After successful completion of the course, students are able to apply the knowledge about the basics of computer architecture to the presented systems as well as to other computing systems. They understand the hardware/software interface and what determines the program performance as well as how system performance can be evaluated. Moreover, the students will learn how hardware designers can help to improve performance by techniques like pipelining and caching and will be able to apply and transfer this knowledge to other processor architectures and systems.

This lecture will be given in English and is based on the textbook Computer Organization and Design.

The lecture will cover the following topics:

• Performance evaluation
• Instruction Set Architecture and Assembler of the RISC-V architecture
• Computer arithmetic
• Addressing
• ALU
• Fixed point and floating point representation
• Processors
• Data- and Control-Path
• Pipelining and pipeline hazards
• Memory hierarchy
• Registers
• Caches
• Main memory, virtual memory
• I/O-systems

Lecture slides, textbook, presentation of examples and calculations, code examples

Lecture 1: Computer Abstractions and Technology
Readings: P&H Chapter 1  
Suggested exercises: 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.9, 1.12(1,2,3).

Lecture 2: Instructions: Language of the Computer (part I)
Readings: P&H Chapter 2  
Suggested exercises: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.7

Lecture 3: Instructions: Language of the Computer (part II)
Readings: P&H Chapter 2  
Suggested exercises: 2.25, 2.26, 2.27, 2.28, 2.40.

Lecture 4: Arithmetic for Computers
Readings: P&H Chapter 3
Suggested exercises: 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.12, 3.13, 3.22, 3.23, 3.30.

Lecture 5: The Processor (part I)
Readings: P&H Chapter 4: 4.1 - 4.4 (single cycle)
Suggested exercises: 4.5, 4.6, 4.7.

Lecture 6: The Processor (part II)
Readings: P&H Chapter 4: 4.5 - 4.8 (pipelined processor)
Suggested exercises: 4.26, 4.27.

Lecture 7: The Processor (part III)
Readings: P&H Chapter 4: 4.9 - 4.15
Suggested exercises: 4.28, 4.30

Lecture 8: The Memory (part I)
Readings: P&H Chapter 5: 5.1 - 5.4 (Cache)
Suggested exercises: 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.8, 5.11

Lecture 9: The Memory (part II)
Readings: P&H Chapter 5: 5.5 - 5.7 (Virtual memory)
Suggested exercises: 5.16, 5.20.

Lecture 10: The Memory (part III)
Readings: P&H Chapter 5: 5.7 - 5.16
Suggested exercises: 5.26.

Textbook:
D.A. Patterson, J.L. Hennessy: Computer Organization and Design - The Hardware/Software Interface
RISC-V Edition, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers

Final written exam.

Textbook:
D.A. Patterson, J.L. Hennessy: Computer Organization and Design - The Hardware/Software Interface
5th revised edition, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers