Readings and Recommended Exercises: CDA3101

Readings & Recommended Exercises: Organization of Computers

The following readings and exercises are taken from

Computer Organization and Design

The assigned exercises are not to be turned in as homework, but may appear (in slightly different form) as exam questions (hint...):

Exercises are listed by section in the Web notes, as follows:

1. Introductory Material, Computer Abstractions, and Technology

    Read: Text - Chapter 1 - Computer Abstractions and Technology
    Ex's: Listed by subsection, below

1.1. Introduction and Overview

    Read: Text: Sections 1.1-1.3, Web: Appendix B
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 1.1.1 - 1.1.10

1.2. Overview of Computer Abstractions

    Read: Text: Sections 1.2-1.3
    Ex's: Not to turn in:  Ex. 1.1.11 - 1.1.26

1.3. Overview of Computer Technology Trends

    Read: Text: Sections 1.4-1.6
    Ex's: Not to turn in:  All of Ex. 1.2

1.4. Digital Logic Design

    Read: Text: Appendix C (textbook, not Web page)
    Ex's: TBA

1.5. Computer Performance Assessment

    Read: Text: Section 1.4, also pp. 26-38
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 1.3 - 1.5

1.6. Performance Benchmarking

    Read: Text: pp. 48-50, 657-667
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 1.6 - 1.8

2. ISA, Machine Language, and Number Systems

    Read: Text - Chapter 2 - Instructions: Language of the Computer
    Ex's: Listed by subsection, below

2.1. ISA and Machine Language

    Read: Text: pp. 21, 54, 161-165, 
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 2.1 - 2.4

2.2. Instruction Representation

    Read: Text: Sections 2.1 - 2.5
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 2.5 - 2.6

2.3. Decision Instructions and Procedure Support

    Read: Text: Sections 2.6 - 2.13
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 2.7 - 2.10

2.4. Number Representations, Data Types and Addressing

    Read: Text: Sections 2.6 - 2.13
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 2.14 - 2.16

2.5. MIPS Programs

    Read: Text: Sections 2.14 - 2.20
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 2.18 - 2.20

2.6. Pointers and Arrays

    Read: Text: Sections 2.14 - 2.20 (Review)
    Ex's: Review previous Exercises (2.1 - 2.20)

3. Computer Arithmetic

    Read: Appendix C, Chapter 3 - Arithmetic for Computers
    Ex's: Listed by subsection, below

3.1. Arithmetic and Logic Operations

    Read: Text: Sections 3.1-3.3, Appendix C.4-C.6 
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 3.1, 3.2

3.2. Arithmetic Logic Units and the MIPS ALU

    Read: Text: Appendix C.5
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 3.3

3.3. Boolean Multiplication and Division

    Read: Text: Sections 3.3-3.4
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 3.4-3.9

3.4. Floating Point Arithmetic

    Read: Text: Sections 3.5-3.6
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 3.10-3.14

3.5. Floating Point in MIPS and Intel

    Read: Text: Sections 3.6-3.8
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 3.15

4. Processors

    Read: Appendix D (Control), Chapter 4 - The Processor
    Ex's: Listed by subsection, below

4.1. The Central Processor - Control and Dataflow

    Read: Text: Sections 4.1-4.2
    Ex's: None

4.2. Datapath Design and Implementation

    Read: Text: Sections 4.2-4.4
    Ex's: None

4.3. Single-Cycle and Multicycle Datapaths

    Read: Text: Appendix C.11, Appendix D.1   
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 4.1, 4.2, 4.7, 4.9

4.4. Controller Finite State Machines

    Read: Text: Appendix C.10-C.11, Appendix D.2-D.3
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 4.13, 4.14

4.5. Microprogrammed Control

    Read: Text: Appendix D.4-D.6
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 4.15

5. Pipelining

    Read: Chapter 5
    Ex's: Listed by subsection, below

5.1. Overview of Microprogramming and Pipelining

    Read: Text: Section 4.6, also review Appendix D
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 4.16-4.18

5.2. Pipeline Datapath Design and Implementation

    Read: Text: Sections 4.5-4.7
    Ex's: Review Ex's assigned thus far

5.3. Pipeline Control and Hazards

    Read: Text: Sections 4.7-4.9
    Ex's: Review Ex's assigned thus far

5.4. Pipeline Performance Analysis

    Read: Text: Sections 4.9-4.14
    Ex's: Not to turn in: 4.19-4.21

6. Memory Hierarchies

    Read: Chapter 5 - Large and Fast: Exploiting Memory Hierarchies
    Ex's: Listed by subsection, below

6.1. Overview of Memory Hierarchies

    Read: Text: Section 5.1,5.2
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 5.1, 5.2

6.2. Basics of Cache and Virtual Memory

    Read: Text: Sections 5.2-5.6
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 5.3-5.8

6.3. Memory Systems Performance Analysis & Metrics

    Read: Text: Sections 5.7-5.10
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 5.9-5.12

6.4. I/O Devices and Buses

    Read: Text: Sections 6.1-6.7
    Ex's: Not to turn in: Ex. 6.1-6.9

...more to come...

System Performance Analysis

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