| CS 202 |
Computer Architecture |
Fall 2007 |
Course Information
Course description
The goal of this course is to investigate how a computer works, how it
is constructed, and how it can be programmed at the lowest level - in
machine language, or assembly. We will discuss a variety of
architectures, and study in depth the Pentium architecture and Pentium
(i386) assembly language.
We will run our assembly language programs under Linux on the computer
science lab machines in MBH 632. We will also write C
programs that interact with the assembly language programs. Basic
familiarity with Unix and Java (or C/C++) is assumed. To practice the
design of digital circuits we will use the software LogicWorks.
Topics
The following is a tentative schedule of topics to be covered in this
course. Readings refer to the texts by
Bryant and O'Hallaron [BO] and
Tanenbaum [T].
|
Week | Date | Topic |
Reading |
|
1 | 9/10 |
Introduction, number systems, C |
T 1, A; BO 2.1-3 |
|
2 | 9/17 |
Computer organization, instruction encoding,
Sniac |
T 2, 5.1, 5.3 |
|
3 | 9/24 |
Sniac programming,
Pentium assembly, parameters |
BO 3.1-5; T 5.1-4 |
|
4 | 10/1 |
Addressing, comparing, branching, loops, arrays |
BO 3.4-8; T 5.4-6 |
|
5 | 10/8 |
Digital logic, gates, combinational circuits, LogicWorks
|
T 3.1-2; BO 4.2 |
|
6 | 10/15 |
Sequential circuits, flip flops, midterm review |
T 3.3 |
|
7 | 10/22 |
Counters, registers, multiplier, stack frame |
T 3.3, 5.6-7; BO 3.7; |
|
8 | 10/29 |
Function calls, recursion, memory, ROM and RAM |
T 3.3, 5.6-7; BO 3.7; |
|
9 | 11/5 |
Buffer-overflow attacks, caches, optimization |
BO 3.10, 3.13, 5, 6.4-6; T 4.5 |
|
10 | 11/12 |
Microarchitecture, pipelines, branch prediction |
T 4.5-6; BO 5.7 |
|
11 | 11/19 |
Sniac circuit |
|
|
12 | 11/26 |
Floating point operations,
Sniac control |
BO 3.14; T B |
|
13 | 12/3 |
Virtual memory, IA-64, parallel computers |
T 5.8, 6.1, 8; BO 10 |
Assignments, Exams, and Grading
There will be weekly homeworks, consisting of written assignments,
programming assignments (in C and assembly), and/or circuit design
assignments (using LogicWorks). There will also be quizzes to test
the assigned reading, usually once per week at the beginning of class.
The assignments will be challenging. After the first few weeks, I
expect the students to spend on average 5-8 hours on each homework.
Start your assignments early! This will give you time to think
about the problems and come to office hours if you get stuck.
Assignments will usually be due on Mondays in class. Unless otherwise
announced, you will have a grace period until 2pm to hand in your
work, but I won't be able to answer any questions on the homework
during this grace period. Work will not be accepted after the 2pm
deadline. However, each student is allotted three 24-hour
extensions to use for any homework assignment during the term. If you
have not completed an assignment, you should still turn in whatever
you have for partial credit. In extenuating circumstances (e.g.,
sickness, personal crisis, family problems, religious holidays), you
may request an additional extension. Such extensions are more likely
to be granted if the request is made before the due date. Missed
quizzes can not be made up.
Your final grade will be based on homeworks (40%), quizzes (10%), one
midterm exam (20%), and one final exam (30%). The
lowest quiz score will be dropped when computing your
final grade. The midterm exam is scheduled for Thursday,
October 25, 7:30-9:30pm. The final exam will be self-scheduled during
the exam period (December 10-18). Both exams will be open book, open
notes.
Collaboration Policy and Honor Code
The computer science faculty believes that collaboration fosters a
healthy and enjoyable educational environment. For this reason, you
are encouraged to talk with other students about the course and to
form study groups.
Unless otherwise instructed, feel free to discuss problem sets
with other students and exchange ideas about how to solve them.
However, there is a thin line between collaboration and plagiarizing
the work of others. Therefore, it is required that you must compose
your own solution to each assignment. It is unacceptable
(1) to solve a problem together and turn in two copies of the same
solution or (2) to copy solutions written by your classmates. This implies
that you should never have in your possession a copy of all or part of
another student's work. It is your own responsibility to protect
your work from unauthorized access.
If an assignment (or part of one) is designated a group
project, then the above rules apply to a group. That is, you are
allowed to collaborate on the assignment with your partner(s), but work
with others is restricted as discussed above. All exams, of
course, must be entirely your own work and you may not collaborate
with anyone.
In keeping with the standards of the scientific community, you
must give credit where credit is due. If you make use of an idea
that was developed by (or jointly with) others, please reference them
appropriately in your work. E.g., if you get a key idea for solving a
problem from person X, your solution should begin with a note
that says "I worked with X on this problem" and should say "The
main idea (due to X) is ..." in the appropriate places. It is
unacceptable for students to work together but not to
acknowledge each other in their write-ups.
When working on homework problems, it is perfectly reasonable to
consult public literature (books, articles, etc.) for hints,
techniques, and even solutions. However, you must reference any
sources that contribute to your solution. It is also OK to borrow
code from the textbook, from materials discussed in class, and from
other sources as long as you give proper credit.
Assignments and solutions from previous terms are not
considered to be part of the "public" literature, and consulting
problem set solutions from previous terms constitutes a violation of
the Honor Code.
If you are uncertain how the Honor Code applies to a particular
assignment, please ask me. The Department of Computer
Science takes the Honor Code seriously. Violations are easy to
identify and will be dealt with promptly.
