Fall 2006: CS/EE 3810 Computer Organization and Design

General Information:

Special Needs:

The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations. All written information in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.

Grading:

The following is a tentative guideline and may undergo changes. A mid-term exam will count for 30%, the final exam will count for 40%, and assignments will count for 30% of the final grade. The exams will be open-book and open-notes. There will be approximately 10 assignments. We have zero tolerance for cheating -- if your class rank in the assignments is significantly different from your class rank in the exams, only your rank in the exams will count towards your grade. We know you're juggling multiple activities and the assignment deadline may not always be favorable. You are therefore allowed to skip one of the assignments -- use this freebie prudently. To be fair to the rest of the class, no exceptions to the above rule will be made. Late submissions will not be graded.

Cheating policy:

Working with others on assignments is a good way to learn the material and is encouraged. However, there are limits to the degree of cooperation that is permitted. Students may discuss among themselves the meaning of homework problems and possible approaches to solving them. Any written portion of an assignment, however, is to be done strictly on an individual basis. BOTTOM LINE: You may not copy from another student or from any other source, and you may not allow another student to copy your work!! Any violation of the above is considered to be cheating and will result in a reduced or a failing grade in the class. Also, if your class rank in the assignments is significantly different from your class rank in the exams, only your rank in the exams will count towards your grade.

Grades

Homework Assignments:

Assignments will be posted here (almost) weekly. The deadline for assignments will typically be the start of class on Tuesday or Thursday. You may either turn in responses on paper (at the start of class) or use the "handin" script in the CADE Lab (details with each assignment). Late submissions will not be graded. There will be roughly 10 assignments, of which you are allowed to skip one (in other words, we will drop the lowest score among your assignments). Some of the assignments will require you to use the MIPS simulator SPIM on your PC. Download software here. : Tutorial on using SPIM (Appendix A of the text). : Manual on basic SPIM commands. : Another SPIM manual with useful code examples.

Class Schedule

Read the relevant sections in the textbook *before* the lecture. The following schedule is tentative. Lecture slides will be posted on the evening/morning before the lecture. Your best bet is to print the slides just before class (preferably, 4/6 slides per page so we save some trees).

Week Date Lecture Topic Reading Assignment Due
1 Thu, Aug 24 Introduction to Computer Organization. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 1  
2 Tue, Aug 29 MIPS Instruction Set Architecture. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 2  
Thu, Aug 31 More on MIPS ISA, procedures. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 2  
3 Tue, Sept 5 Procedure calls. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 2  
Thu, Sept 7 Case study, IA-32 instruction set. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 2 Homework 1
4 Tue, Sept 12 SPIM Simulator. Slides: ppt pdf App A  
Thu, Sept 14 Number Systems, Addition & Subtraction. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 3 Homework 2
5 Tue, Sept 19 Multiplication, Division. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 3  
Thu, Sept 21 Floating Point Representations & Operations. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 3 Homework 3
6 Tue, Sept 26 Measuring Computer Performance. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 4  
Thu, Sept 28 Introduction to Digital Design. Slides: ppt pdf App B  
7 Tue, Oct 3 Hardware for Arithmetic. Slides: ppt pdf App B Homework 4
Thu, Oct 5 FALL BREAK    
8 Tue, Oct 10 Sequential Circuits. Slides: ppt pdf App B  
Thu, Oct 12 CPU Organization and Design. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 5 Homework 5
9 Tue, Oct 17 Recap for mid-term. Slides: ppt pdf    
Thu, Oct 19 No class    
10 Tue, Oct 24 Mid-term Exam Chapt 1-4, App A, App B, lectures  
Thu, Oct 26 Basic CPU Design. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 5  
11 Tue, Oct 31 Pipelining. Slides: ppt pdf Lecture notes Chapt 6  
Thu, Nov 2 More on Pipelining. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 6 Homework 6
12 Tue, Nov 7 Memory System Design. Slides: ppt pdf Lecture notes Chapt 7  
Thu, Nov 9 More on Memory Systems. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 7 Homework 7
13 Tue, Nov 14 Virtual Memory. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 7  
Thu, Nov 16 I/O, Disks, RAID. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 8  
14 Tue, Nov 21 Multiprocessor Systems. Slides: ppt pdf Lecture notes Chapt 9 Homework 8
Thu, Nov 23 THANKSGIVING BREAK    
15 Tue, Nov 28 More on Multiprocessors. Slides: ppt pdf Chapt 9  
Thu, Nov 30 Multi-core processors. Slides: ppt pdf    
16 Tue, Dec 5 Recap lecture. Slides: ppt pdf   Homework 9
Thu, Dec 7 TBA. Slides: ppt pdf    
17 Wed, Dec 13, 8-10am Final Exam Comprehensive