Computer Science 330 - Section 1
Computer Systems Organization
Fall 2009

This file can be found in http://www.cs.clemson.edu/~mark/330.html


TENTATIVE

Objectives: Introduction to the structure of computer systems; various hardware/software configurations are explored and presented. Topics include digital logic, instruction pipelines, and memory systems.

Prerequisite: CPSC 231.
Course Type: Required for BS CS.

Meetings: 11:15-12:05 MWF, McAdams Hall 114

Required Books:

Instructor: Mark Smotherman, 209 McAdams Hall, mark@cs.clemson.edu, 656-5878
Office Hours: 2:30-4:30 MW; also email or call since I'm usually available at other times

Grading:

Class attendance is not graded directly. Attendance at the book quizzes and scheduled exams is required for receiving credit; absences will be counted as a zero grades unless you have a valid excuse (as determined by the instructor). Please wait for up to 15 minutes should I be late to class. Note that the last day to drop without record is September 1; last day to drop without final grades is October 9.

Book Reviews:

Programs:


Clemson statement of Academic Integrity: "As members of the Clemson University community, we have inherited Thomas Green Clemson's vision of this institution as a 'high seminary of learning.' Fundamental to this vision is a mutual commitment to truthfulness, honor, and responsibility, without which we cannot earn the trust and respect of others. Furthermore, we recognize that academic dishonesty detracts from the value of a Clemson degree. Therefore, we shall not tolerate lying, cheating, or stealing in any form."


Disability Access: It is University policy to provide, on a flexible and individualized basis, reasonable accommodations to students who have disabilities. Students are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services to discuss their individual needs for accommodation.


Note: The instructor for this course reserves the right to change this syllabus. Announcements will be made in class if and when such changes occur.


Links to additional materials, notes, etc.

Links to lecture notes for MIT OpenCourseWare 6.002 Computation Structures


Tentative: Fall 2009 Semester Topical Schedule

Chapter 1 - Computer Abstractions and Technology

  course introduction, range of computing, history, markets, technology
  performance measures, clock rates, compiler optimization, benchmarks

  CPU performance equation (p. 35)
  Amdahl's Law (p. 51, 635)
  MIPS (p. 53)

-- HW1
-- Project 1

Appendix C - Logic Circuits

  combinational and sequential design, Boolean logic, truth table,
  algebraic manipulation, Karnaugh map, gate, decoder, multiplexor,
  half adder, full adder, ripple carry adder, bus, tri-state buffer,
  RS latch, flip flop, register, counter

-- HW2
-- Exam 1


Chapter 4 -- The Processor

  datapaths, register transfers, control signals, control logic,
  instruction execution, hardwired implementation, microprogramming,
  instruction pipelining, stages, latches (interstage buffers),
  data hazards, forwarding, branching, branch prediction,
  parallelism, superscalar, out-of-order execution, VLIW, EPIC

-- HW3

Review - Memory Locations and Addresses

  byte addressability, alignment (p. 84),
  big-endian / little-endian (p. B-43)

Chapter 5 - The Memory Hierarchy

  two-dimensional organization of RAM, SRAM, DRAM, fast page mode,
  memory controller, ROM

  locality of reference, memory hierarchy

  policies: fetch, placement, replacement, write hit, write miss
  caches: mapping, performance
  virtual memory: address translation, TLB

-- HW4
-- Project 2
-- Exam 2


Chapter 6 - Disk Storage and I/O

  disk, flash, interconnects, I/O performance, RAID

-- HW5

Chapter 7 - Multicores, multiprocessors, and clusters

  parallel processing, array processors, SIMD, subword parallelism,
  shared memory, distributed memory, interconnection networks,
  SMP, UMA, NUMA, cache coherence, message passing

-- HW6
-- Project 3

-- Final Exam - Tuesday, December 8, 8:00-10:30 am


Homework Assignments


Project/Programming Assignments


Study Guides


[Mark's homepage] [CPSC homepage] [Clemson Univ. homepage]

mark@cs.clemson.edu