CE 203 – Computer architecture

CE 203 – Computer architecture; Weekly hours: 2+1, ECTS: 4
The aim of this course is to discuss the fundamentals of computer organization (physical design) and architecture (logical design) and relates this to contemporary design issues. This course will cover machine level representation of data, assembly level organization, memory system organization and architecture, system connection, memory, input/output, instruction sets, CPU structure and functions and the control Unit operation. Besides emphasizing the fundamental concepts, the course will discuss the critical role of performance in driving computer design. Students will also learn MipsIT hardware simulator in computer labs. Students successfully completing the course will be able to: Describe computer architecture and organization, computer arithmetic, and CPU design. Describe I/O system and interconnection structures of computer. Identify high performance architecture design. Use assembly language to program a microprocessor system. Develop independent learning skills and be able to learn more about different computer architectures and hardware. Introduction to computer architecture; Computer classes; Defining computer architecture; Trends in technology; Power in integrated circuits, and Benchmarks; Dependability; Quantitative Principles of Computer Design; Amdahl’s Law; CPU performance; Processor performance equation; Pipelining; Instruction-level parallelism; Introduction to Memory organization and Hierarchy; Cache performance and its optimization; Storage systems: Failure and faults; I/O performance and reliability measures; Little’s Law and Single server queuing system.