Computer Architecture

Definition

And here is the Question... : What is Computer Architecture??
Well, as a beginner in PhD yet, I prefer to give the simplest definition given from the most ...'complex' computer Architects:

"Computer Architecture is the science and art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals. Computer architecture is not about using computers to design buildings."

I also like a definition given by Prof. Christos Kozyrakis @ Stanford:

Computer theorists invent algorithms that solve important problems and analyze their asymptotic behavior
(e.g. O(NlogN) or O(N3)).
Computer architects set the constant factors for these algorithms…

"Computer architecture is very different from other fields of computer science and engineering. Architects don’t do much mathematical modeling and they can rarely prove the optimality of their ideas. The systems they play with are too complex for most theoretical approaches. However, architects are really good at building computer systems that work and work well.

Several colleagues from other engineering fields like to mock the empirical nature of computer architecture and the lack of mathematical sophistication of most systems research. The definition is designed to remind them that, at the end of the day, it is the systems built by computer architects that run all the algorithms they develop and determine practical effectiveness the algorithms. Computer architects measure and, more often, set the constants associated with the asymptotic analysis of all algorithms. So be nice to your architect friends J "

For me is... what I like.

Interesting Links

• Computer Architecture, Systems & Technology Lab at Pitt (CAST)
• Computer Architecture Lab at Carnegie Mellon (CALM)
• WWW Computer Architecture Page
• EETimes - Global News for the creators of technology
• Chip-Multiprocessing resources
• VLSI conference list