TCSS 372A Computer Architecture

Fall2006             Lecture: CP 105   MW 2:00 - 4:15             Lab: CP 206D



Course Description:             

TCSS 372A covers the micro architecture level of machine design and advanced architecture features for performance enhancement. Subjects include I/O, bus, memory and CPU design, hardware support for operating systems, CISC/RISC architectures, embedded systems, and parallelism. Extends the understanding of systems programming.
Prerequisites: TCSS 371; TCSS 342.


Text:                         


Computer Organization & Architecture
Designing for Performance

Seventh Edition (2006)

Williams Stallings
Pearson Prentice Hall
ISBN-10: 013-185644-8
ISBN-13: 978-013-185644-8


About this textbook:
  • Systems are viewed from both the architectural (attributes of a system visible to a machine language programmer) and organizational (operational units and their interconnections that realize the architecture) perspectives
  • Thorough coverage of computer arithmetic
  • Addresses twos complement and floating point representations and arithmetic, with detailed examination of IEEE 754.
  • Detailed treatment of bus organization
  • Unified, detailed treatment of I/O
  • Demonstrates the interaction of I/O modules with the outside world and the CPU. Provides full understanding of I/O functions and structures, including two important external interface examples: FireWire and InfiniBand.
  • Strong chapter on RISC
  • Illustrates the importance of the technology found in virtually all contemporary machines.
  • Presents a clear review of the increasingly complex design of cache memory, a central element in the design of high-performance processors.
  • Detailed treatment of internal and external memory
  • Delivers a unified discussion of the elements of the memory hierarchy, from registers to optical memory, as well as leading-edge areas, such as optical, advanced DRAM, and RAID disk arrays.
  • Highlights specific system examples to illustrate points and motivate the reader, with special attention to the most important CISC and superscalar systems, including Pentium 4 and PowerPC G4.
  • Clear treatment of parallel processors
  • Clear, well-organized treatment of symmetric multiprocessors (SMP), clusters, and NUMA systems.
  • Full treatment of microprogrammed implementation
  Text Website: http://www.williamstallings.com/COA/COA7e.html (Lots of good resources!)

Professor:  

Larry A. Crum, Professor of Computing & Software Systems
                         Professor of Computer Engineering & Systems
        Office: Cherry Parkes 224
        Office Hours:   MW 4:15 - 5:00,  Appointments recommended for other times.
        Phone: (253) 692-5866
        Email: lcrum@u.washington.edu

Course Syllabus


Class Power Point Slides, Passouts

Week/DATE CLASS SLIDES REFERENCE MATERIAL
0: Sept 27Slides09_27 Lab Etiquette
Lab Report Format
1: Oct 2 Slides10_02
1: Oct 4 Slides10_04 Homework Format
2: Oct 9 Slides10_09 Homework #1 - Chapter 3 - Solution
2: Oct 11 Slides10_11 Project #1
3: Oct 16
3: Oct 18 Slides10_18 Digital Logic Chips
Oscilloscope Slides
Nominal Oscilloscope Settings
4: Oct 23 Slides10_23
4: Oct 25 Slides10_25 Homework #2 - Chapter 4 - Solution
Homework #3 - Chapter 5 - Solution
Reflection on Chapter 3 through Chapter 6
5: Oct 30 Homework #4 - Chapter 6 - Solution
5: Nov 1 Slides11_01 Midterm 1 Solution
6: Nov 6 Slides11_06
6: Nov 8 Slides11_08 Homework #5 - Chapter 7 - Solution
7: Nov 13 Slides11_13 Homework #6 - Chapter 8 - Solution
Project #2
7: Nov 15 Slides11_15 Homework #7 - Chapter 11 - Solution
8: Nov 20 Reflection on Chapter 7 through Chapter 13
Homework #8 - Chapters 12 & 13 - Solution
8: Nov 22 Midterm 2 Solution
9: Nov 27 Slides11_27
9: Nov 29 Slides11_29
10: Dec 4 Slides12_04 Homework #9 - Chapter 14 - Solution
10: Dec 6 Slides12_06 Course Overview
11: Dec 11 Final Exam Solution