EE 360N - Computer Architecture, Spring 2006

Unique Numbers 15620, 15625

Course Title:

Computer Architecture

Instructor:

Derek Chiou (http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~derek)

Office:

538 Engineering Sciences Building (ENS)

Phone:

512.232.7722

Email Address:

derek at ece period utexas period edu

Instructor Office Hours:

MW, 6:30pm to 7:30pm (after class), and by appointment

 

Teaching Assistants:

Nikhil Patil, npatil at ece.utexas.edu

 

Gaurav Singhal, gauravsinghal58 at gmail.com

 

Course Home Page:

On Blackboard

Course Overview:

You have written at least a few programs in at least one high-level (well, whatever level you want to call C) language (since that is a prerequisite to the class), and you've compiled them into an executable and run those on a computer.  How do those executables execute?   Are there microscopic pixies in your computer that read your program and turn microscopic wheels and levers to execute that program for you?   An oracle that guesses the answer?  What magic takes an executable and performs trillions of tasks that run your executable on your inputs (and hopefully does the right thing?)

This class covers many of the concepts that implement that execution magic, more commonly called computer architecture.  We start by learning the machine language that a computer exposes to the user and how one can use that language to express algorithms in the form of machine language (or the more human-readable form of machine language called assembly language) programs.  We then learn how a simple hardware-based machine language interpreter (generally called a processor) is structured.  We use that as a launching point to explore

  • implementing the processor (in a basic sense)
  • improving the performance and useability of the processor
  • measuring and understanding tradeoffs between performance, usability and design complexity

A separate handout contains a list of subjects to be covered along with dates for all assignments, quizzes and the final exam.

What I expect: I expect you to learn the material.  To assist you in that goal, I will assign six problem sets (mostly for you to check to see that you're getting the material) and six programming assignments (to let you practice the material). To prove that you have learned the material, I will provide two mid-term exams and a final exam.  I hope to cover most of the material one should expect in an introduction to computer organization, but I expect to not read to you from any textbook. You should consider my lectures and the corresponding treatments in various textbooks as different approaches to learning the same material. 

I will not take attendance, and attendance will not be considered in the grading. 

I encourage you to study in groups, and to come to my office in groups. That usually will result in all of you understanding the material better. You are encouraged to ask questions after you have thought about the material. You are encouraged to challenge assumptions. Computer Science and Engineering deals with "nature" that is man-made (person-made, actually, but that is awkward) and so we the people may have made it wrong.

If you are part of a study group, you will need to turn in only one copy of a solution to a problem set for the entire group (thus a serious incentive to be part of a study group). The front page should contain the names of all members of the study group who have contributed to the solution. Each student will receive the same grade for that problem set.

Although I encourage you to study together, examinations and programming assignments must be your own individual work and are subject to the cheating policy (see below). 

Meeting Info:

The course consists of three hours of lecture + a 1.5 hour discussion section each week. Lectures will generally take place MW, from 5:00pm to 6:30pm, in ENS 127, with an occasional lecture at some other time at the convenience of the class. A list of topics we hope to cover can be found in the Course Syllabus.  Discussion sections will be held on Thursdays at 5:00PM-6:30PM in RLM 7.112 and on Fridays at 2:00PM-3:30PM in ENS 116.  The first discussion section will be held on Thursday, January 26.  Students are free to attend any discussion section they choose.

Textbook:

There is no required textbook for the course. I will make available as appropriate copies of notes I will use throughout the course.  In addition, the textbook below contains useful information on the material covered in the course.

John Hennessey and David Patterson.  Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach.  2002. ISBN 1558605967.

Prerequisites:

The only formal prerequisite is EE 319K, with a grade of C or higher. It is also assumed that the student has facility in the programming language C, or is willing and able to pick up the small differences from C++ that will be needed to complete the six programming lab assignments.

Additional course resources:

As noted above, class handouts will be supplied when necessary to supplement the concepts discussed in lecture. Other information will be downloadable from the course home page.

Homework policy:

Problem sets will be assigned as specified in the syllabus. Additional problems may be assigned whenever the instructor feels it is appropriate, based on something that comes up in class. Usually, students will have between one and two weeks to complete them. Students will be encouraged to form study groups to work homework problems. Only one copy of a problem set per group should be turned in.

Late policy:

No extensions will be given for completing the programming labs or problem sets, except that each student will be allowed 4 flexible slip days for the labs. A student may divide his/her slip days across labs in any way he/she wishes to extend deadlines for the labs. (The exception: you can not use any slip days on the final lab, which is due on the last class day.)  Slip days will be tracked at the granularity of a day; if an assignment is 1 minute late, it is one day late.

Cheating:

We strongly encourage you to form a study group, and to work together on the problem sets and study together to prepare for each exam. However collaboration is not permitted on the programming lab assignments (unless otherwise stated), the two mid-terms and final exam. The programs you write and the examinations you take MUST be your own work. Providing information to another student where prohibited, or obtaining information from another student where prohibited is considered cheating. This includes the exchange of any information during an examination and any code that is part of a solution to a programming assignment. Allowing another student to read something on your paper during an examination is considered cheating. In fact, leaving information unprotected so it can be compromised by another student is considered cheating. This includes sheets of paper lying about in your home, and computer files that are not properly protected. If you cheat, you violate the soul of the University, which we take very seriously, and will deal with in the harshest possible way. If you have any question as to what is permitted and what is not, ask the instructor or a TA FIRST. If you don't ask first, and you do something that is not allowed, the response "I thought it was okay" is not an acceptable justification. I am embarrassed to have to bother all of you with this paragraph, since for most of you, this paragraph is totally unnecessary. 

Exams and Final policy:

There will be two exams in class, the first on March 8, the second on April 19. There will be a final exam during the normal final exam period, tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 12th from 7PM-10PM. All exams are open book where “book” means any sort of paper product (book, magazine, handouts, old problem sets, etc.), but no electronic anything (laptop, cell phone, calculator, etc.) or biological anything (your roommate, wife, your hamster, another professor, etc.)  is allowed.   Exams are designed to test your ability to apply what you have learned and not your memory (though a good memory always helps).

Grading mechanics:

Nominally, grades are based on the following percentages:
Problem sets: 10% total (6 problem sets)
Programming Lab Experiments: 30% (5% each, times 6 labs)
Midterms: 30% (14% + 1% each, two midterms)
Final exam: 25% (23% + 2%)
My subjective evaluation of your work: 5%

Policy: Problem sets and programming assignments are due on the date and at the time specified.
Make-up exams will be given only in extraordinary situations. Excused absence from an exam must be obtained in advance except under very rare circumstances.

Infrastructure:

We will be using Blackboard as much as possible to distribute course materials (lecture notes, assignments, etc.), host the discussion board, etc.

 

The MEC Common Evaluation form will be used to evaluate the instructor in this course.

Additional details

The deadline for dropping without possible academic penalty is February 13th.  Last day to drop with Dean’s approval is March 27th.

Allegations of Scholastic Dishonesty will be dealt with according to the procedures outlined in Appendix C, Chapter 11, of the General Information Bulletin,http://www.utexas.edu/student/registrar/catalogs

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The University of Texas at Austin provides, upon request, appropriate academic adjustments for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4241 TDD, or the College of Engineering Director of Students with Disabilities, 471-4321.