Jordan University of Science & Technology
Faculty of Computer & Information Technology
Department of Computer Science & Information Systems
Year:
2004 / 2005
Semester:
1
Course Information
Course Title
Computer Architecture
Course Number
CIS 451
Prerequisites
CPE 252 Computer Organization & Design
http://www.just.edu.jo/~basel/courses.htm
OR
http://www.cis.just.edu.jo/faculty/basel/index.html
Course Website
Instructor
Dr. Basel Mahafzah
Office Location
PH 4 (Second Floor Across from Physics Labs)
Office Phone
02-720-1000
Ext. 23403
Office Hours
12:15 - 1:15
E-mail
BASEL@just.edu.jo or BASEL8@hotmail.com
E-mail for Projects
Sun, Tue, Thu, & by appointment
CIS451@just.edu.jo
Text Book
Title
Computer Organization & Design: The Hardware / Software Interface
Author(s)
D. A. Patterson & J. L. Hennessy
Publisher
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc.
Year
1998
Edition
Second
Book
Website
http://www.mkp.com/books_catalog/catalog.asp?ISBN=1-55860-428-6
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References
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J. L. Hennessy & D. A. Patterson, “Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach”
3rd edition, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc., 2003.
M. M. Mano, “Computer System Architecture”, 4th edition, Prentice Hall, 1997.
A. S. Tanenbaum, “Structured Computer Organization”, 5th edition, Prentice Hall,
1999.
W. Stallings, “Computer Organization and Architecture”, 5th edition, Prentice Hall,
2000.
V. P. Heuring & H. F. Jordan, “Computer Systems Design & Architecture”, AddisonWesley, 1997.
Rafiquzzaman & Chandra, “Modern Computer Architecture”, West Publishing
Company, 1988.
R. Y. Kain, “Advanced Computer Architecture: A System Design Approach”, Prentice
Hall, 1996.
T. C. Bartee, “Computer Architecture & Logic Design”, McGraw-Hill, 1991.
1
Assessment Policy
Assessment Type
Expected Due Date
Weight
First Exam
November 7 / 2004 (Sunday)
15%
Second Exam
December 12 / 2004 (Sunday)
20%
Final Exam
40%
Activities (Quizzes)
TBA
Almost once a week
Projects
November 21 / 2004 (Sunday)
15%
10%
Course Objectives
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To provide a thorough treatment of the concepts, design principles, and implementation issues of
contemporary computer architecture.
To discuss the impact of modern architectures such as Pentium and Pentium Pro.
To illustrate how we measure the performance of different architectures.
To illustrate the design of the datapath and control of the MIPS architecture.
To discuss the enhancement of the processor using pipelining technique.
To discuss the impact of different cache memory implementations.
To illustrate how we measure and enhance the performance of cache memory.
Teaching & Learning Methods
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Class lectures, lecture notes, quizzes, and projects are designed to achieve the course
objectives.
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Projects are intended to encourage you to think creatively about Computer Architecture issues.
They are also meant to reinforce class material, and to supplement the information in the
textbook.
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You should read the assigned chapters before class, and participate in class and do whatever it
takes for you to grasp this material. Also, ask any question related to Computer Architecture.
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You are responsible for all material covered in the class.
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Please communicate with me regarding any concerns or issues related to Computer Architecture
by either in class, phone, or email.
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The web page is a primary communication vehicle. Lecture notes, syllabus, and important
instructions regarding projects are available on the web.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students:
 should be able to know basic terms associated with Computer Architecture, such as MIPS,
Throughput, Performance, Pipelining, Structure hazards, Control hazards, Data hazards, etc.
 should be able to design the datapath and control of the MIPS architecture.
 should be able to measure performance of different architectures.
 should be able to understand the design of the pipelined datapath and pipelined control of the
MIPS architecture.
 should be able to design cache memory using direct mapping, set associative, and fully
associative.
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Course Content
Number of
Weeks
(1 Week:
3 one-hour
lectures)
Topics
Chapter in
Text
Overview
Below your Program; and Organization of a Computer.
1
The Role of Performance
Measuring Performance; Relating the Metrics; Choosing
Programs to Evaluate Performance; Comparing and
Summarizing Performance; and Real Stuff: SPEC95
Benchmarks and Performance of Recent Processors.
2
(1 Week:
3 one-hour
lectures)
Instructions: Language of the Machine
Operations of the Computer Hardware; Operands of the
Computer Hardware; Representing Instructions in the
Computer; Instructions for Making Decisions; and MIPS
Addressing Mode.
3
(2 Weeks:
6 one-hour
lectures)
Arithmetic for Computers
Signed and Unsigned Numbers; Addition and
Subtraction; Logical Operations; Constructing an
Arithmetic Logic Unit; and Multiplication.
4
The Processor: Datapath and Control
Building a Datapath; and A Simple Implementation
Scheme.
5
(3 Weeks:
9 one-hour
lectures)
Enhancing Performance with Pipelining
An Overview of Pipelining; A Pipelined Datapath;
Pipelined Control; Data Hazards and Stalls; and
Branch Hazards.
6
(3 Weeks:
9 one-hour
lectures)
Large and Fast: Exploiting Memory Hierarchy
The Basics of Caches; Measuring and Improving Cache
Performance; and A Common Framework for Memory
Hierarchies.
7
(2 Weeks:
6 one-hour
lectures)
Multiprocessors
Multiprocessors Connected by a Single Bus;
Multiprocessor Connected by a Network; Clusters; and
Network Topologies.
9
(2 Weeks:
6 one-hour
lectures)
(2 Weeks:
6 one-hour
lectures)
3
Additional Notes
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No make up quizzes.
Usually, quizzes are determined and given once a week.
Each Quiz is out of 10.
If five quizzes or more are given then the lowest quiz’s grade is dropped.
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The format for the exams is generally (but NOT always) as follows: General
Definitions, Multiple-Choice, True/False, Analyze a Problem, Short Essay
Questions, etc.
Grades will not be given out via e-mail
Makeup
Exams
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Makeup exam should not be given unless there is a valid excuse.
Drop Date
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Last day to drop the course is before the twelve (12th) week of the current
semester.
Cheating or copying on exam, quiz, or project is an illegal and unethical activity.
Standard JUST policy will be applied.
All graded assignments must be your own work (your own words).
Some of the projects (programming or research) may be graded orally
(presentation).
Quizzes
Exams
Cheating
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Attendance
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Workload
Graded
Exams
Average work-load student should expect to spend 6 hours per week.
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Instructor should return exam papers graded to students not after the week after
the exam date.
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Participation in and contribution to class discussions will affect your final grade
positively. Raise your hand if you have any question.
Making any kind of disruption and (side talks) in the class will affect you
negatively.
Participation
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Project
Excellent attendance is expected.
JUST policy requires the faculty member to assign ZERO grade (35) if a student
misses 10% of the classes that are not excused.
Sign-in sheets will be circulated.
If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out about any announcements or
assignments you may have missed.
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A team of 3 or 4 students is expected to submit a project.
Projects must be turned in on the date specified.
For each day delay of submitting your project two points are omitted out of 15.
More details about projects will be given later on.
Make backups of all of your work (project materials).
Copy files onto 2 or 3 floppy disks and photocopy diagrams and other materials
to share with your group.
4