Structured Computer Organization 6ed

Structured Computer Organization, 6th Edition by Andrew S. Tanenbaum is a popular textbook that provides an accessible, layered approach to understanding computer hardware and architecture. It’s written for undergraduate students but is also a valuable resource for computer professionals and engineers.
The book’s central theme is a multilevel abstraction model where a computer is viewed as a series of levels, with each level built upon the one below it. This structured approach allows readers to understand complex systems by examining each layer as a separate, comprehensible entity. The book covers a wide range of topics from the foundational level of digital logic to the higher levels of assembly language and operating systems.
Key Topics Covered
The book is structured to guide readers through the different levels of a computer system:
• Introduction and Computer History: It begins with an overview of the structured, layered approach and a historical look at the evolution of computer architecture, from mechanical computers to the latest developments in very large scale integration (VLSI) and beyond.
• Computer Systems: This section delves into the fundamental components of a computer, including processors (CPU organization, RISC vs. CISC), memory (primary and secondary), and input/output devices.
• Digital Logic Level: This level covers the basic building blocks of hardware, such as gates, Boolean algebra, and digital circuits.
• Microarchitecture Level: This section explains how the instruction set is implemented by the underlying hardware, using concepts like data paths and microinstructions.
• Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) Level: This part focuses on the interface between software and hardware, including instruction formats, data types, and addressing modes. It uses modern examples like the x86, ARM, and AVR architectures.
• Operating System Machine Level & Assembly Language Level: The book explores how the operating system manages resources and provides a virtual machine for higher-level programs. It also covers the assembly language level, which serves as a human-readable representation of machine code.
• Parallel Computer Architectures: The book concludes with a discussion on how modern systems use parallelism to improve performance.