Jordan University of Science & Technology

Faculty of Computer & Information Technology

Department of Computer Science & Information Systems
Year: 2005 Semester: Spring

Course Information
Course Title Computer Architecture
Course Number CS 451
Prerequisites For Study Plan 2000: CPE 252 Computer Organization
For Study Plan 2003: CPE 252 Computer Organization & CS 284 Algorithms

Course Website http://www.cis.just.edu.jo/People/Faculty/BASEL/courses.htm

Instructor Dr. Basel Mahafzah

Office Location PH 4 (Second Floor Across from Physics Labs)
Office Phone 02-720-1000 Ext. 23403
Office Hours Sun, Tue, Thr, 12:15 – 1:15 & Sun, Thr 2:15 – 3:15
E-mail BASEL@just.edu.jo or BASEL8@hotmail.com
E-mail for Projects CIS451@just.edu.jo

Text Book
Title Computer Organization & Design: The Hardware / Software Interface
Author(s) D. A. Patterson & J. L. Hennessy
Publisher Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc.
Year 1998
Edition Second
Book
Website http://www.mkp.com/books_catalog/catalog.asp?ISBN=1-55860-428-6

• J. L. Hennessy & D. A. Patterson, “Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach”

3rd edition, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc., 2003.
• M. M. Mano, “Computer System Architecture”, 4th edition, Prentice Hall, 1997.
• A. S. Tanenbaum, “Structured Computer Organization”, 5th edition, Prentice Hall,
1999.
• W. Stallings, “Computer Organization and Architecture”, 5th edition, Prentice Hall,
References 2000.
• V. P. Heuring & H. F. Jordan, “Computer Systems Design & Architecture”, Addison-
Wesley, 1997.
• Rafiquzzaman & Chandra, “Modern Computer Architecture”, West Publishing
Company, 1988.
• R. Y. Kain, “Advanced Computer Architecture: A System Design Approach”, Prentice
Hall, 1996.
• T. C. Bartee, “Computer Architecture & Logic Design”, McGraw-Hill, 1991.

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 Assessment Policy
Assessment Type Expected Due Date Weight
First Exam March 27 / 2005 (Sunday) 15%
Second Exam May 3 / 2005 (Tuesday) 20%
Final Exam TBA 40%
Activities (Quizzes) Almost once a week 10%
Projects April 21 / 2005 (Thursday) 15%

Course Objectives

• To provide a thorough treatment of the concepts, design principles, and implementation issues of
contemporary computer architecture.
• To discuss the impact of modern architectures such as Pentium and Pentium Pro.
• To illustrate how we measure the performance of different architectures.
• To illustrate the design of the datapath and control of the MIPS architecture.
• To discuss the enhancement of the processor using pipelining technique.
• To discuss the impact of different cache memory implementations.
• To illustrate how we measure and enhance the performance of cache memory.

Teaching & Learning Methods

• Class lectures, lecture notes, quizzes, and projects are designed to achieve the course
objectives.
• Projects are intended to encourage you to think creatively about Computer Architecture issues.
They are also meant to reinforce class material, and to supplement the information in the
textbook.
• You should read the assigned chapters before class, and participate in class and do whatever it
takes for you to grasp this material. Also, ask any question related to Computer Architecture.
• You are responsible for all material covered in the class.
• Please communicate with me regarding any concerns or issues related to Computer Architecture
by either in class, phone, or email.
• The web page is a primary communication vehicle. Lecture notes, syllabus, and important
instructions regarding projects are available on the web.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students:
• should be able to know basic terms associated with Computer Architecture, such as MIPS,
Throughput, Performance, Pipelining, Structure hazards, Control hazards, Data hazards, etc.
• should be able to design the datapath and control of the MIPS architecture.
• should be able to measure performance of different architectures.
• should be able to understand the design of the pipelined datapath and pipelined control of the
MIPS architecture.
• should be able to design cache memory using direct mapping, set associative, and fully
associative.

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 Course Content
Number of Chapter in
Topics
Weeks Text
(1 Week:
Overview
3 one-hour 1
Below your Program; and Organization of a Computer.
lectures)

(2 Weeks: The Role of Performance

Measuring Performance; Relating the Metrics; Choosing
6 one-hour
Programs to Evaluate Performance; Comparing and 2
lectures)
Summarizing Performance; and Real Stuff: SPEC95
Benchmarks and Performance of Recent Processors.

Instructions: Language of the Machine

(1 Week: Operations of the Computer Hardware; Operands of the
3 one-hour Computer Hardware; Representing Instructions in the 3
lectures) Computer; Instructions for Making Decisions; and MIPS
Addressing Mode.

(2 Weeks: Arithmetic for Computers

6 one-hour Signed and Unsigned Numbers; Addition and
4
lectures) Subtraction; Logical Operations; Constructing an
Arithmetic Logic Unit; and Multiplication.
(2 Weeks:
6 one-hour The Processor: Datapath and Control
lectures) Building a Datapath; and A Simple Implementation 5
Scheme.

(3 Weeks: Enhancing Performance with Pipelining

9 one-hour An Overview of Pipelining; A Pipelined Datapath;
6
lectures) Pipelined Control; Data Hazards and Stalls; and
Branch Hazards.

(3 Weeks: Large and Fast: Exploiting Memory Hierarchy

9 one-hour The Basics of Caches; Measuring and Improving Cache
7
lectures) Performance; and A Common Framework for Memory
Hierarchies.

(2 Weeks: Multiprocessors
Multiprocessors Connected by a Single Bus;
6 one-hour 9
Multiprocessor Connected by a Network; Clusters; and
lectures)
Network Topologies.

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 Additional Notes
• No make up quizzes.
• Usually, quizzes are determined and given once a week.
Quizzes
• Each Quiz is out of 10.
• If five quizzes or more are given then the lowest quiz’s grade is dropped.
• The format for the exams is generally (but NOT always) as follows: General
Definitions, Multiple-Choice, True/False, Analyze a Problem, Short Essay
Exams Questions, etc.
• Grades will not be given out via e-mail
Makeup
• Makeup exam should not be given unless there is a valid excuse.
Exams
Drop Date • Last day to drop the course is before the twelve (12th) week of the current
semester.
• Cheating or copying on exam, quiz, or project is an illegal and unethical activity.
• Standard JUST policy will be applied.
Cheating • All graded assignments must be your own work (your own words).
• Some of the projects (programming or research) may be graded orally
(presentation).

• Excellent attendance is expected.

• JUST policy requires the faculty member to assign ZERO grade (35) if a student
misses 10% of the classes that are not excused.
Attendance
• Sign-in sheets will be circulated.
• If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out about any announcements or
assignments you may have missed.

Workload • Average work-load student should expect to spend 6 hours per week.

Graded • Instructor should return exam papers graded to students not after the week after
Exams the exam date.

• Participation in and contribution to class discussions will affect your final grade
Participation positively. Raise your hand if you have any question.
• Making any kind of disruption and (side talks) in the class will affect you
negatively.

• A team of 3 or 4 students is expected to submit a project.

• Projects must be turned in on the date specified.
Project • For each day delay of submitting your project two points are omitted out of 15.
• More details about projects will be given later on.
• Make backups of all of your work (project materials).
• Copy files onto 2 or 3 floppy disks and photocopy diagrams and other materials
to share with your group.