Computer Organisation and Architecture: An Introduction 2nd Edition

Book Preface

A great deal has happened in the world of computing since the publication of the first edition of this book. Processors have become faster and the number of transistors contained in the processor chip has greatly increased. The amount of memory, both primary and secondary, in the standard personal computer has increased and become faster. New peripheral devices have come onto the scene and some of the old ones have almost disappeared. Networked computers are the norm, as is connection to the Internet for almost all home computers. Having said all the above, the basic von Neumann architecture has not been superseded yet.

This second edition of Computer Organisation and Architecture, An Introduction, builds on the first edition, bringing the material up to date and adding new chapters on ‘Networking and what’s next’. After considerable thought, we have decided to use the Intel family of processors rather than the Motorola 68000 for our examples. This is because the availability of Intel based personal computers (PCs) tends to be greater than machines based on the Motorola 68000, taking into account that many people, especially students, have a PC at home. Our change must not be seen as a criticism of the Motorola processors, but simply a matter of expedience for experiential learning. Many of our examples make reference to PCs, but all the basic principles apply to all sizes and shapes of computers. There are still a large number of powerful high end computers being used in big organisations and it must be remembered that the world of computing is not just PCs.

The target audience for this edition has not changed and with the addition of the networking chapter, we hope that the area of appeal will have widened.

We have included Chapter 12 in order to look briefly at some developments. Some are a few weeks away while others are experimental or just proposals. With the rate of development we are seeing, it is difficult to imagine where computing will be in say five years time. We live in exciting times.
Suggested answers to a number of the end of chapter exercises are available on the WEB site associated with this book.
A.T. Carter, R.W. Hind