COMPUTER ORGANIZATION

Understanding of the inner-workings of modern computer systems and tradeoffs present at the hardware-software interface: Instruction set design and addressing modes, register transfer, internal CPU bus structure, ALU (microprogramming and hardwired control), computer arithmetic, memory system, input-output system and survey of real computers and microprocessors.

The main objective of the course is to introduce students to the computer organization from hardware and programming . This course teaches students fundamental knowledge in computer architecture and microarchitecture. The course covers the basic organizations of computer systems including instruction-set architecture, execution pipeline, memory hierarchy, and I/O subsystem. It also addresses advanced processor microarchitecture issues such as dynamic instruction scheduling, branch prediction, lock-up free caches, instruction-level parallelism, multiple instruction fetch/issuing, speculative execution, etc. to improve computer processor performance. Shared-memory multiprocessor systems with coherent caches to reduce memory access latency are also covered. Finally, it outlines the verification issues of today's microprocessors.

1. Knowledge of digital computer generation, computer types and classifications, functional units and their interconnections.
2. Knowledge on CPU performance evaluation metrics, including response time and throughput, and their impact on overall CPU and computer system efficiency.
3. Knowledge on Central Processing Unit: Addition and subtraction of signed numbers, look ahead carry adders. Multiplication: Signed operand multiplication, Division and logic operations. Floating point arithmetic operation Processor organization, general register organization, stack organization and addressing modes.
4. Ability to use on low level Assembler language.
5. Knowledge on Control Unit: Instruction types, formats, instruction cycles and subcycles ( fetch and execute etc) , micro-operations, execution of a complete instruction. Hardware and microprogrammed control: microprogramme sequencing, wide branch addressing, microinstruction with next address field, pre-fetching microinstructions, concept of horizontal and vertical microprogramming.
6. Knowledge on Memory: Basic concept and hierarchy, semiconductor RAM memories, memory organization. ROM memories. Cache memories: concept and design issues, performance, address mapping and replacement) Auxiliary memories: magnetic disk, magnetic tape. Virtual memory: concept implementation.
7. Knowledge about Input / Output: Peripheral devices, I/O interface, I/O ports, Interrupts: interrupt hardware, types of interrupts and exceptions. Modes of Data Transfer: Program I/O, interrupt initiated I/O and Direct Memory Access., I/O channels and processors.
8. Knowledge about Pipelining: Basic and Intermediate Concepts. Instruction-Level Parallelism and its Exploitation.
9. Knowledge about modern multicore architecture, Multiprocessors and Thread-Level Parallelism

1. Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface – RISC-V Edition 2. The Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture, 3. Edition, 2011, Linda Null and Julia Lobur, Jones and Bartlett Publishers.