Academic Domain: Computer Organization & Operating Systems
The Computer
The Machine That Executes Thought
The Architecture of Execution
The Code asked: How do I write the instructions? The Computer asks: What actually happens to those instructions? This is the study of the physical and systemic machine—how it fetches logic, commands electricity, manages memory, negotiates with devices, and maintains the illusion of an infinite, multitasking reality.
PROGRAM →
INSTRUCTION →
CPU →
CACHE →
MEMORY →
I/O →
OPERATING SYSTEM →
PROCESS →
RESOURCE →
USER
The 15 Realms of the Machine
Complete Organization & Operating System Architecture
REALM 01
The Computer as a Machine
- Architecture vs Organization
- Von Neumann Architecture
- Hardware & Firmware
- Functional Units Overview
The Central Processor
ALU
CU
- Control Unit (Hardwired/Micro)
- ALU Operations & Flags
- General & Special Registers
- Datapath & Internal Buses
The Instruction
- Fetch-Decode-Execute Cycle
- Instruction Format (Opcode)
- Addressing Modes
- Instruction Classes (Data/Branch)
The Processor's Language
- RISC vs CISC Architecture
- Assembly-Level Execution
- Branching & Subroutines
- Stack Frames & Calls
The Memory Hierarchy
REG
CACHE
MAIN MEMORY
DISK
- Speed, Cost & Capacity Trade-offs
- Cache Mapping (Direct/Assoc)
- Hit/Miss & Replacement Policies
- RAM, ROM & Expansion
Memory Management
- Logical vs Physical Addresses
- Paging & Page Tables (TLB)
- Virtual Memory & Page Faults
- Page Replacement (FIFO, LRU)
Input / Output Architecture
- Programmed I/O & Polling
- Interrupt-Driven I/O
- Direct Memory Access (DMA)
- Device Interfaces & Interfacing
The Interconnection
- Data, Address & Control Buses
- Bus Arbitration & Bandwidth
- Serial vs Parallel Interfaces
- System Performance & Clock Cycle
Pipelining & Performance
F
D
E
M
W
F
D
E
M
F
D
E
- Instruction Pipelining Stages
- Data, Control & Structural Hazards
- Superscalar Execution
- CPI & Execution Time Analysis
Parallel Computing
- SISD, SIMD, MIMD Classification
- Multicore Systems
- Shared vs Distributed Memory
- Cache Coherence
The Operating System
USER SPACE
KERNEL SPACE
HARDWARE
- OS Functions & Hardware Abstraction
- Kernel Structures (Monolithic/Micro)
- System Calls & User/Kernel Mode
- Protection & Privilege Levels
The Process & Scheduling
NEW
READY
RUN
WAIT
TERM
- Process States & PCB
- Threads & Context Switching
- CPU Scheduling (FCFS, SJF, RR)
- Scheduling Metrics (Turnaround/Wait)
Concurrency & Deadlock
🔒
P1
P2
- Race Conditions & Critical Sections
- Mutex, Semaphores & Monitors
- Deadlock Conditions & Avoidance
- Banker's Algorithm & Safe States
File Systems & Disks
- File Concepts & Directory Structures
- Allocation (Contiguous/Linked/Indexed)
- Disk Structure (Sectors/Tracks)
- Disk Scheduling (SCAN, C-SCAN)
15 — The Computer Laboratory
[1] CPU PERFORMANCE [2] CACHE HIT/MISS [3] PIPELINE SPEEDUP [4] CPU SCHEDULING GANTT [5] PAGE REPLACEMENT
The synthesis of hardware organization and software management. Calculating execution times, mapping cache memory locations, running process scheduling algorithms, and resolving deadlocks.