COMP375 Computer Architecture and Organization Fall Semester 2014 syllabus page 1 of 4 Instructor: Dr. Kenneth A. Williams email: [email protected] office: 503 McNair Hall office phone: (336) 285-3697 home phone: 674-0535 office hours: MWF 11:00 to 12:00, MWF 3:00 to 5:00, Thursdays 2:00 to 3:00 other times by appointment Prerequisites: COMP280 Data Structures or ELEN327 Digital Logic Required Text: Computer Organization and Architecture: Designing for Performance, eighth edition, by William Stallings, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2010, ISBN: 0136073735 or 9780136073734. The 7th or 9th editions are acceptable, although chapter numbers may vary. Lectures: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 2:00pm – 2:50pm in Graham 210 Communication: The web page for this class is http://williams.comp.ncat.edu/comp375 Assignments and information will also appear on the University’s online Blackboard system, http://blackboard.ncat.edu Email messages will be sent to the student’s A&T email address. It is the student’s responsibility to regularly check their A&T email account. Description: 3 credits This course explores the design of computer systems and their architectures. Topics include central processing unit architecture, microcode, system interconnections, memory systems, input/output systems, interrupt handling and peripherals. The topics to be covered include: - Assembly level machine organization - Memory system organization and architecture - Interfacing and communication - Functional organization - Multiprocessing and alternative architectures - Performance enhancements Goals: Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to: 1. Apply knowledge of computing, statistics and mathematics to solve problems of design and performance analysis 2. Demonstrate how instructions can be implemented in microcode 3. Understand how the architecture affects program performance 4. Understand the basics of computer hardware and how software interacts with computer hardware 5. Use critical thinking to make informed decisions in the selection of computers 6. Write a simple program in assembler language to implement a high level program segment Response clickers: This course will use response clickers during the lecture. All students are required to have an i>clicker 2 response clicker. Response clickers may be purchased at the A&T bookstore. The response clickers will be used to provide input during the lectures and to record attendance. If you do not bring your response clicker to lecture, you will only get half credit for attendance.COMP375 Computer Architecture and Organization Fall Semester 2014 syllabus page 2 of 4 Grading : A student’s grade in the class will be based on their performance on the exams, quizzes, programs and homework assignments. All work will be graded on a numerical scale from 0 to 100. The final grade will be the weighted sum of all work using the following weights: attendance 4 % assignments and quizzes 16 % combined 3 exams 20 % each final exam 20 % The lowest homework or quiz grade will be discarded. Homework must be turned in at the beginning of class on the assigned day for full credit, unless accompanied by a valid excuse. Homework turned in within one day of the assigned time will be penalized 15%. Homework turned in within two days of the assigned time will be penalized 25%. No homework will be accepted after two days. Students who are absent during a class period when a test is given, will receive a score of zero unless previous arrangements are made or a valid written excuse is presented. Final letter grades will be based on the following scale: Letter Grade from up to but not including A 87 100 A- 85 87 B+ 82 85 B 77 82 B- 75 77 C+ 72 75 C 62 72 C- 60 62 D+ 57 60 D 50 57 F 0 50 Students will be allowed one and only one 8½ by 11 inch page of notes during the exams. Both sides of the note page can contain information as small as the student desires. You are not allowed to use more than 187 square inches of paper surface to hold your notes. Any additional pages, fold outs, flaps or other means of extending the page of notes will be considered cheating. The final exam will be optional for a student when it is determined by the instructor that it is statistically unlikely that the final exam will change the student's grade. A student always has the option to take the final exam if they wish to do so. When a student is permitted to not take the final exam, their course grade will be determined by the weighted average of all other graded work. Attendance: The lectures introduce the class material. Some material presented in the lectures is not covered in the text. Students are responsible for all class material covered or assigned in lectures. After the first three classes, students must attend 39 of the remaining 42 lectures to receive 100% of their attendance grade. For each class missed the attendance grade will be lowered by 5 points. If you come to class without your clicker, you will only receive half credit for your attendance that day. If your clicker comes to class without you, you will lose all attendance points.COMP375 Computer Architecture and Organization Fall Semester 2014 syllabus page 3 of 4 Cheating: Instances of cheating will be handled according to departmental policy. Cheating covers any case in which a student has received unauthorized aid in his/her performance that contributes to a course grade or submits material contributing to a course grade with the intent to deceive the instructor or grader. If the unauthorized aid includes help from another student, then that student is considered to have cheated as well. Students are expected to submit assignments that are entirely their own work. A common example of cheating is to copy another person’s program or homework assignment. If a student cheats on a homework assignment, then he/she will receive a grade of zero (a grade of F) for that item as will anyone assisting him/her in an unauthorized way. If a student cheats on an exam or the final, he/she will receive a failing grade for the class. All cases of cheating will be reported to the Director of Undergraduate Studies. When a student cheats for the second or more time in any Computer Science class, he/she will receive an F in the class in which the most recent case occurred and will be referred to the University authorities for