CS 35101
Computer Architecture
Fall 2010
Dr. Angela Guercio
(www.personal.kent.edu/~aguercio)
Course Web Page
http://www.personal.kent.edu/~aguercio/
Fall10/CS35101_Fa10.html
Course Administration
 Instructor:
Dr. Angela Guercio aguercio@kent.edu
 424 Main Hall
 Office Hrs:
 TR 10:00am - 10:55am 1:55pm - 3:25pm
 other times are available by appointment
 Text (Required):

Andrew S. Tanenbaum – Structured Computer Organization –
Prentice Hall, 5th Edition, 2006.
The Syllabus: Requirements
 Class attendance is required.
 If you miss a class, let me know ahead of time
 you must provide the documented reason.
 You are responsible for bringing yourself up-to-date on
class material and assignments
 You cannot miss more than 4 classes without
documentation
 Penalty: drop of the grade (ex from A to B,
from B to C, ect.)
 Reading material before class is required
 Read material once before class and again after class
Course Content
This course will introduce you to the units and the layers that
are part of the computer organization.
The course covers:
 Computer Architecture Intro

Milestones in Computer Architecture

Computer Families
 The Computer System Organization

The Processor

The Primary Memory

The Secondary Memory

The Input/Output Unit
Course Content (cont.)
 The Digital Logic Level

Gates, Boolean Algebra

Basic Digital Logic Circuit and Control Circuits

Chips and Buses
 The Microarchitecture Level
 The Instruction Set Architecture Level

Instruction Format, Addressing and Instruction Types
 Assembly Language Level
 Operating System Level

Virtual Memory
 Parallel Architectures
Course prerequisites
 CS22021 CS I
 with a grade C or better
 For more details visit
http://www.kent.edu/CAS/CS/under
graduate/planner.cfm
Course goals
 To understand how computers work;
 To deepen the knowledge of the components of a
computer;
 To learn in depth a sample machine language;
 To become familiar with the path that data follow
during execution;
 To learn how to design an architecture;
 To be exposed to efficient memory storage;
 To understand how the communication computerexternal environment occurs;
 To briefly explore parallel architectures.
The Exams

2 Mid Term Exams and 1 Final Exam
 100 points each
 No Make-up exams
 Except in extreme case and only if I have
been notified prior the exam has been
issued
 Homework and Projects must be returned by
the deadline
 Late penalty: 3 points per day
The Grade





Participation
Attendance
Homework and Projects
Exam 1 and 2
Final Exam
5%
5%
40%
30%
20%
 Check the syllabus for the grading scale
Dates to Remember
 Last day to withdraw before grade W is assigned,
is Sept. 12, 2010
 Last day to drop the class is Nov. 7, 2010
 Exam 1 is Thursday, Sept. 30
 Exam 2 is Thursday, Nov. 4
 Final Exam is Thursday, Dec. 16 (1:00 pm –
3:00pm)
 Thanksgiving Recess: Nov. 24 – Nov. 28
Others: more on the syllabus
 Read the syllabus for:
 Course Withdrawal
 Academic Honesty Policy
 Students with Disabilities
 Classes Canceled – Campus Closings
 Conduct
 And other important issues
Others: Security
 Emergency: In case of an emergency
please contact the security on campus.
 Security phone on campus: #53123
 Security cell phone (330) 705-0430 or,
of course, 911.
 I recommend that you program into your cell
phone the previous numbers.