Computer System Architecture (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

M. Morris Mano (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0131755633 | ISBN-13: 978-0131755635 | Publication Date: October 29, 1992 | Edition: 3

Dealing with computer architecture as well as computer organization and design, this fully updated book provides the basic knowledge necessary to understand the hardware operation of digital computers. Written to aid electrical engineers, computer engineers, and computer scientists, the volume includes: KEY FEATURES: the computer architecture, organization, and design associated with computer hardware • the various digital components used in the organization and design of digital computers • detailed steps that a designer must go through in order to design an elementary basic computer • the organization and architecture of the central processing unit • the organization and architecture of input-output and memory • the concept of multiprocessing • two new chapters on pipeline and vector processing • two sections devoted completely to the reduced instruction set computer (RISC) • and sample worked-out problems to clarify topics.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Focused primarily on hardware design and organization -- and the impact of software on the architecture -- this volume first covers the basic organization, design, and programming of a simple digital computer, then explores the separate functional units in detail.

From the Back Cover

Focused primarily on hardware design and organization — and the impact of software on the architecture — this volume first covers the basic organization, design, and programming of a simple digital computer, then explores the separate functional units in detail.

FEATURES:

• develops an elementary computer to demonstrate by example the organization and design of digital computers.
• uses a simple register transfer language to specify various computer operations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 524 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (October 29, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131755633
• ISBN-13: 978-0131755635
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Microprocessors & System Design
  • #69 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Design & Architecture

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book to learn about the innards of a CPU, October 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Computer System Architecture (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

It's hard for me to believe this book didn't get good reviews. It's an awesome book that succintly details the design of a CPU. The author uses a hands on approach by showing you how to design a simple CPU from scratch. Even though simple, this CPU has a useable set of instructions (including IO ones), interrupts, and a memory subsytem. RTL is used to convey what is done at each instruction cyle, which is great. For me, this is the first time
I see a practical application of RTL. The book could have been more interesting if it provides an implementation in VHDL, or Verilog, but i guess that's left as an excercise for the reader.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very labored writing, too few completely worked out examples, April 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Computer System Architecture (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

I refer to the latest edition of this text by Mano and Kime. I tried to teach Comp. Architecture to a senior level BS class (in CS) from this book. The problem is that this book attempts to do too much and it wanders all over the subject area, leaving the students lost since they just cannot grasp the "big picture". This book gets progressively worse with every new edition! I had to extensively edit the contents to prepare lecture notes which could be comprehended. Halfway through the semester, when I came to the part on "microprogrammed control", I gave up and switched to Tanenbaum (Structured Comp Organization) instead. I would appreciate it if anyone could tell me about a better book on this subject. All the ones that I have looked at seem to be terrible in one way or another.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice and Simpe Introductory Book, June 16, 2004

By 

Bernd (La Ceiba, Honduras) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Computer System Architecture (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

I have three of M. Mano's books and this one is the one I've liked the most. I found the author's exposition of the material good on average. I'm using this book for self-study. The book provides a nice overview of computer architecture by focusing on the basic concepts in manner that is not dependent on a particular real-life architecture.

I must say however that I gotten up to chapter 11 and have become totally unmotivated to finish the book (only two chapters left). I've gone through most of the interesting problems of each chapter but have no clue to the 'correctness' of some of them since the book doesn't come with solutions.

One thing that I really dislike about a book is the lack of an errata sheet. All of Mano's books I own lack an errata sheet. I've noticed some errors in the book although nothing major.

Recommendation: As far as I know there are no really good books in the area of computer architecture. If you're looking for a simple introductory book on computer architecture, I would recommend this book. Avoid this book if you're looking for a more technical treatment on the subject.