The design of the communication channels between CPU, memory, and peripheral devices, including the data bus, address bus, and control bus.
Bus topology: The physical layout of a bus architecture and how devices connect to it.
Bus width: The number of bits that can be transmitted at one time on a bus; this determines the maximum amount of data that can be transferred between devices.
Bus speed: The rate at which data can be transferred on a bus; this is typically measured in MHz or GB/s.
Synchronous vs. Asynchronous buses: The difference between synchronous and asynchronous buses and their advantages and disadvantages.
Address and data buses: The distinction between an address bus and a data bus and how they are used to transmit information between devices.
Interrupt requests (IRQs): How devices request attention from the CPU using IRQs, and how they are prioritized.
Direct Memory Access (DMA): How devices can access system memory directly without going through the CPU.
Control and Status Registers (CSRs): Registers used by devices to control and report on their status on a bus.
Input/output (I/O) space: How devices are mapped to the system's I/O space, and how the CPU accesses them.
Arbitration on Bus: How multiple devices on a bus coordinate to access the bus.
Bus protocols: The different communication protocols used by devices on a bus, such as PCI or USB.
Bus bridges: How bus bridges can connect two different bus architectures, allowing devices to communicate between them.
Bus faults and errors: How to handle bus faults, errors, and other types of communication issues.
Bus expansion: How to expand a bus architecture to support more devices or higher data transfer rates.
Bus types and variations: Understanding of different types of buses such as system bus, memory bus, peripheral bus, etc.
Bus architecture standards: Understanding of industry standard bus architecture like ISA, PCI, AGP, USB, etc.
Single Bus Architecture: In this architecture, all the devices connected to the bus share the same set of address and data lines, resulting in a single point of contention for data access.
Dual Bus Architecture: In this architecture, two separate buses are used to connect the CPU and memory units. One bus is used for data transfer while the other is used for instruction transfer, controlling the data flow for higher performance.
Tri-Bus Architecture: This type of architecture separates the data, instruction, and I/O buses to reduce the congestion and contention on a single bus.
Multi-Bus Architecture: In this architecture, multiple buses are used to provide parallel data and instruction transfers. This helps improve the overall performance and reduces contention among different components.
Crossbar Architecture: This architecture provides a switch-like environment where components can communicate with each other using a combination of rows and columns. It is commonly used in high-speed computer systems.
Point-to-Point Architecture: This architecture connects two devices directly using dedicated wires, providing faster data transfer rates between components.
Peer-to-Peer Architecture: In this architecture, two processors communicate with each other using a common bus, allowing them to share data and work on the same task.
Backplane Architecture: A backplane architecture is a bus system specifically designed for use with computer networks. The backplane has a series of connectors that provide a physical interface for network devices such as network interface cards and switches.
Front Side Bus Architecture: This architecture connects the CPU to the system memory and input/output devices, providing a high-speed pathway for data transfer between the components.
Hypertransport Architecture: This architecture is a high-speed, point-to-point interconnect technology used to connect various computer components such as CPUs, graphics cards, and routers. It provides a fast, low-latency, and scalable data transfer solution.