Larger computers
In this part of the book, we consider how we can extend the basic techniques used in the G80 to make a microprocessor capable of meeting the demands of a modern general-purpose personal computer as found on desks throughout the world. In this chapter, we take a brief look at the history of the development of general-purpose computers, look more closely at the organization of memory within a computer, introduce the locality of reference properties of a program, and identify the major components of an operating system.
14.1 General-purpose computers
The computers we have considered up to now are intended to run just one program. The program code is written into a ROM device and thus appears in the computer memory space, ready ...
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