Logical Organization of a Computer and Stored Program Concept

LOGICAL ORGANIZATION OF A COMPUTER:

The following diagram shows the logical organization of a Computer-

This is also known as the von Neumann Architecture.

The von Neumann architecture is a design model for a stored-program digital computer that uses a central processing unit (CPU) and a single separate storage structure ("memory") to hold both instructions and data.

• 
  
  It is named after the mathematician and early computer scientist John von Neumann.

STORED PROGRAM CONCEPT:

A stored-program digital computer is one that keeps its programmed instructions, as well as its data, in read-write, random-access memory (RAM).

Stored-program computers were an advancement over the program-controlled computers of the 1940s, such as the Colossus and the ENIAC, which were programmed by setting switches and inserting patch leads to route data and to control signals between various functional units.

• 
  
  The terms von Neumann architecture and stored-program computer are generally used interchangeably.