Course Syllabus
ECE 422 – Design of Digital Computers
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
1. Course Number and Name:
2. Credit Units/Contact Hours:
3. Course Coordinator:
ECE 422 – Design of Digital Computers
3/ 3
Ramin Roosta
4. Text, References & Software
Recommended Text:
Computer System Architecture by M.M. Mano, Prentice Hall.
Additional References:
Hardware Organization and Design by F. F. Hill and G.R. Peterson, John Wiley and Sons.
Computer Architecture and Organization by J.P. Hayes, McGraw Hill.
5. Specific Course Information
a. Course Description
The structure and operation of a stored-program general-purpose digital computer. Design of
computer hardware modules: arithmetic-logic units, control units, input-output units, memories.
Basic organizations of digital computers. Fault diagnosis and fault tolerant design of digital
systems. The prerequisite for this course is EE 320.
b. Prerequisite by Topic
Students must be familiar with conventional techniques in designing digital logic circuit using
discrete logic. Specifically, they must be familiar with conversion of numbers among various
number systems, TTL input/output voltage and current specification, logic function
minimization, timing analysis, and functions of standard MSI combinational and sequential
circuits such as decoder, multiplexer, encoder, comparator, adder, subtractor, flip-flops, shift
registers, and counters.
c. Elective Course (EE), Required Course (CompE)
6. Specific Goals for the Course
a. Specific Outcomes of Instructions – After completing this course the students should be able to:
1. Basic operation of a general purpose computer.
2. Design of various computer hardware modules such as ALU, Control Unit Memory
Organization as well as Input/Output devices.
3. Fundamentals of Array Processors Pipelined Processors and Multi-Processors.
b. Relationship to Student Outcomes
This supports the achievement of the following student outcomes:
a) An ability to apply knowledge of math, science, and engineering to the analysis of electrical
and comengineering problems.
b) An ability to design and conduct scientific and engineering experiments, as well as to analyze
and interpret data.
c) An ability to design systems which include hardware and/or software components.
e) An ability to identify, formulate and solve electrical engineering problems.
m)An ability to analyze and design complex devices and systems containing hardware and
software components.
7. Topics Covered/Course Outline
1. Review of logic design principles (5%)
2. Data Structure and Representation (10%)
3. Register Transfer Language (R.T.L.) and Bus-Structures (10%)
4. Computer System Organization (20%)
5. Arithmetic and Logical Unit (ALU) Design (10%)
6. Control Unit Design (15%)
7. Memory Organization and Addressing Schemes (15%)
8. Design of I/O Channels and Interrupt Handling (10%)
9. Pipelined, Array and Multi-Processors (5%)
Prepared by:
Ramin Roosta, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, November 2011
Ali Amini, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, March 2013