Question

b. What technique was used before the BIOS existed in early transistor and microprocessor based computers to boot or start them running code after a power on?

c. Explain how a computer family's "architecture" can remain the same for many years even as the technology used to build the family's members changes drastically.

Answer 1

b..... A microprocessor is a computer processor that incorporates the functions of a central processing unit on a single (or more) integrated circuit (IC) of MOSFET construction. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, clock-driven, register-based, digital integrated circuit that accepts binary data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results (also in binary form) as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential digital logic. Microprocessors operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary number system

The integration of a whole CPU onto a single or a few integrated circuits using Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) greatly reduced the cost of processing power. Integrated circuit processors are produced in large numbers by highly automated metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) fabrication processes, resulting in a low unit price. Single-chip processors increase reliability because there are many fewer electrical connections that could fail. As microprocessor designs improve, the cost of manufacturing a chip (with smaller components built on a semiconductor chip the same size) generally stays the same according to Rock's law.

computing, booting (or booting up) is the initialization of a computerized system. The system can be a computer or a computer appliance. The booting process can be “hard”, after electrical power to the CPU is switched from off to on (in order to diagnose particular hardware errors), or “soft,” when thosepower-on self-tests (POST) can be avoided. Soft booting can be initiated by hardware such as a button press, or by software command. Booting is complete when the normal, operative, runtime environment is attained.

A boot loader is a computer program that loads an operating system or some other system software for the computer after completion of the power-on self-tests; it is the loader for the operating system itself, which has its own loader for loading ordinary user programs and libraries. Within the hard reboot process, it runs after completion of the self-tests, then loads and runs the software. A boot loader is loaded into main memory from persistent memory, such as a hard disk drive or, in some older computers, from a medium such as punched cards, punched tape, or magnetic tape. The boot loader then loads and executes the processes that finalize the boot. Like POST processes, the boot loader code comes from a “hard-wired” and persistent location; if that location is too limited for some reason, that primary boot loader calls a second-stage boot loader or a secondary program loader.

C.....

1 - Computer Architecture is a set of three components that describe:

• the functionality: Instruction Set Architecture design (highest-level) - runtime that implements a instruction set

• the organization: Computer Organization (microarchitecture) design (middle-level) - the functional view of the design of a computer

• the implementation: Hardware (lowest-level) - implementation - the hardware component

2 - Articles Related

• Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
• CPU - Word
• Data Processing - Data Flow (ETL | Workflow | Pipeline)
• Computer - Organization (microarchitecture)
• Computer - Hardware

3 - Sames ISA different Organization

Two computers may have the same ISA, but different organizations. Both AMD and Intel processors implement x86 ISA, but the hardware components of each processor that make up the environments for the ISA are not the same.