CODE | CCE2013 | ||||||||||||
TITLE | Introduction to Computer Architecture | ||||||||||||
UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
DEPARTMENT | Communications and Computer Engineering | ||||||||||||
DESCRIPTION | Introduction: - Performance, metrics and speed-up. - Data representation and computer arithmetic. - Overview of computer organization - Terminology: development tools, protection, etc. - Programming models – stack-based vs. GPR architectures. - Types of instructions and simple assembler programs. - Stacks and procedure calls. Processor Desing: - Instruction set architecture, addressing modes, micro-architecture, register file design. - Evolution from micro-programmed to RISC, pipelined, superscalar and VLIW architectures to multiprocessing. - Hazards. Predicting execution time. Memory Systems: - DRAM and SRAM technologies. - DRAM bus interfacing and improving performance. - Short note on Flash and emerging memory technologies. Cache Systems: - Memory hierarchy. - Direct mapped, set associative and fully associative caches. - Cache implementation aspects. Input/Output: - Programmed I/O, interrupt driven I/O and DMA. - Enhancements such as block output instructions, FIFO buffers, ping-pong buffers, etc. - Simple example of interfacing an I/O peripheral – DIP switch and 4x7-segment display. - Overview of hard disk drives. Short note on optical media. Textbooks: - Carter, N. Schaum’s outline of Computer Architecture. (Main) - Stallings W. Computer Organisation and Architecture. (Supplementary) Further Reading: Virtual Memory - Demand paging vs. swapping. - Page tables. Multiprocessing - Speed-up revisited. - Message passing vs. shared-memory systems. - Consistency models. Cache coherence. |
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STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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LECTURER/S | Mario Cordina |
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The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |