CS5222 Advanced Computer Architecture Part 0: Course Introduction

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CS5222Advanced Computer ArchitecturePart 0
Course Introduction

• Fall Term, 2004/2005
• Chi Chi Hung (email chich_at_comp.nus.edu.sg)
• Building S/17, Rm 5-13
• Phone [phone]

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Overview

• Course Syllabus and Goals
• Pre-requisites
• Textbook and Course Materials
• Class Format
• Grading

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Goals

• Understand advanced computer architecture
  concepts and techniques to improve processor
  performance.
• Analyze the architectural design of real
  processors to find out how architectural concepts
  can be applied.
• Apply processor architecture concepts to
  web/Internet based system design.

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Goal (I) Arch. Concepts

• Instruction architecture set design
• Data and control dependence
• Parallelism
• Pipelining for sequential instruction issuing
• Explicit parallel instruction issuing
• Superscalar and Instruction scheduling
• Interaction/Tradeoffs between hardware and
  software
• Memory system design and optimization.
• NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A PARALLEL PROCESSING
  PROGRAMMING COURSE

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Goal (II) Analysis of Proc. Arch.

• Processors to be studied
• Intel family x86 ? Pentium series
• IBM PowerPC
• Others
• MIPS Rxxxxx
• Compaq (DEC) Alpha
• HP PA RISC
• SUN xSPARC series
• Based on the analysis of current processors, find
  out the trends for the followings
• Instruction set architecture design
• Instruction level parallelism
• Data dependence and control transfer handling
• Role of hardware, software, and compiler

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Goal (III) Web/Internet Servers

• Identify similarities and difference between
  processor architecture design and web/Internet
  server architecture design.
• Apply (with modifications) processor architecture
  concept to web server architecture design to
  improve networked system performance.

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Pre-requisites

• Good background in undergraduate computer
  architecture concepts
• Instruction set architecture
• Pipelining
• Memory system design
• I/O, bus, and disk operations
• Performance analysis
• Test your background
• Scan through the book computer organization by
  Patterson and Hennessy (by Morgan Kaufman) and
  see if you know most of the materials inside.
• Scan through the book computer architecture by
  Patterson and Hennessy and see if you know at
  least half of the materials inside.

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Textbooks

• Main textbooks
• Advanced Computer Architectures A Design Space
  Approach, by Sima, Fountain, and Kacsuk (Addison
  Wesley)
• Key Reference
• Network Systems Design and Network Processors by
  D. Comer, Prentice Hall
• Network Processors by Lekkas, McGraw Hill
• Network Processor Design Vol. 1 and 2 by
  Crowley, Franklin, Hadimioglu, and Onufryk,
  Morgan Kaufmann
• References
• Architectural manuals of current processors
• IEEE tutorials research papers
• Microprocessor reports
• References to revise basic architecture concepts
• Computer organization and computer
  architecture books by Patterson and Hennessy
  (Morgan Kaufman)

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Class Format

• Lecturing
• Student project/paper presentation, followed by
  group discussion

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Grading

• Three Papers/Projects (Each 20)
• Three stages, with mark distribution as 10, 20,
  30
• Two persons per group.
• Final Examination (40)

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• END