CSE 775: Computer Architecture

Instructor

Mario Lauria - office: DL783, ph.: 292-7027, hours: T 2:30-3:30pm (or any other time by appointment)

Grader

Taewoo Kwon - office: DL287, ph. 688-4637, hours: WF 1:30-2:30pm (email: kwonta "at" cse "dot" ohio-state "dot" edu)
 

Course Description

Fundamentals of Computer Design, Performance Measures, Instruction Set Design, Reduced Instruction Set Architecture (RISC), Introduction to Pipelining, Advanced Pipelining Techniques, Memory Hierarchy and Cache Design, Storage Systems, Introduction to Vector and Parallel Computer Architectures.

Course Web site

http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~lauria/cse775/

Meeting time and place

Level and Credits

Prerequisites

Objectives

  1. To understand and appreciate the principles and tradeoffs (cost vs. performance, speed vs. flexibility) behind the design of modern computer systems in a qualitative and quantitative fashion.
  2. To understand issues in choosing and designing an instruction set.
  3. To learn the concepts of basic pipelining and advanced pipelining techniques.
  4. To learn issues related to hierarchical memory system design.

Text

Topics (tentative)

Number of Weeks
 Topics Readings
.5
 Technology trends
Cost and Performance 		1.1-1.3
1.4-1.5
1 Principles of Computer Design
Reading Assignment
Classification of Instr Set Architectures
Features of Instruction Sets
 1.6
1.7-1.9
2.1-2.2
2.3-2.10
.5
 Role of compilers and MIPS architecture
Reading Assignment
 2.11-2.12
2.14
1
 Basic Pipelining
Data and Control Hazards
Pipeline Implementation
 A.1
A.2
A.3-A.5
1.5
 MIPS R4000 pipeline
Crosscutting issues
Instruction level parallelism
 A.6
A.8
3.1
1.5
 Dynamic Scheduling and Branch Prediction
Reading Assignment (Superscalar)
 3.2-3.5
3.6
1
 Loop unrolling
Static Branch Prediction
Reading assignment
 4.1
4.2
4.3-4.4
1 Memory Hierarchy Design and Caches
Cache Performance
 5.1-5.2
5.3
1
 Cache Design Issues
Main Memory Design Issues
 5.4-5.7
5.8-5.10
1
 Overview of Interconnection Networks
 8.1-8.5

Grading Plan

Homeworks
 20%
Labs 20%
Midterm Exam 30%
Final Exam 30%

Exam Schedule

Mid-term April 24 (M)
Final Exam Jun 5 (M) 1:30 - 3:18 pm

Misc

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS. The course will involve 4 homeworks assigned every alternate week. The homeworks will be due one week after they are assigned. No late homework will be accepted under any circumstances unless previously authorized by me; I will only consider serious,  undeferrable and documented circumstances (e.g. attending a conference, undergoing surgery).

LABS USING SIMUALTORS. There will be two or three labs involving simulation experiments. The labs will involve using SimpleScalar simulators to evaluate instruction statistics, pipelining techniques and branch mechanisms, and memory behavior on contemporary benchmark suites (SPEC). The labs will be distributed around 10 days in advance. All simulators run on the CSE SUN Solaris systems. The labs need to be done individually unless otherwise noted. Each student has been assigned an account in the CSE system to carry out these simulation. If you do not have an account please let me know about it. I strongly suggest getting familiarized with these simulator environments as early as possible (SimpleScalar Simulator Tool Description). The simulator and benchmarks are located at (/usr/class/cis775/simplesimbin). Detailed guidelines to carry out these labs will be provided with the homeworks and lab handouts. .

READING ASSIGNMENTS. Some light readings will be assigned from the text book for self reading.

HANDOUTS. Right now I don't anticipate any handouts; however, if I come across something interesting and relevant to the course, its copies will be distributed in the class.

MAKE-UP EXAMS. Make-up examination will only be given under circumstances where a student is prevented from taking the regular examination due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., sickness, flat tire), and a formal proof will be required to prove the prevailing circumstance. There is absolutely no make-up for the final examination.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITY. Any student who feels he or she may need an accomodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss his or her specific needs. Please contact the Office for Disability Services at (614) 292-3307, or visit 150 Pomerene Hall, to coordinate reasonable accommodations available for students with documented disabilities.
 
ACADEMIC HONESTY. Students are expected to know and abide by OSU's policy on academic integrity. Any work you submit, whether in a homework set or on an exam, must be your own creation, unless exclusions are explicitly described. Collaboration is allowed for working out general principles and establishing your knowledge of the material presented in the course, but you should not show your work to another student, receive a copy of work done by another student, or copy any work created by another student - whether a paper or electronic copy. All instances of suspected academic misconduct will be reported to the department chairperson and the Committee on Academic Misconduct. Violations of the student code of conduct often result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. The best way to avoid the temptation to cheat is to start on your assignments in time to ask for help from the instructor or grader. It is in your best interest to learn the material included on the homeworks in order to perform well on the exams. Don't jeopardize your GPA by flouting the standards of academic integrity expected of OSU students.


Assignements schedule (tentative)


Slides


Last updated: June 8

M. Lauria