Department of Computer Science
CS3421: Introduction To Computer Organization
Course Information and Syllabus
Fall 2008

Watch this space for important and timely information.

Instructor:

Dr. David Poplawski

Course Text and Reference Materials:

Digital Design and Computer Architecture

Mars Web site

JLS (Logic Simulator)

Grading:

7 Lab Assignments 40%

1 In-Class Quiz 5%

3 Midterm Exams 45%

Final Exam 10%

Run the "mygrade" program to see the exact weightings of all assignments.

Policies:

I encourage you to work study problems with other people, but make sure you understand how to solve all the problems as you will have to do similar problems by yourself on the quiz, the midterms and the final exam.
You may work in pairs or alone on the lab assignments (no threesomes or more). If you pair up, submit one version with both your names on it, even if you are in different sections. If you pair up with someone in the other section, be sure to put your section numbers after your names.
Lab assignments must be submitted by the due date and time indicated on the assignment. Late assignments will receive NO credit.
If you miss an exam with a good reason (I decide if your reason is a good one), then the score you get on the next exam will be the score you will be given for the missing one. If you don't have a good reason you will get a 0 on the exam.
You must take the final exam at the officially scheduled time. You will not pass the course if you do not take the final exam.
If you come to me with a problem meeting a deadline or taking an exam BEFORE it is due I am pretty reasonable about deciding if an excuse is a good one. If you come to me afterwards I'll be very skeptical and will almost certainly require clear, written proof of whatever caused the problem.

Lab Assignments:

Lab 1 (tentatively due 9/15)
Lab 2 (tentatively due 9/29)
Lab 3 (tentatively due 10/13)
Lab 4 (tentatively due 10/27)
Lab 5 (tentatively due 11/10)
Lab 6 (tentatively due 12/1)
Lab 7 (tentatively due 12/12)

Quiz/Exam Info and Solutions:

Syllabus:

Week	Topic	Readings
1	Introduction Numeric Encodings	Sections 1.1-1.4, 5.3
2,3,4	Assembly Language	Sections 6.1-6.7
5	Boolean Algebra Combinational Logic	Sections 2.1-2.6, 2.8, 2.9
6	Sequential Logic State Machines	Sections 3.1, 3.2, 3.4
7	Arithmetic Circuits Memory	Sections 5.1, 5.2, 5.5
8	Microarchitecture (One Cycle)	Sections 7.1,7.3
9	Performance	Sections 7.2, 7.3.4
10	Microarchitecture (Multicycle)	Section 7.4
11	Memory Systems, Cache	Sections 8.1-8.3
12	Memory Systems (Cache)	Section 8.3
13	Memory Systems (Virtual Memory)	Section 8.3
14	I/O	Section 8.5