Computer Architecture

Here are links to the course home page and the formal TQA description.

Description

Computer architecture is about making computing hardware and software operate as fast as possible and for the minimum cost. Over the years improvements in technology and advances in computer architecture have resulted in huge increases in computer performance. This course examines the fundamentals of high-performance computer architecture and looks at how the interface between hardware and software (architecture and compiler) influences performance.

Syllabus

Fundamentals

Performance evaluation methods and metrics, principles of high performance design, technology issues.

Instruction Set Design

instruction set classes, registers, memory addressing, instruction set measurements.

Processor Design, Pipelines and Parallel Functional Units

Essential elements of a high performance processor. Pipeline design, pipeline hazards & interlocks, out-of-order execution, scoreboards and reservation stations. Control prediction techniques and their exploitation.

Memory System Design

Memory hierarchies. Basic cache design and improvements.

I/O

I/O interface. RAIDS. Buses.

Multiprocessors

Multiprocessor organisations. Cache coherence.

Assessed Coursework

Two exercises are set during the course.

References:

*** J.L. Hennessy & D.A. Patterson Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach (third edition), Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., 2003. (This is an excellent book which covers the course material so closely that there are no printed lecture notes for this module. You are strongly advised to obtain a copy of this book).