| Competences |
| Type A | Code | Competences Specific |
| CM9 | Know, understand and evaluate the structure and architecture of computers, and the basic components that comprise them. | |
| Type B | Code | Competences Transversal |
| B3 | Be able to solve problems with initiative, make decisions, be creative, use critical reasoning and communicate and transmit knowledge, abilities and skills in the field of the profession of technical IT engineer. | |
| Type C | Code | Competences Nuclear |
| C4 | Be able to express themselves correctly both orally and in writing in one of the two official languages of the URV |
| Learning outcomes |
| Type A | Code | Learning outcomes |
| CM9 |
Understand the organisation and functioning of Von Neumann architecture subsystems: processor, memory, and input/output. Understand the functioning of the digital elements that constitute a processor (ALU, registry, address calculation, sequencer, etc.) and understand how they are involved in the execution of programmes written in machine language. Understand and evaluate the essential factors that affect the performance, cost and consumption of a processor. Design and evaluate functional units, combinational blocks and sequential blocks using logic gates. Evaluate the costs and performance of the functional units. Design and evaluate a simple processor at block-level. Be able to analyse and design segmented processors and evaluate their performance. Design and evaluate the memory subsystem of a computer. | |
| Type B | Code | Learning outcomes |
| B3 |
Gives presentations correctly and effectively in the context of the subject. The information transmitted is relevant and pertinent to the topics understudy. | |
| Type C | Code | Learning outcomes |
| C4 |
Produce grammatically correct oral texts. Produce well structured, clear and effective oral texts. Produce oral texts that are appropriate to the communicative situation. Produce grammatically correct written texts Produce well-structured, clear and rich written texts Produce written texts that are appropriate to the communicative situation |
| Contents |
| Topic | Sub-topic |
| 1. Introduction | 1.1. History of computing. 1.2. Von-Neumann architecture. 1.3. Key Concepts. 1.4. Trends un microarchitecture. 1.5. Challenges in processor design. 1.6. Instruction stages 1.7. Cost and performance |
| 2. Design of functional units | 2.1. Key concepts 2.2. Adders: CPA,CSA,CLA 2.3. Multpliers: sequential, array, tree 2.4. Division 2.5. Floating point: IEEE 754 2.6. Cost and performance |
| 3. Design and evaluation of a simple computer | 3.1. Key concepts 3.2. Components. 3.3. Processing unit. 3.4. Control unit. 3.5. Evaluation. 3.6. Performance. |
| 4. Analysis and design of pipelined processors | 4.1. Key concepts. 4.2. Pipelining. 4.3. Hazards: structural, data and control. 4.4. Advanced microarchitectural techniques 4.5. Performance |
| 5. Design and evaluation of the memory system | 5.1. Key concepts. 5.2. Memory hierarchy: temporal locality, spatial locality. 5.3. Cache memory: placement policy, access policy, replacement policy, write policy. 5.4. Virtual memory. 5.5. Performance. |
| Planning |
| Methodologies :: Tests | ||||||||||
| Competences | (*) Class hours |
Hours outside the classroom |
(**) Total hours | |||||||
| Introductory activities |
|
2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| Lecture |
|
16 | 26 | 42 | ||||||
| Problem solving, classroom exercises |
|
10 | 16 | 26 | ||||||
| Laboratory practicals |
|
22 | 48 | 70 | ||||||
| Personal tuition |
|
4 | 0 | 4 | ||||||
| Objective short-answer tests |
|
2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| Extended-answer tests |
|
2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| Practical tests |
|
2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| (*) On e-learning, hours of virtual attendance of the teacher. (**) The information in the planning table is for guidance only and does not take into account the heterogeneity of the students. | ||||||||||
| Methodologies |
| Description | |
| Introductory activities | Description of the objectives, content and assessment process. |
| Lecture | Explanation of theoretical concepts using slides and whiteboard. |
| Problem solving, classroom exercises | Exercises related to the background theory are presented to the students |
| Laboratory practicals | Application of theoretical knowledge to specific situations, using computers, simulators and other laboratory stuff. |
| Personal tuition | Clarification of concepts and solving questions individually |
| Personalized attention |
| Description |
| Professor is available at his office to attend students individually in order to solve any question related to the course. |
| Assessment |
| Methodologies | Competences | Description | Weight | ||||
| Objective short-answer tests |
|
Test of short questions where students must show the theoretical knowledge of the subject | 25% | ||||
| Extended-answer tests |
|
Test consisting of problem solving where students will apply theoretical knowledge of the subject | 25% | ||||
| Practical tests |
|
Working in group to develop a project: preliminary analysis, design, implementation and documentation. There will be an individual interview | 50% | ||||
| Others |
| Other comments and second exam session | |||
|
First call: continuous assessment Second call: a final exam and an individual project |
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| Sources of information |
| Basic |
Professors EC, Transparències EC, 2012, ETSE-URV
David A. Patterson y John L. Hennessy, Estructura y Diseño de Computadores: La Interfaz Hardware/Software, 2011, Editorial Reverté
William Stallings, Computer Organization and Architecture, 2010, Prentice Hall
John L. Hennessy y David A. Patterson, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 2006, Morgan Kaufmann |
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| Complementary |
John Paul Shen, Modern processor design : fundamentals of superscalar processors , 2005, McGraw Hill
Mano M. Morris, Charles R. Kime, Fundamentos de diseño lógico y de computadores, 2005, 2005, Prentice Hall
José Ignacio Hidalgo Pérez, Problemas de fundamentos y estructura de computadoras, 2009, Prentice Hall
Felix García Carballeira, Problemas resueltos de estructura de computadores, 2009, Paraninfo
Sergio Díaz Ruiz, Estructura y tecnología de computadores : teoría y problemas, 2009, McGraw Hill |
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| Recommendations |
| Subjects that continue the syllabus | ||
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| Subjects that it is recommended to have taken before | |||
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(*)The teaching guide is the document in which the URV publishes the information about all its courses. It is a public document and cannot be modified. Only in exceptional cases can it be revised by the competent agent or duly revised so that it is in line with current legislation.