Table of Contents
1 Cover
5 Preface
7 1 The Function of Computation 1.1. Beginnings 1.2. Classes of computers 1.3. Analog approach 1.4. Hardware-software relationship 1.5. Integration and its limits 1.6. Conclusion
8 2 The Function of Memory 2.1. Definition 2.2. Related concepts 2.3. Modeling 2.4. Classification 2.5. Conclusion
9 3 Computation Model and Architecture: Illustration with the von Neumann Approach 3.1. Basic concepts 3.2. The original von Neumann machine 3.3. Modern von Neumann machines 3.4. Variations on a theme 3.5. Instruction set architecture 3.6. Basic definitions for this book 3.7. Conclusion
11 Exercises
12 Acronyms
13 References
14 Index
List of Illustrations
1 Chapter 1Figure 1.1. Ishango’s incised bones (source: unknown). For a color version of th...Figure 1.2. A quipu (source: unknown). For a color version of this figure, see w...Figure 1.3. Roman abacus (a) between the 2nd and 5th Centuries (© Inria/AMISA/Ph...Figure 1.4. An example of a Pascaline at the Musée des Arts et Métiers (source: ...Figure 1.5. Replica of the first Babbage difference machine3. For a color versio...Figure 1.6. Babbage’s analytical machine (© Science Museum/Science & Society Pic...Figure 1.7. One of the plans for Babbage’s analytical machine (© Science Museum/...Figure 1.8. Falcon’s loom. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.u...Figure 1.9. Statistical machine (Hollerith 1887)Figure 1.10. Evolution of concepts and technologies in the development of calcul...Figure 1.11. A modern electromechanical relay, its equivalent electrical diagram...Figure 1.12. An RCA 5965 type electronic tube and an IBM 701 electronic board (s...Figure 1.13. A transistor and an electronic transistor board with seven inverter...Figure 1.14. One of the 15 DIP integrated circuit CPU boards from a DEC PDP-11/2...Figure 1.15. Evolution of computing performance over time (from (Bell 2008b))Figure 1.16. PC motherboard (5150) from IBM (1981). For a color version of this ...Figure 1.17. Axes of evolution over time of the price of classes (from (Bell 200...Figure 1.18. The iconic Cray-1 supercomputer referred to as the “World’s most ex...Figure 1.19. Evolution over time of supercomputer performance (according to Succ...Figure 1.20. IBM System/360 mainframe computerFigure 1.21. The IBM Application System (AS/400) family of minicomputersFigure 1.22. Evolution over time of the prices of minicomputers (in thousands of...Figure 1.23. An Octane graphics workstation from Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). F...Figure 1.24. The first microcomputers: the Micral N from R2E and the ALTAIR 8800...Figure 1.25. Increasingly blurry boundaries. For a color version of this figure,...Figure 1.26. Categories of computers (according to Bell (2008a))Figure 1.27. The client–server model. For a color version of this figure, see ww...Figure 1.28. A blade server. For a color version of this figure,
