COURSES

Goals

The goal of this course is to provide an overview of computer architecture. The course introduces the major structures (processors, memory, input/output subsystems and storage systems) that have direct influence on the execution of programs. The study of computer architecture focuses on the interface between hardware and software. Implementation issues are covered to the extend necessary to understand the structure and operation of a computer system. Students gain basic theoretical understanding and practical knowledge of computer architecture (including advanced processor architectures, parallel processing, and principles of embedded system design), which is a prerequisite for good programming practice and efficient applications in practice.

Curriculum

Introduction: Overview of development of computer systems, abstract levels of computing systems. Basic computer structure: Data representation in computer systems, a simple computer system (CPU, bus, clocks, input/output subsystem, interrupts). CPU: Structure, instruction set, computer arithmetic. Bus: Connection types, architectures, control mechanisms. Memory: Types of memory, memory hierarchy, cache memory, internal memory, external memory, virtual memory. Peripherals: Input/output unit types, architectures, control mechanisms. Processor architectures: Processors with reduced instruction set, processors with complex instruction set, superscalar processors, GPUs. Parallel computer architectures: Topologies, shared and distributed processing, multi-core processors, clusters, grids. Computer systems design methodologies: Basic semiconductor technologies, essential system synthesis steps, hardware description languages. Embedded system design methodologies: Design methodologies, architecture of embedded microprocessors. Methodologies for hardware/software codesign: Modeling concepts, system partitioning to hardware and software components, hardware/software codesign platforms, synthesis. Performance measurement and analysis: Basic approaches to computer performance evaluation, benchmarking, metrics, CPU performance optimization.