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Computer Design
Lecturer: Dr S.W. Moore
No. of lectures: 16
Aims
The aims of this course are to introduce the hardware/software
interface models and the hardware structures used in designing
computers. The first eight lectures are concerned with the
hardware/software interface and cover the programmer's model of the
computer. The last eight lectures look at hardware implementation
issues at a register transfer level.
Lectures
- Introduction to the course and some background history.
- Historic machines. EDSAC versus Manchester Mark I.
- Introduction to RISC processor design and the ARM instruction set.
- ARM tools and code examples.
- Operating system support
including memory hierarchy and management.
- Intel x86 instruction set.
- Java Virtual Machine.
- Executing instructions. An algorithmic viewpoint.
- Basic processor hardware. Pipelining and data paths.
- Extending the ARM pipeline including load and branch delay slots.
- Memory hierarchy. Caching etc.
- Buses. Internal communication pathways.
- Communication interfaces and devices.
- Control structures. State machines and microcode.
- Data-flow and comments on future directions.
Objectives
At the end of the course students should
- be able to read assembler given a guide to the instruction set
and be able to write short pieces of assembler if given an
instruction set or asked to invent an instruction set
- understand the differences between RISC and CISC assembler
- understand what facilities a processor provides to support
operating systems, from memory management to software interrupts
- understand memory hierarchy including different cache
structures
- appreciate the use of pipelining in processor design
- understand the communications structures, from buses close to
the processor, to peripheral interfaces
- have an appreciation of control structures used in processor design
Recommended books
* Hennessy, J.L. & Patterson, D.A. (2002). Computer architecture:
a quantitative approach. Morgan Kaufmann (3rd ed.).
(2nd edition, 1996, is also good.)
Patterson, D.A. & Hennessy, J.L. (1998). Computer organization and
design. Morgan Kaufmann (2nd ed., as an alternative to the above).
Pointers to sources of more specialist information are included in the
lecture notes and on the associated course web page.
Next: Continuous Mathematics
Up: Michaelmas Term 2003: Part
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Christine Northeast
Thu Sep 4 15:29:01 BST 2003