1. Come to class all the time.
2. Do all the homework.

1. 1/4 Homework
2. 1/4 Final Project - click here for possibilities

Research an area of computer architecture, write a technical report,
Make an in-class presentation.

3. 1/4 Exams
4. 1/4 small projects: leading in class discussions of papers taken from the literature, descriptions of interesting devices from magazines or the web, or select homework solutions. click here for possibilities

• Combinational Circuits Applets from UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Computer architecture is about the art of computer system design, from a hardware viewpoint. As the complexity of modern computers has increased, so has the subtlety and beauty of the methods for increasing performance. This course examines the structure and function of computers beginning with the processor, memory, and input-output modules. Then processors are examined in more detail. Topics include RISC vs. CISC, superscalar design, pipelining and superpipelining, machine parallelism, and if time permits, an examination of using microprogramming to implement processor control units.