BEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Industrial Experience

Brief description of the unit:

Analysing and optimising the performance of application software often requires a detailed knowledge of the hardware architecture and low-level programming of computer systems, as well as the relevant analysis and synthesis skills. This unit provides students with these skills and knowledge. The unit is structured around the eight principal topics listed below.

• Fundamentals of computer architecture
• Processor instruction formats
• Quantitative performance analysis
• Memory hierarchy
• CISC and RISC architectures
• Arithmetic and data representation
• Instruction pipelining
• Multiprocessor architectures

The unit aims to:

Analysing and optimising the performance of software applications often requires a detailed knowledge of the hardware architecture and low-level programming of computer systems, as well as the relevant analysis and synthesis skills. This unit provides students with these skills and knowledge.

On the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

ILO 1 - Describe in detail the operation of hardware architectural components and interpret specification information.

ILO 2 - Apply standard design techniques to specify or parameterise  hardware architectural components

ILO 3 - Analyse the operation of hardware architectural components when executing programs

ILO 4 - Evaluate the performance of assembly language instruction sequences and synthesise optimised versions

ILO 5 - Create software to simulate the operation of hardware architectural components and derive performance metrics

The unit is structured around the eight principal topics listed below.

Fundamentals of computer architecture
Processor instruction formats
Quantitative performance analysis
Memory hierarchy
CISC and RISC architectures
Arithmetic and data representation
Instruction pipelining
Multiprocessor architectures

The unit is delivered through: 18 lectures, 6 Examples Classes and 2 Laboratory Classes. The Laboratory Classes are designed to reinforce key concepts from the lecture material.

Coursework:

2 laboratories both assessed in lab and 1 report to be submitted via Blackboard.

Coursework forms 20% of the unit assessment

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J.L. Hennessy and D.A. Patterson, “Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface”, ARM Edition, Morgan Kaufmann, 2016.

J.L. Hennessy and D.A. Patterson, “Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach”, Sixth Edition, Morgan Kaufmann, 2017.

N. Nisan and S. Schocken, “The elements of computing systems : building a modern computer from first principles”, MIT Press, 2008.

S. William, "Computer Organization and Architecture : Designing for Performance", Eighth Edition, Boston, [Mass.] ; Pearson, 2010.