1. Fundamentals of Computer Design IIT （1。）.pdfVIP

1. Fundamentals of Computer Design 1.1 Introduction The concept of stored program computers appeared in 1945 when John von Neumann drafted the first version of EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Computer). Those ideas have since been the milestones of computers: • an input device through which data and instructions can be entered • storage in which data can be read/written; instructions are like data, they reside in the same memory • an arithmetic unit to process data • a control unit which fetches instructions, decode and execute them • output devices for the user to access the results. The improvements in computer technology have been tremendous since the first machines appeared. A personal computer that can be bought today with a few thousand dollars, has more performance (in terms of, say, floating point multiplications per second), more main memory and more disk capacity than a machine that cost millions in the 50s-60s. Virgil Bistriceanu Illinois Institute of Technology 3 1 Fundamentals of Computer Design Four lines of evolution have emerged from the first computers (definitions are very loose and in many case the borders between different classes are blurring): 1. Mainframes: large computers that can