ECS 154B: Computer Architecture

Subject
ECS 154B
Title
Computer Architecture
Status
Active
Units
4.0
Effective Term
2016 Fall Quarter
Learning Activities
Lecture: 3 hours
Discussion: 1 hour
Description
Hardwired and microprogrammed CPU design. Memory hierarchies. Uniprocessor performance analysis under varying program mixes. Introduction to pipelining and multiprocessors. GE Prior to Fall 2011: SciEng. GE: SE.
Prerequisites
ECS 154A or (EEC 170, EEC 180A)
Enrollment Restrictions
Pass One open to Computer Science and Computer Science Engineering Majors only.

Summary of Course Content

  1. Uniprocessor CPU Overview Impact of technology, cost/power/performance tradeoffs, instruction set design and evaluation.
  2. Uniprocessor CPU Design Single and multiple cycle CPUs. Microprogramming & hardwired control logic. Homework using digital design software to implement part or all of a simple CPU.
  3. Pipelining Pipelining as performance enhancing technique. Challenges to maximizing performance using pipelining. Relationship between instruction set design and pipelining. Pipelining and Interrupts. Advanced pipelining topics.
  4. Hierarchical Memory System Design Detailed examination of the memory hierarchy. Advanced caching techniques. Interaction between virtual memory system and memory hierarchy.
  5. Multiprocessors and Parallelism Introduction to shared-memory and message-passing multiprocessor systems.

Illustrative Reading:
David Patterson and John Hennessy. Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface. 5th edition. Morgan Kaufmann, 2011.

Potential Course Overlap
None

Course Category

Upper Division