Humans are the most evolving species out of any living organisms on the planet. This is why the definition of intelligence varies with the variety of human minds. As a result, no one definition is universally accepted. Some state, “it is the ability to plan, reason and solve problems,” while others state it is the “evolution of the human brain”. Whatever the definition is, there is no denying that human intelligence is a much-studied and debated topic.
There have been several investigators investigating what human intelligence exactly is. Different psychologists emphasized different aspects of intelligence to derive their definitions. However, almost all of them agree that adaptation to the environment is one of the critical components of determining human intelligence. But whether humans have acquired sufficient knowledge to manage their responsibilities is still a matter of debate.
Human intelligence has been evolving since 10 million years ago, and ever since then, there have been several changes in how the world perceives things. One such widely acclaimed field of human intelligence is computer architecture. It is simply amazing to see how the simple logic of converting data storage can give rise to an entirely new algorithm and architecture. If you are wondering about the relationship between the human brain and computer architecture, read this blog to understand better.
What Is Computer Architecture?
Computer architecture details the specification of how a set of hardware and software interacts to form a platform or computer system. It is simply the logic behind GPU, CPU and other memory and computing units inside the computer system. It consists of the methods and rules or procedures involved in the functionality and implementation of the computer systems. Earlier computer architecture was designed on paper that was then built with a hardware form. But now, it is created as per the users’ needs by keeping in mind the financial and economic constraints. Many University students who are studying Computer architecture tends to take assignment help for it.
Once built, it is tried, formed and rested in the hardware form. Therefore, computer architecture is all about a computer system’s performance, reliability, efficiency, and cost. It also deals with the hardware and software technology standards. There are five different types of computer architecture as mentioned below:
- Von-Neumann Architecture- Proposed by John Von-Neumann, it deals with and talks about the memory of a computer system.
- Harvard Architecture is used when code and data are present in different memory blocks, and a separate memory block is required to process instruction and data.
- Instruction Set Architecture requires a particular set of instructions that the processor understands, like RISC or CISC.
- Microarchitecture- It is the way by which instruction set architecture is built in a processor. It is also known as a computer organization.
- System Design- this design satisfies user requirements such as module, interface, architecture and data and is connected to the product development.
The Evolution Of Computer Architecture With The Enhancement OF Human Intelligence
Computer Architecture starts as early as 1940 and is continuously evolving. With the growth in human intelligence, the face of computers also seems to be changing. To understand the changes better, let us look into the various generations of computer architecture:
- First Generation (1940-1950)
Computer architecture begins with a magic tube known as a Vaccum tube. The first generation of computer architecture used vacuum tubes as the primary logic unit. It used two basic computing models, namely the Von-Neumann and Harvard architecture. This era saw the rise of computer language, machine language and sequential execution or assembly language. It used a magnetic core or drum memory, and data and programmes were loaded using punch cards or paper tape around 2KB. Some of the features of the computers during this period are:
- Electron emitting devices.
- Programs and data are stored in a single read and write memory device.
- Memory contents can be addressed by content or location.
- Second Generation (1950-1964)
The second generation of computer architecture saw the rise of transistors. During this era, the size of computers has shrunken significantly. However, there was one crucial component that was invented during this era. It was what we now call Operating System (OS). The features of the computer during this time are as follows:
- On and off switches that can be controlled by electricity.
- Languages of high level with floating-point arithmetic.
- Computational time is reduced from milliseconds to microseconds.
- The first operating system handled only one program at a time.
- Third Generation (1964-1974)
This generation saw a further reduction in the size of the computer and increased readability. This is also when scientists found a way to combine thousands of transistors into a single unit. This gave rise to what is known today as an integrated circuit. Integrated circuits have two main advantages-performance and cost. However, there is also a disadvantage of this invention. Designing and fabricating the required photomasks for integrated circuits involves a lot of money. But let us look at some of the features of computers during this time:
- Usage of cache memory and semiconductor memory of around 2 MB
- Various computer models with diversified performance characteristics
- Smaller computers that eliminated the need for any specialized room
- Fourth Generation (1974-Present)
Ever since 1974, computers have been rapidly evolving. This was the era when Personal Computers were a need of every household. It saw the use of very-large-scale integration (VLSI) in the process of creating an integrated circuit. It combined millions of MOS transistors into a single small chip. The features of computers during this time are:
- The emergence of single-board computers and the usage of single-chip processors
- Data communication began to be used widely.
- Object oriented programming came into play.
Ever since 2017, computer architecture saw the invention of Zen architecture. The first was introduced by AMD and was known as CPU Ryzen 7 1800X. Its IPS can help rise to 304,520 MIPS at 3.6GHz.
Final Thoughts
Computer Architecture and processors indeed have evolved a lot ever since they first started. However, you need to remember that it is not the processor that is smart but the human brain that develops it. As a result, computer architecture and developers have become more powerful and sophisticated. They can now sequentially execute instructions and carry out out-of-order execution in the blink of an eye. Moreover, the evolution of the human brain saw the journey of machine language combining 0 and inventing an operating system that went from the size of a room to being thinner than your storybooks.
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