What is a computer bus: interface, types, architecture

In computing, a bus is defined as a set of physical connections (for example, cables, printed circuits, etc.) that multiple hardware components can share in order to communicate with one another. The purpose of buses is to reduce the number of pathways needed for communication between the components by carrying out all communications over a single data channel. This is why the metaphor of a data highway is sometimes used.

What are the computer bus characteristics?

If only two hardware components communicate over the line, it is called a hardware port (such as a port or parallel port).

There are different types of computer buses. A bus is characterized by the amount of information that can be transmitted at once. This amount, expressed in bits, corresponds to the number of physical lines over which data is sent simultaneously. A 32-wire ribbon cable can transmit 32 bits in parallel. The term width refers to the number of bits a bus can transmit at once.

Additionally, the bus speed is defined by its frequency (expressed in Hertz), the number of data packets sent or received per second. Each time that data is sent or received is called a cycle.

It is possible to find the maximum transfer speed of the bus or the amount of data it can transport per unit of time by multiplying its width by frequency. For example, a bus with a width of 16 bits and a frequency of 133 MHz has a transfer speed equal to:

16 * 133.106 = 2128*106 bit/s, 
or 2128*106/8 = 266*106 bytes/s 
or 266*106 /1000 = 266*103 KB/s 
or 259.7*103 /1000 = 266 MB/s

What does a computer bus architecture look like?

In reality, each bus is generally constituted of 50 to 100 distinct physical lines, divided into three subassemblies:

• The address bus: sometimes called the memory bus, transports memory addresses that the processor wants to access to read or write data. It is a unidirectional bus.
• The data bus: transfers instructions from or going to the processor. It is a bidirectional bus.
• The control bus, or the command bus: transports orders and synchronization signals from the control unit and travels to all other hardware components. It is a bidirectional bus that transmits the hardware's response signals.

What are the primary buses?

There are generally two buses within a computer.

• The internal bus: sometimes called the front-side bus, or FSB for short, allows the processor to communicate with the system's central memory (the RAM).
• The expansion bus: sometimes called the input/output bus, allows various motherboard components (namely, USB, serial, and [contents/415-serial-port-and-parallel-port parallel ports], cards inserted in PCI connectors, hard drives, CD-ROM and CD-RW drives, etc.) to communicate with one another. However, it is mainly used to add new devices using what it’s called expansion slots connected to the input/output bus.

What is a motherboard chipset?

What is a “chipset”? A chipset is a component that routes data between the computer's buses, so all the components that make up the computer can communicate. The chipset originally was made up of a large number of electronic chips, hence the name.

It generally has two components. The first is the NorthBridge (also called the memory controller), which controls transfers between the processor and the RAM; this is why it is located physically near the processor. It is sometimes called the GMCH, for Graphic and Memory Controller Hub.

The second is the SouthBridge (also called the input/output controller or expansion controller) which handles communications between peripheral devices. It is also called the ICH (I/O Controller Hub). The term bridge is generally used to designate a component that connects two buses:

It is noteworthy that, to communicate, two buses must have the same width. This explains why RAM modules sometimes have to be installed in pairs (for example, early Pentium chips, whose processor buses were 64-bit, required two memory modules, each 32 bits wide).

Here is a table that gives the specifications for the most commonly used buses: