SyllabusEN164: Design of Computing SystemsSemester II 2006–2007MWF 1:00pm – 1:50pm, Room BH 158Instructor: Prof. Iris Bahar, BH 322, phone: 863-1430, email: Iris [email protected] hours: M 2:00 – 3:00pm, Th 9:00-10:00am, or by appointmentTeaching Assistants:Desta (Mickey) Tadesse (head TA) [email protected] Reggiannini [email protected] DESCRIPTIONThis course focuses on the architectures of computers with particular emphasis on currentmicroprocessors, traditional computers, embedded processors and parallel processors. Ideasdiscussed include instruction set design, advanced computer arithmetic, RISC architectures,advanced memory structures, pipelining, I/O concepts, and parallel processing.COURSE MATERIALRequired Reading• J. Hennessy and D. Patterson, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 4thedition, Morgan Kaufmann 2007.• Lab Notes, handed out during the semesterReference Book• D. Patterson and J. Hennessy, Computer Organization & Design: The Hardware/SoftwareInterface, 3rd edition, Morgan Kaufmann 2005.GRADINGHomework: 10%Laboratory: 30%Midterm exam: 20%Final: 35%Class Participation: 5%Laboratory: The lab assignments should be done in groups of two. To receive full creditfor a give lab, you must demo the assignment to one of the TAs by the end of TA hourson the due date. Labs handed in late will lose 10% of their maximum value per dayor fraction thereof. It is important that you find a lab partner as soon as possible andlet the head TAs know with whom you will be working.There are a total of four lab assignments. Lab 1-3 will require building some hardwareand software components in the lab. Lab 4 will be a simulation-based lab that willrequire using software available on the machines in the computing lab. See the Labo-ratory Overview handed out in class next week for more information on the labs andcheck-off and submission procedures. Please note that you must complete all 4 labs topass this course.Lab assignments generally require several hours of design and debug time. In order toavoid the last-minute crunch in the lab, start labs early. Waiting until the night beforeto start your lab and then claiming there were no free stations available to debug anddemo your assignment is not a valid excuse for handing in an assignment late withoutpenalty.Exams: There will a midterm and regularly scheduled final exam for this class. The midtermwill be given in class on Friday, March 16. The final will be given on Wednesday,May 18 from 2pm–5pm — the last finals slot of the semester :-(.Homework: There will be approximately 4–5 homework assignments given throughout thesemester. Homeworks should be handed in at the beginning of class on the due date.Late homeworks will receive no credit. While only 10% of your grade, homeworks covermost of the material for the exams. Doing homework is an excellent way to preparefor exams. Collaborating on homework is fine, however, you should understand whatyou are handing in. If you cannot turn in an assignment on time because of prolongedillness or other legitimate personal or family reason, please talk to me to work out anextension.COURSE OUTLINE• Introduction and Metrics for Computing• Instruction Set Design• Processor Bus Design• Basic Processor Pipelining• Computer Arithmetic• Memory Hierarchy Design• Advanced Pipelining and Instruction Level Parallelism• Dynamic Branch Prediction• Multiprocessor Machines• VLIW