Computer Architecture

Provides a thorough and fundamental treatment of the art of computer architecture. Topics include concepts of von Neumann architectures, methods of evaluating CPU performance, instruction-set design and examples, compiler issues, instruction pipelining, superscalar processors, methods for reduction of branch penalty, memory hierarchies, I/O systems, floating-point arithmetic, and current issues in parallel processing. Prerequisite(s): course 110 (Computer Architecture: instruction set design and RISC, cache and virtual memory, pipelining, SIMD (array and vector) processors, MIMD multiprocessors, interconnection schemes, performance). Enrollment restricted to graduate students; undergraduates may enroll if they have completed course 110 and with consent of instructor. Enrollment limited to 30.