Describes how a computer is designed and built to function, including how parts of the computer are designed, organised, and connected.
von Neumann computer architecture
There may be many kinds of computer architecture, but a popular one (that is used in current studies) is the von Neumann computer architecture. The architecture describes a computer with the following components:
- a central processing unit with both an arithmetic logic unit and registers;
- control units that include an instruction register and program counter;
- memory to store data and instructions;
- external secondary storage; and
- input and output mechanisms.
Generally, the architecture also defines the use of buses (collections of wires used as a medium to transport data from one part of a computer to another). There are three buses that are used in this architecture:
- Data bus: A bidirectional (two-way) bus that is mainly used to transport data between the memory, I/O devices, and processor
- Address bus: A unidirectional (one-way) bus that is mainly used to transport address information usually from the processor to memory
- Control bus: A bidirectional (two-way) bus that is mainly used to transport control signals and clock pulses