CS 365
Computer Systems Architecture
Spring 2004
Dr. D. Nordstrom
361 Sci. & Tech. II
dnordstr@mason.gmu.edu
(703) 993-1565
Office hours: Monday and Tuesday 9:30 - 11:00 and by
appointment.
Text
David Patterson and John Hennessy Computer Organization &
Design, 2nd ed., Morgan Kaufmann, 1998.
What you should know
The prerequisite for CS 365 is a grade of C or better in CS 265 and
ECE 301. I will assume that you can write MIPS assembly language
programs.
The course
Topics include:
- Basic system components
- Performance measurements
- Instructions and their representation
- Number representation
- Implementation of Arithmetic operations
- Processor organization
- Pipelining
- The memory hierarchy
Grading
There will be homework assignments, a midterm exam, and a final exam.
No late homework will be accepted. No late exams or make-ups
will be given except in extreme and well-justified (as judged by me)
cases and only when arranged in advanced. Grades will be computed
from a score weighted by:
- Homework 30%
- Midterm Exam 30%
- Final Exam 40%