The first major topic is digital logic, which concerns the design of circuits to implement logic functions using standard components such as AND-gates, OR-gates, and inverters. The circuits might be used to control the flow of data within a computer, or the processing of the data (e.g., arithmetic operations), or to control the overall action of a computer. We will cover how to specify logic functions precisely, to manipulate formal expressions, and to implement them efficiently. We will then cover the design of basic building blocks, including the control, of modern digital computers. Both combinational and sequential circuits will be covered.
The second part of the course involves the structure and software interface of digital computers. Focusing our attention on modern RISC architecture. We will discuss the functional blocks such as the arithmetic unit, register files, and memory. Single-cycle and multiple-cycle implementations will be presented, followed by the concept of pipelining. We will cover the basics of caches and virtual memory. Machine and assembly language programming is a feature of the course. Main memory systems, currently DRAM, will be discussed as well as the operation of magnetic disk drives. Some aspects of I/O will also be introduced.
Note: This course is a joint CS/EE course.
Homework release dates and due dates will be altered as well to accommodate the pace of the class.
| Date | # | Topics/chapters covered | Reading | Assigned | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/21 | 1 | Intro; Overview of Computer Architecture; Definitions (bit,byte,word) | M&K Ch 1 | ||
| 1/26 | 2 | Binary number representations: 1's complement; 2's complement, adding and subtracting and overflow; floating point representations: overflow and underflow | M&K 4.3-4.4, 10.7, P&H 3.5 skip FP in MIPS | HW #1 | |
| 1/28 | 3 | Overview of MIPS assembly language; Instruction Types and Formats | P&H 2.1-2.6 | ||
| 2/2 | 4 | Logic gates; XOR; Boolean Algebra; NAND and NOR gates; Taking complements; DeMorgan's Theorem; Duals | M&K 2.1-2.2, 2.8, 2.9 | HW #2 | HW #1 |
| 2/4 | 5 | Standard Forms: minterms, maxterms, sum-of-products, product-of-sums | M&K 2.3 | ||
| 2/9 | 6 | K-maps: simplification with implicants, Don't-care conditions | M&K 2.4-2.5 | HW #3 | HW #2 |
| 2/11 | 7 | Combinatorial Circuit Design: Multi-bit output functions; standard combinatorial circuits (enabler, decoder, encoder, priority encoder, mux | M&K 3.1, 3.3, 3, 3.6-3.9 | ||
| 2/16 | 8 | Arithmetic funcs: Adder (half, full, ripple-carry, adder-subtractor); Contraction; Shifter | M&K 4.1-4.2, 4.5, 9.4 | HW #4 | HW #3 |
| 2/18 | 9 | Sequential Circuitry: Latch, Flip-Flops, timing issues | M&K 5.1-5.3, 5.6 | ||
| 2/23 | 10 | Sequential Circuit Analysis & Design: State machines | M&K 5.4-5.5 | HW #5 | HW #4 |
| 2/24 | 11 | PLAs; ROM; Register Design: Load and Transfer | M&K 6.8, 7.1-7.3 | ||
| 3/2 | 12 | Register Design cont'd: MicroOps and Counters, mux and serial transfer | M&K 7.5-7.6, 7.8-7.9 | HW #5 | |
| 3/4 | 13 | *** Catchup *** | |||
| 3/9 | 14 | *** Catchup and/or Midterm review *** | |||
| 3/11 | 16 | MIDTERM (in class) | |||
| 3/16 | -- | SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS! | |||
| 3/18 | -- | SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS! | |||
| 3/23 | 17 | Memory Design | M&K 8.1-8.7 | HW #6 | |
| 3/25 | 15 | Control Word; Simple Arch; Instruction Decoder | M&K 9.6-9.8 | ||
| 3/30 | 18 | Processor Design: Datapath, ALU | M&K 9.1-9.5 | HW #7 | HW #6 |
| 4/1 | 19 | Branches, stacks, heaps, immediate addressing | P&H 2.7-2.8, 2.10 | ||
| 4/6 | 20 | Single Cycle Datapath | P&H 4.1-4.4 | HW #8 | HW #7 |
| 4/8 | 21 | Single Cycle Datapath cont'd | |||
| 4/13 | 22 | Pipelining | P&H 4.5-4.6 | HW #9 | HW #8 |
| 4/15 | 23 | Hazards | P&H 4.7-4.8 | ||
| 4/20 | 24 | Cache & Cache Replacement Policies | P&H 5.1-5.2 | ||
| 4/22 | 25 | *** Catchup and/or review *** | HW #9 | ||
| 4/27 | 26 | *** Catchup and/or review *** | |||
| 4/29 | 26 | *** Catchup and/or review *** | |||
| 5/4 | 26 | *** Catchup and/or review *** | |||
| Tentative 5/11 | FINAL EXAM, Time 1:10pm-4:10pm | Location TBD |