Computer Systems Organization and Architecture [Paperback]

John D. Carpinelli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0201612534 | ISBN-13: 978-0201612530 | Edition: 1

This book provides up-to-date coverage of fundamental concepts for the design of computers and their subsystems. It presents material with a serious but easy-to-understand writing style that makes it accessible to readers without sacrificing important topics. The book emphasizes a finite state machine approach to CPU design, which provides a strong background for reader understanding. It forms a solid basis for readers to draw upon as they study this material and in later engineering and computer science practice. The book also examines the design of computer systems, including such topics as memory hierarchies, input/output processing, interrupts, and direct memory access, as well as advanced architectural aspects of parallel processing. To make the material accessible to beginners, the author has included two running examples of increasing complexity: the Very Simple CPU, which contains four instruction sets and shows very simple CPU design; and the Relatively Simple CPU which contains 16 instruction sets and adds enough complexity to illustrate more advanced concepts. Each chapter features a real-world machine on which the discussed organization and architecture concepts are implemented. This book is designed to teach computer organization/architecture to engineers and computer scientists.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This book provides up-to-date coverage of fundamental concepts for the design of computers and their subsystems. It presents material with a serious but easy-to-understand writing style that makes it accessible to readers without sacrificing important topics. The book emphasizes a finite state machine approach to CPU design, which provides a strong background for reader understanding. It forms a solid basis for readers to draw upon as they study this material and in later engineering and computer science practice. The book also examines the design of computer systems, including such topics as memory hierarchies, input/output processing, interrupts, and direct memory access, as well as advanced architectural aspects of parallel processing. To make the material accessible to beginners, the author has included two running examples of increasing complexity: the Very Simple CPU, which contains four instruction sets and shows very simple CPU design; and the Relatively Simple CPU which contains 16 instruction sets and adds enough complexity to illustrate more advanced concepts. Each chapter features a real-world machine on which the discussed organization and architecture concepts are implemented. This book is designed to teach computer organization/architecture to engineers and computer scientists.

Product Details

• Paperback: 584 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 1 edition (October 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201612534
• ISBN-13: 978-0201612530
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Microprocessors & System Design
  • #54 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Design & Architecture

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is a failure, February 17, 2002

By 

James Kornek (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Computer Systems Organization and Architecture (Paperback)

I was forced to buy this book for my Architecture class. I really regret wasting my money on it. In short, the book [stinks]. It assumes too many things. It does not do a very good job explaining some important pieces of information. For the most part, the student will spend the whole time trying to make sense out of what the author is saying. It is one of these "should've..could've" books!
If you are looking for an architecture book, I wouldn't recommend this one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Understandable but complex - for a complex subject, May 24, 2005

By 

W. Hilger "Bill" (Joisey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Computer Systems Organization and Architecture (Paperback)

I used this book for an undergrad Architecture course. I had a great teacher, and we only looked at certain sections in the book. There is an awful lot to cover in a single semester.

The book is written for students with very little formal electronics knowledge, but you do need to know some basic logic and hardware concepts. It is based on the i86 architecture, making generalizations where possible. If you have a strong background, or want to learn very detailed concepts - then there are better choices. Sometimes this book over-simplifies concepts to reach its intended audience.

I later found the book useful as a reference tool in a graduate architecture class. Especially the sections on memory - cache, virutal, pagefiles, etc.. Even though my grad class was on the MiPS architecture, the concepts are the same.

Overall, this was a decent text for an undergraduate course.
As other reviewers, (good and bad) have noted - when you are learning, you should always use additional references. Don't depend on this book alone to teach you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Plan to spend a lot of time looking at other references., November 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Computer Systems Organization and Architecture (Paperback)

a = b, c, and d.
e = f, g, and h.
b > e while a < f.
ac < gh while fh < bd.
c can be diagrammed in this box if you use h.
g is shown in this truth table if you use a.

Part of what makes this text so difficult to understand is the author's inability to use consistent terms while trying to explain material. In the first chapter, a simple And gate is referred to as 'AND', 'x^y', 'x.y', 'xy', '()()', and 'and'. All true, but used interchangeably while trying to explain makes the concepts incredibly difficult to decipher, particularly when variations for representing other boolean concepts are added to the fray.

The best part of the book, as far as I can tell, is that the key terms are in bold so I know what to plug into Google to try and figure out what it is.