Computing Atlas

How Computing Was Built
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Field

Computer Architecture

Also Known As Computer Organization
Computer Systems Organization

Computer architecture is the field concerned with the conceptual design and operational structure of computer systems: how processors, memory and input and output are organized so programs execute efficiently. Its documented history runs from the correspondence between Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace describing the analytical engine to John von Neumann's 1945 First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, the paper whose stored program organization nearly every later machine follows. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Origin Year
1945 1
Core Concern
How the parts of a computer are organized and made to work together so that programs run correctly and fast. 1
Computer Architecture
Filter Results1 entry
Connections

Associated With

Approximate computing techniques are implemented as approximate hardware circuits, a computer-architecture concern.

Source Approximate Computing (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Embedded system

His 1945 First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC described the organization of logical elements that later machines follow.

Source Wikipedia: Computer architecture
John von Neumann, Pioneers

John von Neumann's 1945 First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC described the stored-program architecture, with a single memory holding both instructions and data, that gives the von Neumann architecture its name and underlies most computer designs since.

Source Computer: A History of the Information MachineMartin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray

Reconfigurable computing is defined in its own lead as a computer architecture.

Source Reconfigurable Computing (Wikipedia)

Includes

Altair 8800, Systems
Source Wikipedia: Altair 8800
Source Wikipedia: Assembly language
CDC 6600, Systems
Source Wikipedia: CDC 6600
Colossus, Systems
Cray-1, Systems
EDSAC, Systems
Source Wikipedia: EDSAC
Gordon Moore, Pioneers
Source Wikipedia: Gordon Moore
Source Wikipedia: Harvard Mark I
Moore's Law, Concepts
Source Wikipedia: Moore's law
Source Wikipedia: Semiconductor
UNIVAC I, Systems
Source Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
Zuse Z3, Systems
Source Wikipedia: Z3 (computer)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Computer architecture
Wikipedia
  • Opening and History sections
    a computer architecture is the conceptual design and operational structure of a computer system that define how component parts are organized and interact to execute programs efficiently.
  • History section
    The first documented computer architecture was in the correspondence between Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, describing the analytical engine.
  • History
    John von Neumann's 1945 paper, First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, which described an organization of logical elements
View the Source
Wikipedia: Altair 8800
WikipediaIncludes: Altair 8800View the Source
Wikipedia: Assembly language
WikipediaIncludes: Assembly Language, IntroductionView the Source
Computer: A History of the Information Machine
Martin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray, Basic Books, 1996Associated With: John von Neumann
Wikipedia: Semiconductor
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Semiconductor, Lead sectionView the Source
Wikipedia: Moore's law
WikipediaIncludes: Moore's Law, History sectionView the Source
Wikipedia: Gordon Moore
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Gordon Moore, Scientific career sectionView the Source
Wikipedia: EDSAC
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: EDSAC, Lead sectionView the Source
Wikipedia: Z3 (computer)
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Zuse Z3, Lead sectionView the Source
Wikipedia: Harvard Mark I
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Harvard Mark I, Lead sectionView the Source
Wikipedia: CDC 6600
WikipediaIncludes: CDC 6600, Lead sectionView the Source
Wikipedia: Embedded system
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Embedded Systems, Lead sectionView the Source
Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
WikipediaIncludes: Von Neumann Architecture, Lead sectionView the Source
Approximate Computing (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Approximate Computing, Strategies section
Quote, Associated With: Approximate Computing, Strategies section
approximate adders, approximate multipliers and other logical circuits can reduce hardware overhead.
View the Source
Reconfigurable Computing (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Reconfigurable Computing, Lead section
Quote, Associated With: Reconfigurable Computing, Lead section
Reconfigurable computing is a computer architecture combining some of the flexibility of software with the high performance of hardware by processing with flexible hardware platforms like field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.