Comprehensive coverage spans the entire computer design field Utilizes a top down approach -computer system, processor, control unit- for clarity and ease of use. The objective is to present the material in a fashion that keeps new material in a clear context. Systems are viewed from both the architectural and organizational structure perspectives to help students gain a comprehensive overview of computer design. A unified treatment of I/O provides a full understanding of I/O functions and structures, including discussions of DMA, direct cache access, and external interfaces. A focus on multicore gives students a broad understanding of this technology, found in virtually all contemporary machines. A thorough discussion of instruction sets , including a new chapter on assembly language. Detailed use of specific examples throughout the book to illustrate concepts , including Intel x86, ARM embedded system architecture, and IBM z13 mainframe. Hands-on experience reinforce concepts from the text Homework problems , case studies, and additional student resources enhance their understanding of the material.

Projects and other student exercises are richly supported with a variety of research, simulation, and assembly language projects that instructors can use to tailor a course plan. Over 20 interactive simulations illustrate computer architecture design issues, providing a powerful tool for understanding the complex design features of a modern computer system. Chapter updates keep the text current Several chapters and discussions have been revised for the 11th Edition, including: New - A discussion of multichip modules (MCMs) , has been added to Chapter 1. Updated - Updated treatment of SPEC benchmarks in Chapter 2 covers the new SPEC CPU2017 benchmark suite. New - A chapter on memory hierarchy expands on material that was in the cache memory chapter and adds expanded coverage of both the principle of locality and the memory hierarchy. Revised - The cache memory chapter (Chapter 5) now includes expanded treatment of logical cache organization, including new figures, to improve overall clarity. New - Coverage of content-addressable memory , write allocate, and no write allocate policies have been added to Chapter 5. New - A section on the increasingly popular Embedded DRAM, or eDRAM, is included in Chapter 6.

Check out the preface for a complete list of features and what's new in this edition.