CS 4430 Computer Architecture II (4) 2005

Catalog Description:

Advanced computer organizaton and design. Topics chosen from among RISC architectures, computer arithmetic, pipelining, cache memory, and parallel processors. Prerequisite: CS 3430; recommended Knowledge of C programming

Course outline (following Patterson and Hennesy)

  • Cover Chapters 1-7. You should read Chapters 1 & 2 on your own.
  • Chapters 1 & 2 for student's own reading.
  • Chapter 3: Assembly language and machine language in MIPS (a RISC architecture)
  • Chapter 4: Computer arithmetic -- ALUs and hardware implementations of arithmetic operations for ints and floats
  • Chapter 5: Designing the processor
  • Chapter 6: Pipelining to increase speed
  • Chapter 7: Memory -- using caches and memory hierarchies

Portions of the appendices will also be examined.

Text:

Computer Organization & Design (2nd edition) by Patterson and Hennessy