A Dualistic Model To Describe Computer Architectures

Peter Nitezki; Michael Engel

doi:10.1117/12.946559

11 July 1985 A Dualistic Model To Describe Computer Architectures

Peter Nitezki, Michael Engel

Proceedings Volume 0534, Architectures and Algorithms for Digital Image Processing II; (1985) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.946559
Event: 1985 Los Angeles Technical Symposium, 1985, Los Angeles, United States

Abstract

The Dualistic Model for Computer Architecture Description uses a hierarchy of abstraction levels to describe a computer in arbitrary steps of refinement from the top of the user interface to the bottom of the gate level. In our Dualistic Model the description of an architecture may be divided into two major parts called "Concept" and "Realization". The Concept of an architecture on each level of the hierarchy is an Abstract Data Type that describes the functionality of the computer and an implementation of that data type relative to the data type of the next lower level of abstraction. The Realization on each level comprises a language describing the means of user interaction with the machine, and a processor interpreting this language in terms of the language of the lower level. The surface of each hierarchical level, the data type and the language express the behaviour of a ma-chine at this level, whereas the implementation and the processor describe the structure of the algorithms and the system. In this model the Principle of Operation maps the object and computational structure of the Concept onto the structures of the Realization. Describing a system in terms of the Dualistic Model is therefore a process of refinement starting at a mere description of behaviour and ending at a description of structure. This model has proven to be a very valuable tool in exploiting the parallelism in a problem and it is very transparent in discovering the points where par-allelism is lost in a special architecture. It has successfully been used in a project on a survey of Computer Architecture for Image Processing and Pattern Analysis in Germany.

Citation Download Citation

Peter Nitezki and Michael Engel "A Dualistic Model To Describe Computer Architectures", Proc. SPIE 0534, Architectures and Algorithms for Digital Image Processing II, (11 July 1985); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.946559

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available