General Information
General overview of operating a digital computer. Topics include computer arithmetic, arithmetic unit, hardwired and microprogrammed control, memory, register-to-register, input-output operations, and behavioral modeling of computer organization using VHDL.
| Type | Day | Time | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | Monday, Wednesday | 1:30 pm - | 2:45 pm | in Exploratory Hall L003 |
| Lab | Wednesday | 7:20 pm - | 9:10 pm | in ENGR 1505 |
| Thursday | 4:30 pm - | 6:20 pm | in ENGR 1505 | |
Documents
Instructor
Dr. Jens-Peter Kaps
Office: Engineering Building, Room 3222
Email: jkaps'at'gmu.edu
Office Hours
- Monday 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm
- Wednesday 11:00 am to noon
Additional office hours are by appointment only (see the Contact page for how to setup an appointment).
Teaching Assistant
| Name | Task | Office | Office Hours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sahil Bhat | Labs | sbhat6'at'gmu.edu | TBA | TBA |
| Haotian Zhai | HW Grading | hshai'at'gmu.edu |
Prerequisites
- ECE 331 Digital System Design (grade C or better)
- ECE 332 Digital Electronics and Logic Design Lab
- and one of
- CS 262 Introduction to Low-Level Programming
- CS 222 Computer Programming for Engineers
Textbook
Computer Organization and Design, The Hardware / Software Interface by David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy, Morgan Kaufmann; 5th edition, 2014, ISBN: 978-012-407726-3.
The former 4th revised edition, 2011, ISBN: 978-0-12-374750-1, contains all the material needed for this class, just like the 5th edition. If you buy this book, it is your responsibility to match the reading assignments to the chapters of the 5th edition.
The former 4th edition, 2008, ISBN: 978-0-12-374493-7, removed chapters compared to the 3rd editions and contains errors. If you buy this book, it is your responsibility to match the reading assignments to the chapters of the 5th edition and to make sure that the errors do not create wrong results.
The old revised 3rd edition, 2007, ISBN: 978-0-12-370606-5, is a very good book, however, as it is not available we switched newer editions. If you buy this book, it is your responsibility to match the reading assignments to the chapters of the 5th edition.
The even older 3rd edition from 2005, ISBN: 978-1-55860-604-3, contains many errors. If you buy this one it is your responsibility to make sure that the errors do not create wrong results in assignments and to match the reading assignments to the chapters of the 5th edition.
Recommended BooksFundamentals of Digital Logic with VHDL Design with CD-ROM by Stephen Brown, Zvonko Vranesic, McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 3rd edition (April, 2009), ISBN: 978-0-07-722143-0. This is sometimes the textbook for ECE 331. The book you used for ECE 331 is also a good reference.
The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, 1988, ISBN: 978-0-13-110362-7