CS744                                                                                                                 Spring 1999 Computer Architecture                                                                Dr. Seymour Goodman

Prerequisites:

The prerequisite is CS642 if you are a grad student or CS341 (the undergrad computer organization course) if you are an undergrad.  All students are expected to be familiar with probability, operating systems and compilers.

Course Contents:

CS642 presented the design of a simple RISC processor.  The instruction set, datapath, and hardwired control unit were discussed along with some aspects of the design of an ALU and the memory interface.  This course extends the discussion of design principles to improve performance.  Since the goal is to improve performance, the course will start with a discussion of how one measures it.  The architecture of the DLX processor will be presented and a simple, unpipelined CPU designed.  Features will then be introduced to improve the performance. Several lectures will be devoted to pipelining, followed by discussion of memory hierarchies, I/O structures, and methods to speedup arithmetic. The course will introduce hardware support for software, and, if time permits, will introduce parallel computing and networking.

Textbooks:

Two books are required for the course: "Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, Second Edition", by John L. Hennessy and David A. Patterson, ISBN: 1-55860-329-8, Morgan Kaufmann, 1995, and "Solutions to Selected Exercises in Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, Second Edition" by Thomas Willis and Allan Knies, ISBN 1-55860-406-5, Morgan Kaufmann, 1996.

Lecture Notes:

In order to facilitate your taking notes in the course, you can download all of the slides that I will show from my Web site.  They will be available as a self-extracting “.exe” file.  When executed it will give individual files that contain the slides for each chapter in “.pdf” format and a file containing the errata for the book.  In order to view or print the slides you will need the Adobe Acrobat reader.  You will find a link to it on my Web site.

Projects:

You will use a software package to design and simulate the DLX pipeline structure and you will be asked to turn in results from the program from time to time.  A link to download the program is available at my Website and I have asked the Department to request that the Computer Center install a copy on the PC’s that are available to you.

In addition, you will be asked to evaluate the performance of various cache designs by using tools that I have asked to be installed on the SUN computers that are available for your use.

The projects will not be graded, only the fact that you submitted them will be recorded.  If your final mark is between 2 grades, you will receive the higher grade if you have submitted answers to all of the projects; you will receive the lower grade if you have not submitted them.

Examinations and Term Grade:

I will give a midterm and final that each account for 50% of your grade Please note that neither makeup examinations nor incompletes will be given in this course.

Questions:

You can ask me questions at any time by e-mail (Goodman@Computer.Org).  I will try to respond within a few hours except for the period from Friday afternoon to Saturday night.  I will also send material to the class by e-mail.  It is therefore important that you check your e-mail frequently and that you inform me of your e-mail address. 

Before the next class please send me an e-mail message that gives your name, and social security number. I will respond by sending you the URL for my Website.

My office is located in room A218 and I will be happy to meet with you to answer questions on Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 PM if you send me e-mail by midnight on Wednesday.