• Textbooks
• Instructor Information
• Course Description
• Course Objectives
• Course Procedures
• Problem Summaries
• Grading Procedures
• Course Schedule

Computer Organization, Fourth Edition by Hamacher, Vranesic, and Zaky. McGraw Hill Publishing Co.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is a study of the internal organization and design of computing devices. The machine will be examined at different levels such as digital logic, microprogramming, conventional machine and assembly language. Advanced architectures such as RISC and parallel machines will be explored. The course will include an examination of the components of a computer system such as the CPU, busses, internal memory, external memory and I/O devices, and how they all work together to form a functioning computer system.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: The objectives for this course include:

• Students will gain an understanding of digital logic and how it is used to build a computer system.
• Students will begin to understand the function and operation of the CPU.
• Students will learn how microprogramming and assembler instructions are used to control the operation of the CPU
• Students will develop an understanding of the format of instruction sets and the operation of the instruction cycle.
• Given an instruction set, students will be able to write assembler routines using that instruction set.
• Students will gain an understanding of the role of the other components of a computer system such as busses and memory and how they work together.

COURSE PROCEDURES: This course will utilize lecture, discussion and hands-on lab work as the main tools for presenting the course material. Students will be expected to read the text, and be prepared to discuss the readings and the assignments in class. Homework assignments will generally take the form of problems from the text book or assembler programming projects. Students will also be expected to write and present brief summaries over parts of the course material. This will generally take the form of studying a problem from the book or given by the instructor and writing a summary which explains the problem and gives a possible solution.

PROBLEM SUMMARIES: The problem summaries that students will give in class will likely be brief (5 - 10 minutes) explanations of some problem related to the current class topic or a presentation on some aspect of the topic that will not be presented by the instructor. Students will be graded on their understanding of the topic, how completely they cover the topic, the correctness of their solution (if applicable), and the clarity of their presentation. A goal of these presentations is to give students an opportunity to speak about computer science before an audience. However, it is recognized that some students are better presenters than others. Although it is not required, students may submit written work that demonstrates their understanding of all aspects of the topic, if they feel their presentation does not show this.

GRADING PROCEDURES: Students will be evaluated on their understanding of the concepts being covered in class, and their ability to apply those concepts in homework problems and other projects.

The final grade will be determined by the following distribution:

and the following TENTATIVE scale will be used to determine the final grade

Written homework will be due by 5:00 pm on the day they are due. Late homework will be accepted, but will lose points at the discretion of the instructor.

Problem summaries will be due by classtime on the day when the student is expected to give their presentation.

COURSE SCHEDULE: The following is a TENTATIVE schedule of topics for each week. Changes may be made during the semester as needed.