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CS3351-DIGITAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION

UNIT V
MEMORY AND I/O

SYLLABUS

Memory Concepts and Hierarchy – Memory Management – Cache Memories:

Mapping and Replacement Techniques – Virtual Memory – DMA – I/O –
Accessing I/O: Parallel and Serial Interface – Interrupt I/O – Interconnection
Standards: USB, SATA

SERIAL & PARALLEL INTERFACE

Serial Interface
Serial communication is the process of sequentially transferring the
information/bits on the same channel.
Due to this, the cost of wire will be reduced, but it slows the transmission speed.
Generally, communication can be described as the process of interchanging
information between individuals in the form of audio, video, verbal words, and
written documents.
The serial protocol is run on every device that can be our mobile, personal
computers, and many more with the help of following some protocols.
The protocol is a type of reliable and secure form of communication that
contains a set of rules addressed with the help of a source host and a destination
host.
In serial communication, binary pulses are used to show the data. Binary
contains the two numbers 0 and 1. 0 is used to show the LOW or 0 Volts, and 1
is used to show the HIGH or 5 Volts.

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Parallel Interface
There is another type of interface known as parallel interface, which is
described as follows:
Parallel interface is used to transmit a huge amount of data signals
simultaneously on the different channels within the same radio path or cable at a
time.
It is used to comprise a huge amount of wired channels in parallel.
In parallel communication, the data transfer between sender and receiver is done
with the help of multiple channels.
The data bus in the parallel devices is wider as compared to the serial devices.
That's why it can transfer the data from source to destination at a time.
The parallel transmission bit rate is higher as compared to the serial
transmission bit rate.

The costs of multiple wires are higher as compared to the single wire.
The parallel cable gets longer that's why it requires a high cost. If the distance is
larger, synchronization timing between more than one channel becomes more
sensitive.
A constant clocking signal is used to provide the timing in parallel
communication.
The signal is sent with the help of a separate wire within the parallel cable. So
we can say parallel communication is synchronous.

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Advantages of Serial communication over Parallel communication

Mostly people have a misconception that the parallel ports/buses are faster than
the serial ports/buses because, in serial communication, the data transmission is
only a bit per unit of time. Even the parallel buses will be clocked considerably
at a slower rate as compared to the serial buses.
There are various factors that are used to specify that serial communication is
better than parallel communication, which is described as follows:

No Clock Required: If there is a case of the asynchronous and unclocked type of

serial communication, the problem related to the clock skew between channels will
not exist.

Need less Space: At the time of configuration of serial communication, it needs

less amount of space because the serial connection needs less amount of cable.

No Cross Talks: The serial communication contains fewer amounts of conductors

in the nearby space. That's why the possibility of cross-talk is rare.

Low cost: The serial communication contains the serial link. The cost of this link is
less than the parallel link.

Difference between a Serial Interface and a Parallel Interface

Sn Serial Interface Parallel Interface

1 Speed is low Speed is high

2 Less number of wires More wires

3 Deliver single stream of data Deliver multiple stream of data

In a serial port, male ports are While in a parallel port, female

4
involved. ports are involved.
Serial ports are typically implemented Parallel ports are typically implemented
5 in modems, connecting devices, in zip-drives, printers, hard drives, CD-
security cameras and controllers. ROM drives, etc

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CS3351-DIGITAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION

USB

USB or Universal Serial Bus is one of the interfaces that help to connect a
variety of peripherals like printers, scanners, digital cameras, keyboards, flash
drives, mice, mobile devices, and more to a computer for data exchange or
control purposes.
Besides, it also can provide power to some peripherals like Flash memory
sticks, disc drives, and the like so that each item doesn’t need separate power
sources.

USB Interface Specification

Any USB interface connects two devices: host and a peripheral.
Here the Host means by which the data communication is managed by relevant
driver software.
For example, if you connect a Pen drive to a computer then the computer here is
a Host and the Pen drive is peripheral.
You can connect many peripherals to a single host device by extending a single
USB port to multiple USB ports using just an extension hub.
USB Interface has mainly two important aspects: support capability and total
bandwidth.
It can support up to127 peripherals and has a total bandwidth of 1.5 MB per
second.

USB Interface Version and Data Transfer Rates

USB Interface Version Data Transfer Rates

Low speed: 1.5 Mbps

USB 1
Full speed: 12 Mbps

USB 2 480 Mbps

USB 3.0 5 Gbps

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CS3351-DIGITAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION

Advantages of USB
• Ease of use
• Acceptable data rate for many applications
• Robust connector system
• Variety of connector types / sizes available
• Low cost
Disadvantages of USB
• Data transfer not as fast as some other systems
• Limited capability & overall performance
• Distance − As per the USB standards, the connecting cable can be seeing 5
meters, further which, USB hubs require to be used for enlarging the
connectivity.
• Broadcasting − Universal Serial Bus does not support the broadcasting
nature, only single messages can be connected between the host and
peripheral.

USB Architecture
When multiple I/O devices are connected to the computer through USB they all
are organized in a tree structure.
Each I/O device makes a point-to-point connection and transfers data using
the serial transmission format we have discussed serial transmission in our
previous content ‘interface circuit’.
As we know a tree structure has a root, nodes and leaves.
The tree structure connecting I/O devices to the computer using USB has nodes
which are also referred to as a hub.
Hub is the intermediatory connecting point between the I/O devices and the
computer.
Every tree has a root here, it is referred to as the root hub which connects the
entire tree to the hosting computer.
The leaves of the tree here are nothing but the I/O devices such as a mouse,
keyboard, camera, speaker.

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CS3351-DIGITAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION

The USB works on the principle of polling. In polling, the processor keeps on
checking whether the I/O device is ready for data transfer or not.
So, the devices do not have to inform the processor about any of their statuses.
It is the processor’s responsibility to keep a check.
This makes the USB simple and low cost.
Whenever a new device is connected to the hub it is addressed as 0.
Now at a regular interval the host computer polls all the hubs to get their status
which lets the host know of I/O devices that are either detached from the system
or are attached to the system.

Types of USB Connectors

The USB has different types of ports and connectors.
Usually, the upstream port and connector are always the USB type A the
downstream port and connector differ depending on the type of device
connected.
We will discuss all types of the USB connector.

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CS3351-DIGITAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION

USB Type A: This is the standard connector that can be found at one end of the
USB cable and is also known as upstream. It has a flat structure and has four
connecting lines as you can see in the image below.

USB Type B: This is an older standard cable and was used to connect the
peripheral devices also referred to as downstream. It is approximately a square as
you can see in the image below. This is now been replaced by the newer versions.

Mini USB: This type of USB is compatible with mobile devices. This type of USB
is now superseded your micro-USB still you will get it on some devices.

Micro USB: This type of USB is found on newer mobile devices. It has a compact
5 pin design.

USB Type C: This type of USB is used for transferring both data and power to the
attached peripheral or I/O device. The USB C does not have a fixed orientation as it
is reversible i.e. you can plug it upside down or in reverse.

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CS3351-DIGITAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION

SATA

Serial ATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or SATA) is a command

and transport protocol that defines how data is transferred between a computer's
motherboard and mass storage devices, such as hard disk drives (HDDs), optical
drives and solid-state drives (SSDs).
As its name implies, SATA is based on serial signaling technology, where data
is transferred as a sequence of individual bits.
SATA refers to the communication protocol itself and the industry standards
adhered to by the OEMs that produce SATA-compatible cables, connectors and
drives.

SATA is a serial version of the Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) specification

for PATA hard drives that use parallel signaling.
SATA cables are thinner, more flexible and less massive than the ribbon cables
required for conventional PATA hard drives.

SATA standards and revisions

The nonprofit SATA-IO industry consortium authors the technical
specifications governing Serial ATA device interfaces.
The consortium revises SATA standards to reflect increased data transfer rates.
These revisions include the following changes:

• SATA Revision 1. These devices were widely used in personal desktop and
office computers, configured from PATA drives daisy chained together in a
primary/secondary configuration. SATA Revision 1 devices reached a top
transfer rate of 1.5 Gbps.
• SATA Revision 2. These devices doubled the transfer speed to 3.2 Gbps
with the inclusion of port multipliers, port selectors and improved queue
depth.
• SATA Revision 3. These interfaces supported drive transfer rates up to 6
Gbps. Revision 3 drives are backward-compatible with SATA Revision 1
and Revision 2 devices, though with lower transfer speeds.

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CS3351-DIGITAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION

SATA vs PATA
Both SATA and PATA are the versions of ATA which connects the host
systems and storage device internally. PATA is a predecessor of SATA.

The following table describes the differences between Serial ATA and Parallel ATA:

SATA PATA

1. The expanded form of SATA is Serial 1. The expanded form of PATA is Parallel
Advanced Technology Attachment. Advanced Technology Attachment.

2. SATA technology is the new and current 2. PATA technology is outdated and is
standard and highly used in today's world. already obsolete.

3. In comparison to PATA, the cost of 3. In comparison to SATA, the cost of PATA

SATA is less. is high.

4. The rate of data transfer is higher than the 4. The rate of data transfer is lower than the
Parallel ATA. Serial ATA.

4. In comparison to PATA, the size of the 5. In comparison to SATA, the size of the
cable is small. cable is large.

6. In comparison to PATA, SATA 6. In comparison to SATA, PATA consumes

consumes less power. high power.

Advantages of SATA

Nowadays, SATA is commonly used in all computers because of the following

advantages:

1. The main advantage is that the SATA provides a high transfer speed of data.
It easily transfers 150 - 600 MB per second. The high speed of Serial ATA
allows the picture and larger documents to open faster.

2. Another big advantage of SATA is that it is more effective and consumes

less power than other hard drives.

3. The SATA cables are thin and flat. Hence, it is less complicated.
And, the SATA interface has less number of cables. So, it allows more
airflow inside your computer systems.

4. Flexibility is also an advantage of SATA because the length of the SATA

cable is long, i.e., 39 inches.

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CS3351-DIGITAL PRINCIPLES AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION

5. We can easily use four to six hard drives simultaneously because of the
multiple SATA connection on the motherboard of the computer system.

6. An important advantage is that the SATA drives allow you to remove the
drive from your computers without shutting them down.

7. SATA drives offer hot swapping and can be easily used as a USB flash
drive. But, IDE / PATA hard drives do not provide the feature of hot-
swapping.

Disadvantages of SATA

With the advantages of SATA, it also has few disadvantages, which are discussed
below:

1. The first disadvantage of SATA is that it requires a special device driver to

maintain and use the drives in your computer systems.

2. Another disadvantage is that the Windows 95 and 98 operating systems do

not support SATA drives because these were released before the invention
of SATA.

3. The main and final disadvantage is that the SATA cable connects only one
SATA drive at a time. But, one PATA cable connects two PATA drive at the
same time.

Prepared By S.PRABU Ass.Prof. AI&DS Department, KVCET