Von Neumann, Harvard and contemporary processor architecture
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What is Von Neumann architecture?
• Includes the basic components of the computer and processor • Shared memory and shared data bus is used for both data and instructions • Built on the stored program concept
Where is Von Neumann architecture more commonly used?
• Personal computers - Small computers
Advantages of Von Neumann architecture?
• Cheaper to develop as the control unit is easier to design - Programs can be optimised in size
Disadvantages of Von Neumann architecture?
• Parallel executions of programs are not allowed due to serial instruction processing • Only one “bus” can be accessed at a time, this results in the CPU being idle - Von Neumann Bottleneck
What is the Harvard architecture?
• Physically separate memories for instructions and data - Useful for when memories have different characteristics
Where is Harvard architecture more commonly used?
• Micro controllers - Signal processing
Advantages of Harvard architecture?
• Quicker execution as data and instructions can be fetched in parallel. • Memories can be different sizes, which can make more efficient use of space
Disadvantages of Harvard architecture?
• More complex architecture, as it requires two buses, more time to manufacture/more expensive • The un-occupied data memory cannot be used by instructions and the free instruction memory cannot be used by data. Memory dedicated to each unit has to be balanced carefully
What is contemporary processor architecture?
• Use a combination of Von Neumann and Harvard architecture • Von Neumann is used when working with data and instructions in main memory • Harvard architecture to divide the cache into instruction cache and data cache