Dhofar University                                                                  

School of Engineering

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

 

Computer Organization and Architecture – Course Guide

                                                                                                                      

EECE 320                                                                                                                                                           

 

Announcements

 

  
 
1. Course Details: 
 

Course Title:

Computer Organization and Architecture

Level

Seniors

Course Reference

EECE 320

Lectures

SMW 1:00 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.

Room

Q 109

Laboratory

TBA
Office Hours TBA

Student Study Hours Per Week

9

Contact Hours Per Week

3

Private Study Hours Per Week

6

Year and Semester

2008 - 2009 (Spring)

Lecturer

Dr. I. Damaj

Contact Details

i_damaj[@]du.edu.om  - Remove the brackets [ ]

Summary of Assessment Method

2 Quizzes, Assignments, Project, and a Final

 

 

Textbook

David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy, Computer Organization and Design: the Hardware/Software Interface, Third Edition, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2004.

 

 

References

Computer Architecture: From Microprocessors to Supercomputers, Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-19-515455-X

 

Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, Third Edition, Hennessy and Patterson, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers (Elsevier), 2002.

 

Carl Hamacher, Zvonko Vranesic, and Safwat Zaky, Computer Organization, Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2002.

 

J. Bhasker, A VHDL Primer, Third Edition, Prentice-Hall, 1999.

 

Advanced Computer Architecture: Parallelism, Scalability, and Programmability.  K. Hwang, McGraw-Hill Computer Science Series, 1993.

 

Introduction to Parallel Processing: Algorithms and Architectures. Behrooz Parhami, Plenum 1999.

 

D. Sima, T. Fountain, P. Kacsuk, "Advanced Computer Architectures: A Design Space Approach", Addison Wesley, 1997.

 

Software Packages

C++/Visual C++, SPIM Simulator, and VHDL.

 
 
2. Aims of the Course:

 

This course covers the organization of modern computer systems. In addition to learning how to program computers at the assembly level, students learn how to design the main components of a von Neumann computer system, including its instruction set architecture, datapath, control unit, memory system, input/output interfaces, and system buses. To consolidate the material presented in class, students work on assembly-language programming and datapath design assignments, and a major computer interfacing project.

 

3. Short Description:

 

A course on the organization of modern computer systems. Basic hardware and software components of von Neumann computers. Machine instruction sets and assembly language programming. Fixed- and floating-point computer arithmetic. Processor datapath and control unit design. Instruction pipelining. The memory system. Input/output interfacing techniques. System buses.

 

4. Schedule:

 

Details:

Topic

Chap. No.

Assessment

Weeks 1 – 2

Computer Abstractions:

Basic Organization of Computer Systems (ISA, Datapath, Control, Memory, I/O, Operating Systems, Compilers, Assemblers, Linkers, Loaders). A Brief History of Computers

 

1

  

Weeks 3 – 5

Machine Instructions and Programs:

Part I: Instruction Sets and Machine Programming Models

Part II: Memory Locations, Addresses, and Operations

Part III: Assembly Language Programming (MIPS)

Part IV: The MIPS Instruction Set Architecture

 

2

 
Weeks 6 – 8

Arithmetic for Computers:

Part I: Fixed-Point Arithmetic and Numerical Precision

Part II: Floating-Point Arithmetic and the IEEE-754 Standard

Part III: Floating-Point Operations: addition, multiplication, and division

 

 3

Quiz I
Weeks 9 – 13

The Processor:

Part I: Execution Performance

Part II:  Introduction to  Datapath

Part III: Datapath and Control Unit Design

 

4

 

 
Week 14

Memory Hierarchy:

Part I: The Memory Hierarchy

Part II: Cache Memory

Part III: Virtual Memory

 

 6

Quiz II
Week 15

Computer Interfacing:

Part I: Introduction - Buses and I/O

Part II: Bus Arbitration

 

 7   
 
5. Assessment of the Course:

 

Attendance

 %5

Pop quizzes and assignments

%15

Quiz I

%20

Quiz II

%20

Final

%40

 

6. Notes
 
 
7. Statement of Plagiarism:

 

Plagiarism is defined as the unauthorized use of the work of another person, as one’s own, whether or not such work has been published. A student at Dhofar University shall not engage in plagiarism nor employ nor seek to employ any other unfair means for an examination or in other form of work submitted for assessment as part of any university course. The instructor, at the beginning of the semester, shall explain to students the meaning of the term “plagiarism” and the consequences of committing such an act. Furthermore, the course syllabus shall state explicitly that any form of plagiarism may mean failure for the entire course. Any person accused of plagiarism shall be referred to the College Administrative Committee in the course of which the violation occurred for appropriate action.

 
Announcements
 
[May 21, 2009] Chapters 5 and 6 are posted.
 
[May 11, 2009] Chapter 4 is posted.
 
[Apr 9, 2009] Download chapter 3 solved problems.
 
[Apr 1, 2009] Chapter 3 is posted.
 
[Mar 13, 2009] Chapter 2 is posted.
 
[Feb 28, 2009] Chapter 1 is posted.
 
[Feb 28, 2009] Welcome to course website.