Goal:

The goal of the course is to understand how modern processor architectures are designed.   Pipelined RISC architectures form the focus of the course, though multiprocessors and other designs will also be discussed.

Instructor:

Prof. Rajeev Barua
Email: barua@eng.umd.edu
Office: 1431 A. V. Williams building
Office hours: Tuesday 3:15 to 4:30 pm

Teaching Assistants:

Renju Thomas (full-time TA)
Email: renju@eng.umd.edu
Office:  EGL 1117
Office hours:  Fridays 1-3pm.

Christopher Kommareddy (quarter-time TA - for grading-related questions only)
Email: kcr@eng.umd.edu
Office: AVW3225

The staff will gladly help you with your questions during office hours.  In an emergency, the TA may see you outside office hours, but please be sensitive to the fact that he is also taking courses, writing a thesis, etc.

Lectures:

2-3:15pm Tue, Thu in room CHE 2108.

Prerequisites:

The formal prerequisite for this class is ENEE446 or equivalent.  If you do not satisfy this prerequisite, you may still be allowed to take this class if you have taken introductory classes in microprocessors and assembly-language language programming.  If you are not sure if you have the background, please talk to the instructor.  Nevertheless, the final decision of whether you should take the class is based on your judgement by looking at the syllabus - I cannot possibly know what exactly you might have learnt in the past.  Please note that the class will be quite intensive and fast-paced.

Recommended Text:

The primary text book used will be:

John L. Hennessy and David A. Patterson, "Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach. (2nd Edition)". Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Mateo, CA 1995.

You are strongly encouraged to buy or otherwise have access to this textbook throughout this course.  Other books and papers may be used as material for lectures occassionally, but you will not be required to buy additional books.

Homeworks:

Homeworks will be announced in class.  Students may form groups of up to 3 people in doing homeworks.  Only one homework submission will be required per group.  Discussions with other groups is not allowed.  Submissions will be due by the end of class on the due date.  Solutions will be available on the same day, hence late submissions will not be evaluated.

Simulation Assignments:

Besides the homework assignments, there will be a few simulation assignments.  Solutions can be submitted in groups of upto 3 people.  Groups may discuss the assignment with other groups, but no sharing of code is permitted.

Project:

There will be a project in this course.  Students may form groups of up to 3 people in doing the project.  Only one project submission will be required per group.  More details about the project will be given later.   As this class is a fairly advanced class, the project will be substantial and involve coding and performance evaluation.  A project report will be due
towards the end of the term (date TBA).

Exams:

There will be a midterm and a final examination in the course.  The midterm will likely be in early October, and the final in mid-December.  Actual dates will be announced soon.

Grading weightage:

The following is the weightage for the different components of this class towards the final grade:

Midterm                                  25%
Final                                        35%
Project                                     20%
Homeworks                            12%
Simulation assignments        8%

Factors such as classroom participation and quality of solutions may make a difference to overall grade for students, especially for those in the borderline between grades.

Class notes:

No formal class notes will be provided, but I will look for a volunteer in each class to take down the notes neatly for that one class, and hand me and the TA a photocopy each.   The copy of the notes should be handed to us by the next lecture. The copy will be for my records, and will aid the TA.

Academic honesty:

The policy on collaboration in homeworks, simulation assignments and the project is described above.  Examination work must be strictly individual.  Violations of this policy will not be tolerated and will result in an F grade for the class.

Disabilities and religious holidays:

Students needing special arrangements due to disabilities or religious holidays should contact the instructor with as much advance notice as possible.