Counts as:

• EE Elective
• CMPE Selective - Special Content

Normally Offered:

Each Fall

Campus/Online:

On-campus and online

Requisites:

ECE 43700

Requisites by Topic:

Computer design and prototyping; basic 5-stage pipeline, basic caches, basic virtual memory, compilers, operating systems, assembly programming

Catalog Description:

Computer architecture is the science and art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create a computer that meets functional, performance and cost goals. This course qualitatively and quantitatively examines uniprocessor computer design trade-offs. We will learn, for example, how uniprocessors execute many instructions concurrently and why state-of-the-art memory systems are nearly as complex as processors. Examining tradeoffs requires that you already know how to correctly design a computer, as is taught in the important prerequisite EE 43700.

Learning Outcomes

A student who successfully fulfills the course requirements will have demonstrated:

• an understanding of advanced processor pipelines including mechanisms for hardware or compiler instruction scheduling. renaming, branch prediction, and precise interrupts
• an understanding of advanced cache techniques including hardware and software schemes for miss ratio reduction and miss penalty reduction, and high-bandwidth design for cache and main memory
• an understanding of virtual memory including page table design, TLBs, and interaction between caches and address translation
• an understanding of basic snoopy coherence and the notion of memory consistency models

Lecture Outline:

Assessment Method:

Homework, programming assignments, exams. (3/2022)