Professor John A. Nestor
Office: 426 Acopian Engineering Center
Office Hours: MW 2-3, R 2-4 or by appointment
Phone: (610) 330-5411
E-mail: nestorj
MWF 11:00-11:50 429 Acopian Engineering Center
Digital computer systems have revolutionized technology and society. Fueled by exponential improvements in integrated circuit technology and considerable human ingenuity, computer systems have evolved over the last 50 years from vacuum-tube behemoths that occupied entire buildings to small chips that are used virtually everywhere. This course explores the organization and implementation of modern computer systems. Specific topics include computer system performance, instruction set architecture, integer and floating point arithmetic, the interaction between software and hardware, processor implementation, memory systems, input/output, and multiprocessor/multicore computer systems. Concepts will be reinforced with projects using the Verilog Hardware Description Language (HDL).
ECE 211 - Digital Circuits I
Two 50-Minute Exams (Tent. Dates: F 2/27, F 4/10) 40% Final Exam (comprehensive) 25% Projects 25% Homework 10% Some policy notes:
- Class attendance is required. Repeated absence from class will result in a grade reduction.
- Makeups for missed exams will be given only if (1) there is a valid, documented reason that the exam cannot be taken at the scheduled time and (2) I am notified in advance of the scheduled time and date of the exam.
- Following ECE Department policy, a take-home Entry Exam will be administered during the first 2 weeks of class to assess your profiency in prerequisite material. It will not be counted as part of your course grade, but must be completed.
- Students are expected to adhere to the academic honesty guidelines outlined in the Student Handbook. Violations will be referred to the Dean of the College for appropriate action.
D. A. Patterson and J. L. Hennessy, Computer Organization & Design: The Hardware-Software Interface, 4th ed. Morgan Kaufman, 2009.
Hard copies of PowerPoint slides (distributed in class).
M. A. Ciletti, Modeling, Synthesis, and Prototyping with the Verilog HDL, Prentice-Hall, 1999.R. Bryant and D. O'Halloran, Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective, Prentice-Hall, 2002.
J. L. Hennessy and D. A. Patterson, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 4th. ed. Morgan Kaufmann, 2006.
J. P. Shen and M. Lipasti, Modern Processor: Fundamentals of Superscalar Processors, 2004.
ECE 313 Moodle Page (links to online references)