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Internet of Things (IoT).RISC-V
Computer Science Can you explain the significance of
understanding Instruction Set Architecture
for programmers and computer engineers
in developing software for different
computer architectures?
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Examples of Instruction Set
Architectures (ISA)
(a) Intel x86: This is a widely used ISA,
particularly in personal computers
and servers. It supports both CISC
and RISC-like instructions, making
it versatile for various computing
tasks. Despite its complexity, it Types of instructions
remains dominant in the PC market
and is continuously evolving to meet
modern computational demands.
Common examples of Intel x86
power processors are Intel Celeron,
Intel Pentium, Intel core family of
processors (i3, i5, i7).
(b) ARMv8 (AArch64): The successor
to ARMv7, offering both 32-bit and
64-bit instruction sets for improved
performance and legacy application
support. It is increasingly used
on high-end mobile devices and
servers. ARMv8 powers processors
such as; Amazon Graviton2 (server
for cloud computing), Samsung
Exynos 990/2100, Apple A13/
A14/A15 Bionic and Qualcomm
Snapdragon 855/865/888 are all used
in smartphones.
(c) RISC-V: A relatively new, open-
source RISC architecture gaining
traction due to its flexibility and
customizability. It is well-suited
for emerging applications like the
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Computer Science Form 5.indd 52
(d) Custom Instruction Set
powers processors include NVIDIA
Grace CPU and SiFive Core IP
Architectures (ISAs): Many
companies and research institutions
are developing custom ISAs tailored
for specific applications like machine
learning or network processing. These
often combine elements of RISC
and CISC philosophies for optimal
performance within their niche.
In most ISAs, you will find the following
common types of instructions:
(a) Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
instructions
These instructions perform basic
mathematical and logical operations on
data using the ALU (Arithmetic Logic
Unit) within the CPU. Examples include:
(i) Arithmetic: add, sub, mul, div
(addition, subtraction, multiplication,
division)
(ii) Logical: and, or, xor, not (bitwise
AND, OR, XOR, NOT)
(iii) Shift: shl, shr (shift left, shift right)
(iv) Compare: cmp, eq, gt, lt (compare,
equal to, greater than, less than)
(b) Data transfer instructions
These instructions move data between
various locations within the computer
system. Examples include:
(i) Load: lw (load word), lb (load
byte) (transfer data from memory
to registers)
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23/07/2024 12:32