ECE 3058
Spring 2021
Course Overview
This course introduces the basic organizational principles of the major components of a processor – the core, memory hierarchy, and the I/O subsystem. Students gain an understanding of the sources of performance and energy dissipation in modern processors and learn the multiple forms and levels of parallelism that have been employed to sustain performance improvements in the industry. Basic principles of the operating system, focusing on threads and networks, are also introduced. Assignments using architecture‐level simulators enable the students to explore the operation and tradeoffs in performance and energy and reinforce the concepts learned in the classroom.
Prerequisites
ECE 2020, ECE 2035
Course Staff
| Instructor | Professor Tushar Krishna |
| tushar@ece.gatech.edu | |
| Office | KACB 2318 |
| Office Hours | After class |
| By Appointment |
Teaching Assistants
-
- TBA
Course Information
| Lectures | |
| Hours | Tu & Th 9:30 – 10:45 am |
| Room | Bluejeans |
| Recitations | |
| Hours | TBA |
| Room | Bluejeans |
Course MaterialS
Syllabus and Lecture Material: Via Canvas
Textbook:
Patterson and Hennessey, Computer Organization & Design: The Hardware/Software Interface (5th), Morgan Kaufmann, 2014, ISBN 978-0-12-407726-3
Supplementary Material from Publisher.
Selected readings from the textbook will be listed for each module in the course schedule.
Lab Resources
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- Lab Resources Page: https://comparch-resources.ece.gatech.edu/
Piazza
We will be using Piazza for class discussion. The system is highly catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates, the TAs, and myself.
Rather than emailing questions to the teaching staff, I strongly encourage you to post your questions on Piazza.
Piazza is directly accessible via Canvas.
Grading
| Lab Assignments | 40% |
| Midterms | 40% |
| Final | 20% |
| Total | 100% |
Attendance:
Students are responsible for all material covered in class, including changes in exam schedules announced in class. There will be no make-up exams. In case you have to miss an exam, please inform the instructor of the absence prior to the exam date.
Honor Code:
Students are expected to abide by the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code. Honest and ethical behavior is expected at all times. All incidents of suspected dishonesty will be reported to and handled by the office of student affairs. You will have to do all assignments individually unless explicitly told otherwise. You may discuss with classmates but you may not copy any solution (or any part of a solution).