CS211: Advanced Computer Architecture. Fall 2008
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Course Outline and ObjectivesThis is an introductory graduate level course on Computer and Processor Architectures. The course will cover a range of topics in the area of computer architecture with the objective of providing an exposure to current and emerging trends in Computer Architectures, focusing on performance and the hardware/software interface. The emphasis is on studying and analyzing fundamental issues in architecture design and their impact on performance. The course will have a mix of theory, hardware, and software -- it will not conduct in-depth case studies of different architectures. To enable a better understanding of the concepts, hands on exposure to the interplay between hardware and software will be provided through projects that require the use of a processor simulator -- the simplescalar simulator. Course material and course announcements will be placed at the following URL: www.seas.gwu.edu/~bhagiweb/cs211/ Prerequisites and Texts• Prerequisites: Programming and Data structures, Discrete Math (CS103, CS123), and a basic knowledge of Computer organization. • Primary Text - Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 4th Edition, by David Patterson and John Hennessy, Morgan Kauffman. • Additional Reference - Modern Processor Design, by Shen and Lipasti, McGraw Hill. • Reference for Computer Organization (pre-req): Computer Organization and Design: The hardware/software interface, 3rd Ed., by J. Hennessy and D. Patterson, Morgan Kauffman. The material in the text will be supplemented by notes posted on the course website (or distributed in class). The text does not go into detail on some of the topics that will be covered in class - in these cases, additional references will be provided (although the notes posted on the web will be sufficient for the typical student). Course MaterialsGrading There will be four components for the grade: (1) Exams 65% -- a midterm exam and a Final Exam (30 to 35%), (2) Homework assignments 10%, (3) In-class discussions and presentations (10%), and (4) projects (15%) Collaboration is not permitted on the homeworks.The programming projects will be done as a team and will require the use of the Simple Scalar simulator -- information can be found at www.simplescalar.com. All students are required to read the Academic Integrity policy described at the URL below. Academic Integrity Policy Syllabus Course Announcements and Info will be placed here: check once a week Schedule of Lectures Homeworks Simple Scalar Information Programming Projects Teams |