EECE 401 - Mordern Computer Architecture

Text:

• J. L. Hennessy and D. A. Patterson, Computer Architecture - A Quantative Approach, Morgan Kaufmann, 1990.

Goals: To explore various facets of computer architectures and identify strengths and weaknesses of the various techniques. Also, to examine the application areas where the the use of various computer architecture concepts would be applicable, and to provide a basis for making intelligent use of machines. To enhance the students understanding of the relationship between hardware and software. Emphasis is placed on the relationship of architecture to programming issues.

Topics:

1. Historical view of computer architecture, levels; introduction to computer nomenclature mechanisms.
2. Examination of Von Neumann machines, their development, strength and weaknesses.
3. Implementation of the Von Neumann concepts in computers of varying sizes.
4. Storage hierarchies.
5. Stack machine architectures.
6. Parallelism and pipelining; array and vector processing.
7. Data Flow Machines, their contributions and applications.
8. RISC machines, the rationale and the benefits.

Computer Projects: There are several programming projects that illustrate various facets of computer architecture.

Additional Readings:

• H. S. Stone, Introduction to Computer Architecture , Science Research Associates, Inc., Chicago, IL, 1975.
• W. Stallings, Computer Organization and Architecture; Principles of Structure and Function (Second Edition) , Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, NY, 1990.
• R. Y. Kain, Computer Architecture; Software and Hardware (Volumes 1 and 2), Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1989.
• S. Dasgupta, Computer Architecture; A Modern Synthesis (Volumes 1 and 2), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1989.
• E. E. Swartzlander, Jr.: Computer Design Development, Principal Papers. Rochelle Park, NJ: Hayden Book Company, 1976.