 and Intel Nehalem as real-world examples throughout the book.
• Updates all processor performance examples using the SPEC CPU2006 suite.

Online support materials for this book are available at textbooks.elsevier.com/9780123744937

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 912 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 4 edition (November 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 978-0123744937
• ASIN: 0123744938
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Microprocessors & System Design > Computer Design
  • #65 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Design & Architecture

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars The chapter contents were decent, but the problems are horrible August 28, 2010

By D. George

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

First I will mention that I had no problem with the actual content presented in the chapters. This was a textbook for my Computer Architecture class, and the figures and presentation were fine. I really like the "pitfalls & fallacies" section of each chapter, as well as the brief sections looking at how real processors apply ideas and looking at the histories of the processors. (Go ARM!)

Now, as I mentioned this was a textbook for my class, and we were often assigned problems at the end of each chapter to do as homework. These problems are the sole reason I give this book a two star. There are so many problems that are very ambiguous as to what they are asking for. Also, I don't mind having multiple parts to a problem, but they went overboard with it. You have one problem with an A and B part, then the next with A-F that you need to perform for both A and B parts of the problem before. It would be MUCH more straightforward just to make all of these sections their own individual program and it would clear up a lot of the confusion that my whole class experienced.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Crappy examples and irrelevant exercises December 10, 2011

By finalfantasyfreak15

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The book glosses over a lot of computation details for performance equations and does not provide good relevant examples in the book. The exercises at the end of every chapter are not relevant to the material covered in the book itself. The reason being is because the authors of the book were separate from the authors of the questions, which is why the questions don't mirror the book's material. I feel like the questions themselves are good questions to ask students, but the book does not adequately explain all concepts that the questions demand, because there are some nontrivial questions in there. The CD that comes with the book and the MIPS reference sheet are pretty useful though.

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for many audiences December 8, 2008

By John Mashey

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Iown all 4 editions of this book, plus the 4 published editions (and one preliminary edition) of the related "Computer Architecture - A Quantitative Approach".

Why?

Because, every time one of these comes out, they become clear standards. The last 20 years have been a period of rapid changes in computing. Fortunately Patterson and Hennessy somehow find time to update their books about every 5 years, not only adding new material, but also improving the pedagogy and readability for different audiences.

This book offers a thoughtful combination of printed and electronic information that potential authors should study, as this combination has evolved across the various iterations.

I especially appreciate the reader's guide (page xvii), which highlights different paths through the book for different audiences. This is very important in books that cover material comprehensively, as not everyone needs to read everything, especially the first time through.

This edition is well worth having, even if one already has the earlier ones. The additional material on multiprocessors is especially crucial, given that uniprocessor performance growth has slowed, and multiprocessor software remains challenging.

I spent many years trying to get people to write software at the highest level possible, but the otherwise-desirable trend in that direction can have one unfortunate side-effect. Some younger software designers have little or no experience with computer architecture and hardware/software interface, and it is all too easy to create performance and scalability surprises that could easily be avoided.

I'd strongly recommend this book to avoid such surprises. Even if a programmer writes in very high level languages, some knowledge of the lower levels and their pitfalls goes a long way.

I used to recommend the other book to people like technology journalists, venture capitalists, and financial analysts, i.e., people who are rarely computer professionals, but need to understand computer technology and its trends. Many such have been surprised to find the book was useful to them.

However, as Patterson and Hennessy have reworked the balance of material between the two books, the more introductory material is located here, whereas the other book is more appropriate for computer designers or software people working close to the hardware.

Hence, the next time someone needs to understand computer technology, well-explained by experts, this is the book I'd recommend.