14.11.2012 Views

PC Architecture. A book by Michael B. Karbo

PC Architecture. A book by Michael B. Karbo

PC Architecture. A book by Michael B. Karbo

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Copyright <strong>Michael</strong> <strong>Karbo</strong> and ELI Aps., Denmark, Europe.<br />

● Next chapter.<br />

● Previous chapter.<br />

Chapter 38. The <strong>PC</strong>’s I/O system<br />

There are a lot of I/O ports in the <strong>PC</strong>’s architecture, with their associated I/O devices and standards. I/O stands for<br />

Input/Output, and these ports can both send and receive data from the processor and RAM.<br />

The I/O system provides flexibility<br />

The use of I/O devices has contributed to making the <strong>PC</strong> an incredibly flexible machine. Computers can be used for<br />

anything from normal office tasks, processing text and numbers, to image processing using scanners and cameras,<br />

to producing video, light and music.<br />

The <strong>PC</strong> can also be used industrially. In 1987-88 I worked in a company that produced special <strong>PC</strong>’s which could<br />

control the production of concrete. This was achieved using special I/O cards which could monitor the weighing of<br />

sand, gravel, cement and water. The core of the system was a standard office <strong>PC</strong> from Olivetti.<br />

This particularly flexible architecture is based on an I/O system which can be extended almost without limit. This is<br />

one place we really see the <strong>PC</strong>’s open architecture: any engineer or technician can, in principle, develop their own<br />

plug-in cards and other special devices, if they just meet one of the I/O standards. The opportunities for extension<br />

really are unlimited!<br />

In the following chapters we will look at the various I/O buses which link the <strong>PC</strong>’s other devices with the CPU and<br />

RAM.<br />

19. Intro to the I/O system<br />

During the last 10-15 years we have seen numerous technological innovations, the goal of which has been to<br />

increase the amount of traffic in the <strong>PC</strong>. This increase in traffic has taken place in the motherboard – with the<br />

system bus at the centre.<br />

But the high clock frequencies and the large capacity for data transfer also affect the I/O system. Demands are<br />

being made for faster hard disks and greater bandwidth to and from external devices such as scanners and<br />

cameras. This has led to ongoing development of the I/O controllers in the south bridge.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!