ABSTRACT
A top-level functional decomposition of a computer may be made yielding a requirement for the following components…
• Processor • Memory • External communication (Input/Output or I/O)
A computer system may typically be broken down into a number of components called devices, each of which implements, or cooperates in implementing, one or other system function. A minimum of one device is required to implement each function1. The use of multiple devices cooperating to implement memory and external communication is commonplace and is discussed in this chapter. Systems with multiple processor devices are rapidly becoming more common but suffer complication and are outside the scope of this book.
