1

Chapter 7
Input/Output
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Evolution of the I/O Function

1.The CPU directly controls a peripheral device.

2.A controller or I/O module is added.
■The CPU uses programmed I/O without
interrupts.
3.Same configuration as in step 2 is used, but
now interrupts are employed.
■The CPU need not spend time waiting for an
I/O operation to be performed, thus
increasing efficiency.
 3

Evolution of the I/O Function

4.The I/O module is given direct access
to memory via DMA.
■ It can now move a block of data to or from
memory without involving the CPU, except
at the beginning and end of the transfer.

5.The I/O module is enhanced to become

a processor in its own right, with a
specialized instruction set tailored for
I/O
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Evolution of the I/O Function

6. The I/O module has a local memory of
its own and is, in fact, a computer in
its own right.
■With this architecture a large set of I/O
devices can be controlled with minimal CPU
involvement.
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I/O Channel Architecture

■The I/O channel represents an extension of the DMA concept.

■I/O channels
■ are interfaces or pathways used to transfer data between devices such as
hard drives, printers, and memory.

■An I/O channel has the ability to execute I/O instructions,

■which gives it complete control over I/O operations.

■In a computer system with such devices, the CPU does not
execute I/O instructions.
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I/O Channel Architecture

■ Such instructions are stored in main memory to be executed

by a special-purpose processor in the I/O channel itself (called
IO controller).
■ I/O channels can execute their own instructions, but they are
not designed for complex data processing.
■ I/O processors are the ones that handle more complicated data
manipulation tasks.
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I/O Channel Architecture

■The CPU initiates an I/O transfer by instructing the I/O

channel to execute a program in memory.
■The program will specify
■the device or devices,
■the area or areas of memory for storage,
■priority,
■and actions to be taken for certain error conditions.

■The I/O channel follows these instructions and controls

the data transfer.
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I/O Channel Architecture

■Two types of I/O channels are common, as illustrated in Figure
7.15.

■A selector channel
■A multiplexer channel
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I/O Channel Architecture

■A selector channel
■controls multiple high-speed devices and, at any one
time, is dedicated to the transfer of data with one of
those devices.
■Thus, the I/O channel selects one device and affects
the data transfer.
■Each device, or a small set of devices, is handled by a
controller, or I/O module,
■Thus, the I/O channel serves in place of the CPU in
controlling these I/O controllers.
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I/O Channel Architecture

■A multiplexor channel
■can handle I/O with multiple devices at the same time.
■For low-speed devices,
■a byte multiplexor accepts or transmits characters as
fast as possible to multiple devices.
■For example,
■the resultant character stream from three devices
with different rates and individual streams
A1A2A3A4 …, B1B2B3B4 …, and C1C2C3C4 …
might be A1B1C1A2C2A3B2C3A4, and so on.
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I/O Channel Architecture

■A multiplexor channel
■For high-speed devices,
■a block multiplexor interleaves blocks of data from
several devices.
 I/O
Channel Architecture
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Parallel and Serial I/O

■The interface to a peripheral from an I/O

module must be tailored to the nature and
operation of the peripheral.
■One major characteristic of the interface is
whether it is serial or parallel (Figure 7.16).
Parallel
and
Serial
I/O
Parallel and Serial I/O 15

■In a parallel interface,

■there are multiple lines connecting the I/O module
and the peripheral,
■multiple bits are transferred simultaneously,
■ just as all of the bits of a word are transferred
simultaneously over the data bus.
■A parallel interface has traditionally been used for
higher-speed peripherals, such as tape and disk.
Parallel
+ and Serial I/O 16

■In a serial interface,

■there is only one line used to transmit data,
■bits must be transmitted one at a time.
■the serial interface has traditionally been used
for printers and terminals.
Parallel
+ and Serial I/O 17

■With a new generations of high-speed serial

interfaces, parallel interfaces are becoming much
less common.
Point-to-Point and Multipoint
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Configurations
Connection between an I/O
module in a computer
system and external devices
can be either:

point-to-
point

multiport
Point-to-Point and Multipoint
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Configurations
Point-to-point interface provides a
dedicated line between the I/O
module and the external device

On small systems (PCs, workstations)

typical point-to-point links include those
to the keyboard, printer, and external
modem

Example is EIA-232 specification

Point-to-Point and Multipoint
20

Configurations

Multipoint external interfaces are used to support

external mass storage devices (disk and tape drives)
and multimedia devices (CD-ROMs, video, audio)

Are in effect
external
buses
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Homework

Write an essay about the I/O

technologies in the coming slides
(use your won words and handprinted)
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Thunderbolt

■Most recent and fastest peripheral

connection technology to become available
for general-purpose use
■Developed by Intel with collaboration from
Apple
■The technology combines data, video,
audio, and power into a single high-speed
connection for peripherals such as hard
drives, RAID arrays, video-capture boxes,
and network interfaces
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Thunderbolt
■Provides up to 10 Gbps throughput in each direction
and up to 10 Watts of power to connected
peripherals
■A Thunderbolt-compatible peripheral interface is
considerably more complex than a simple USB
device.
■First generation products are primarily aimed at the
professional-consumer market such as audiovisual
editors who want to be able to move large volumes
of data quickly between storage devices and laptops
■Thunderbolt is a standard feature of Apple’s
MacBook Pro laptop and iMac desktop computers
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InfiniBand

■Recent I/O specification aimed at the high-

end server market
■First version was released in early 2001
■Standard describes an architecture and
specifications for data flow among
processors and intelligent I/O devices
■Has become a popular interface for storage
area networking and other large storage
configurations
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InfiniBand

■Enables servers, remote storage, and

other network devices to be attached in
a central fabric of switches and links
■The switch-based architecture can
connect up to 64,000 servers, storage
systems, and networking devices
InfiniBand Switch Fabric
26
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InfiniBand Operation

■Each physical link between a switch and

an attached interface can support up to 16
logical channels, called virtual lanes
■One lane is reserved for fabric
management and the other lanes for data
transport
■A virtual lane is temporarily dedicated to
the transfer of data from one end node to
another over the InfiniBand fabric
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InfiniBand Operation

■The InfiniBand switch maps traffic from an

incoming lane to an outgoing lane to route
the data between the desired end points

■A layered protocol architecture is used,

consisting of four layers:
■Physical
■Link
■Network
■Transport
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Table 7.3
InfiniBand Links and Data
Throughput Rates
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zEnterprise 196
■Introduced in 2010
■IBM’s latest mainframe computer
offering (till 2013)
■System is based on the use of the z196
chip
■5.2 GHz multi-core chip with four cores
■Can have a maximum of 24 processor chips
(96 cores)

■Has a dedicated I/O subsystem that

manages all I/O operations
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zEnterprise 196
■Of the 96 core processors, up to 4 of
these can be dedicated for I/O use,
creating 4 channel subsystems (CSS)
■Each CSS is made up of the following
elements:
■System assist processor (SAP)
■Hardware system area (HSA)
■Logical partitions
■Subchannels
■Channel path
■Channel
I/O System Organization
32
IBM z196 I/O System Structure
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