gen = new Random » Computer Architecture http://www.gen.newrandom.com Random info for the Random user Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:59:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 CSA 278 – Sample Exams http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/csa-278-sample-exams/ http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/csa-278-sample-exams/#comments Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:22:34 +0000 Josh http://www.gen.newrandom.com/?p=186 We were given sample exams to study from which differed quite a bit from our actual midterm and final. The midterm exam is included but the final is not.

Exam 1
Exam 1 Study Guide (doc)
Sample Exam 1 (doc)
Sample Exam 1 Solutions (doc)
Fall 2008 Exam 1 and Solutions to be added…

Exam 2
Exam 2 Study Guide (doc)
Sample Exam 2 (doc)
Sample Exam 2 Solutions (doc)
Fall 2008 Exam 2 and Solutions (doc)

Final Exam
Final Exam Study Guide
]]> http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/csa-278-sample-exams/feed/ 0 CSA 278 – Handouts http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/csa-278-handouts/ http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/csa-278-handouts/#comments Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:11:35 +0000 Josh http://www.gen.newrandom.com/?p=184 Handouts and solutions…

  • MultiSIM Components
  • MultiSIMComponentList.pdf (118.217 Kb)
  • This file provides a brief list of components available in MultiSIM along category information in which the components are available in MultiSIM.
  • Binrary Review
  • BinaryReview.pdf (241.948 Kb)
  • Here is a document that provides notes on various binary operations covered in the course, including:
    1. Representation & conversion of unsigned numbers
      1. Binary
      2. Octal
      3. Hexadecimal
    2. Representation & conversion of signed numbers
      1. 2’s complement only (does not cover SBM and 1’s complement yet)
    3. Bitwise operations
      1. Bitwise AND
      2. Bitwise OR
      3. Bitwise NOT
      4. Bitwise XOR
      5. Shift operation
      6. Shift to left
      7. Shift to right
  • Emacs Quick Reference Sheet
  • emacsreference.pdf (57.23 Kb)
  • This sheet provides a comprehensive list of commands that can be used in the editor emacs. This list is particularly useful if you are working with the non-graphical version of emacs.
  • Assembly Programming Under Linux
  • LinuxEvironment.pdf (1.22 Mb)
  • Here is a document that provides a detailed overview on the process and commands to be used for assembly language programming using the Linux operating system. The document covers the process of:
    1. Start X-Server (Xming) on your computer.
    2. SSH to the Linux server and login using PuTTY.
    3. Use shell commands to:
      1. Create a working directory (to ease file organization) the first time.
      2. Change current working directory to your course directory.
    4. Type your assembly program using emacs
      1. Emacs is a general purpose, graphical text editor that also provides a specialized environment for debugging programs using the GNU debugger (gdb).
    5. Assemble your source code using the GNU assembler (as)
      1. Use emacs to fix any syntax errors in your program.
    6. Link your source code using the GNU linker (ld) to generate the final executable
    7. Run the executable from the shell prompt
    8. Test, troubleshoot, and bug fix your programs
      1. You will need to run your program several times, thoroughly test your programs, and fix any semantic errors (aka bugs) in your program.
      2. For troubleshooting and debugging your program, you can run the GNU debugger (gdb) in emacs and step through each instruction in your assembly program verifying its operation(s).
  • Intel Instruction Set Manual (A-M)
  • 25366620.pdf (2.303 Mb)
  • Here is a quick reference to Intel’s x86 instruction set manual. This document contains instructions starting with the letter ‘A’ through ‘M’.
  • Intel Instruction Set Manual (N-Z)
  • 25366720.pdf (1.789 Mb)
  • Here is a quick reference to Intel’s x86 instruction set manual. This document contains instructions starting with the letter ‘N’ through ‘Z’.
  • Assembly conversion
  • JavaToAssembly.pdf (145.78 Kb)
  • Notes on converting Java programs to assembly.
]]> http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/csa-278-handouts/feed/ 0 CSA 278 – Exercises http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/exercises/ http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/exercises/#comments Fri, 26 Dec 2008 20:29:16 +0000 Josh http://www.gen.newrandom.com/?p=178 Here are the exercises and their solutions. Be mindful that this is for educational purposes only. I am not including these that, if for some reason they should be reused in future courses, that they may be freely copied and distributed.

  1. Exercise #1
  2. Exercise #2
  3. Exercise #3
  4. Exercise #4
    • Typical solution logic circuit (MultiSIM model) (74.74 Kb)
    • Altenerative Solution (MultiSIM model) (73.021 Kb)
    • Exercise4_Solutions.doc (123 Kb)
    • Exercise4.doc (47 Kb)
    • Exercise #4 required the development of a logic circuit to identify vowels (as per a given logic encoding) using MultiSIM. Here is the exercise document, solution document, and MultiSim design files for your immediate reference.
  5. Exercise #5
  6. Exercise #6
    • Exercise6.doc (40.5 Kb)
    • Exercise6.ms10 (85.966 Kb)
    • Lab exercise (combination of hand written exercies and logic circuit from MultiSIM) on developing a circuit to permit any one of 4 switches to control any one of 4 probes.
  7. Exercise #7
  8. Exercise #8
    • Exercise8_Solution.doc (44.5 Kb)
    • Exercise8.doc (33.5 Kb)
    • Hand written exercise on converting numbers from decimal to binary, octal, and hex(adecimal) [not collected for grading]
  9. Exercise #9
    • Revised schematic (solution) (99.316 Kb)
    • Starting MultiSIM schematic (89.711 Kb)
    • Exercise on using MultiSIM to convert a Ripple Carry Adder circuit to a Adder/Subtractor circuit.
  10. Exercise #10
  11. Exercise #11
  12. Exercise #12
  13. Exercise #13
  14. Exercise #14
  15. Exercise #15
  16. Exercise #16
    • Exercise16.doc (54.5 Kb)
    • tree_solution.s (2.217 Kb)
    • tree.s (1.604 Kb)
    • Lab exercise on printing a varying number of *s on the screen.
  17. Exercise #17
  18. Exercise #18
    • Exercise18.doc (43 Kb)
    • Solution Assembly Source (1.598 Kb)
    • Lab exercise on modifying an assembly language program to operate with strings.
  19. Exercise #19
    • Exercise19.doc (39.5 Kb)
    • strrev_solution.s (4.066 Kb)
    • Exercise on reversing a string.
  20. Exercise #20
  21. Exercise #21
]]> http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/exercises/feed/ 0 CSA 278 – Lectures http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/lectures/ http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/lectures/#comments Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:34:28 +0000 Josh http://www.gen.newrandom.com/?p=169 Along with the rest of the course documents for CSA 278, here are the powerpoint lectures.

  1. Administrative Priliminaries
    • AdminPreliminaries.ppt (128.5 Kb)
    • Here are a few slides covering just the salient course information and policies. You are expected to review the detailed information and policy documents available under “Syllabus & Policies” section off Blackboard.
  2. Introduction (Chapter 1)
    • Introduction.ppt (652.5 Kb)
    • Here are slides motivating computer architecture, the core components in a modern PC, and introducing the topics to be covered in this course.
  3. Boolean Algebra
  4. Logic Gates & Logic Circuits (Part 1)
    • LogicCircuits.ppt (482 Kb)
    • Here are slides on logic gates and developing logic circuits (aka schematics).
  5. Logic Circuits (Part 2)
  6. Number Representation
  7. Binary Addition
    • BinaryAddition.ppt (299 Kb)
    • Lecture slides on binary addition and logic circuit(s) to do addition.
  8. Signed Number Representation
    • SignedNumbers.ppt (246 Kb)
    • Lecture notes covering signed-binary number representations including:
      • Sign-bit Magnitude (SMB)
      • 1’s complement
      • 2′ complement
      • Logic circuits for subtraction
  9. ALU & CPU
    • ALU.ppt (516.5 Kb)
    • Introduction to ALU leading to CPU.
  10. ALU + Memory
    • ALU2.ppt (465 Kb)
    • Slides covering integration between ALU and Memory
  11. Introduction to Assembly language
    • AssemblyIntro.ppt (285.5 Kb)
    • Here are slides introducing the generic concepts underlying assembly language programming.
  12. Assembly on x86 processors
    • x86_Part1.ppt (536 Kb)
    • Lecture slides introducing the concept of programming an x86 processor in assembly language.
  13. x86 (Part 2)
    • x86_Part2.ppt (206 Kb)
    • Comparison and conditional jump instructions.
  14. Memory Addressing Modes & Strings
    • x86_Part3.ppt (275 Kb)
    • Here are lecture slides covering various memory addressing modes supported by the x86 processor along with their application to string processing.
  15. Stack operations, Functions, & Interrupts
    • CallandInt.ppt (231.5 Kb)
    • Lecture slides covering stack operations and functions in assembly. The lecture slides also cover the concept of interrupts and their operations.
  16. Pipelining
    • Pipelining.ppt (204 Kb)
    • Slides on fundamental concept of pipelining, hazards (data, control, & structural), super scalar processors and introduction to CPI.
  17. Quantitative Performance Comparisons
    • CPI.ppt (183 Kb)
    • Slides on quantitatively comparing performance of CPUs
]]> http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/lectures/feed/ 0 CSA 278 – Assignments http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/assignments/ http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/assignments/#comments Fri, 26 Dec 2008 07:13:53 +0000 Josh http://www.gen.newrandom.com/?p=166 I’ve uploaded all the assignments we had for Computer Architecture (CSA 278). They are available on my public server as well: Assignments. Continue reading this article for brief descriptions of each assignment.

  • Assignment #1
  • Assignment1_Solution.doc (45.5 Kb)
  • Assignment1.doc (45.5 Kb)
  • Files related to assignment #1 on history and basic terminology of modern PCs.
  • Assignment #2
    • Assignment2_Solution.doc (58.5 Kb)
    • Assignment2.doc (42.5 Kb)
    • Assignment covering basics of Boolean algebra including: developing turth tables, constructing Boolean equations, evaluating Boolean equations, and translating English statements to Boolean equations.
  • Assignment #3
    • Assignment3_Solutions.doc (69 Kb)
    • Assignment3.doc (50.5 Kb)
    • Assignment3_SimpleComputer.ms10 (73.12 Kb)
    • Assignment on drawing logic circuits (including the Tea Kettle and Simple Computer circuits)
  • Assignment #4
    • Assignment4_Solutions.doc (149 Kb)
    • Solutions for Assignment #4
  • Assignment #5
    • Assignment5_Solutions.doc (113 Kb)
    • Assignment5.doc (95 Kb)
    • Assignment #5 along with solutions.
  • Assignment #6
    • Assignment6_Solutions.doc (149 Kb)
    • Assignment6.doc (98 Kb)
    • Assignment on x86 assembly concepts and simple arithmetic operations.
  • Assignment #7
    • Assignment7.doc (62.5 Kb)
    • Assignment7_sphere.s (4.689 Kb)
    • Documents and solutions associated with programming assignment on displaying the radius of a sphere.
  • Assignment #8 — StringDeletion in Java & Assembly
    • Assignment8_StrDel.java (1.133 Kb)
    • Assignment8_strdel.s (6.113 Kb)
    • Here is the completed method for deleting an array of characters in Java for your reference. In addition, I have uploaded the solution in assembly as well.
  • Assignment #9
    • Assignment9_Solutions.doc (124.5 Kb)
    • Assignment9.doc (105 Kb)
    • Questions and solutions for Assignment #9
    ]]>     http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/assignments/feed/ 0     CSA 278 – Tentative Schedule http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/tentative-schedule/ http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/tentative-schedule/#comments Fri, 26 Dec 2008 07:02:52 +0000 Josh http://www.gen.newrandom.com/?p=160 This semester I also took Computer Architecture (CSA 278) with Dr. Dhananjai M. Rao. Attending classes regularly can be rough if you’re not fascinated by the material, but he does make entertaining jokes and goes off on a lot of tangents. Plus almost completely goes over handouts before you turn them in for easy points. Definitely do all the handouts and assignments as they will really help your grade.

    Anyway, I’ve copied the “tentative schedule” from blackboard. The schedule was pretty well kept throughout the semester and it’s not real important, but I’ve included it more to follow along with uploaded assignments and handouts than anything else.

    Here is a tentative schedule for this course. I will suitably pace the course as the semester progresses.

    Week 1 (Aug 25, 27, 29): Introduction & Fundamentals

    • Introduction to class room environment and policies.
    • Initial outcomes survey for the course.
    • Computer Abstractions and Technology (Chapter 1).

    Week 2 (Sept 3, 5): Boolean Algebra and Logic Circuits (Appendix B)

    • Sept 1 (Labor day): No class.
    • Introduction to Boolean Algebra.
    • Laws of Boolean algebra and Truth Tables.
    • Introduction to logic circuits.
    • Basic logic gates.

    Week 3 (Sept 8, 10, 12): Complex logic circuits

    • Multiplexer, de-multiplexer
    • Flip-flops
    • Registers and Memory

    Week 4 (Sept 15, 17, 19): Number representation (Chapter 2)

    • Binary number representation (Chapter 3.1).
    • Conversion from decimal to binary numbers and vice versa.
    • Representation of signed numbers (Chapter 3.2).
    • Signed number representation (1’s complement and 2’s complement).

    Week 5 (Sept 22, 24, 26): Arithmetic and Logic Circuits (Appendix B)

    • Half adder, full adder, and ripple carry adder.
    • 1-bit ALU and n-bit ALU.
    • Programming the ALU.

    Week 6 (Sept 29. Oct 1, 3): Introduction to x86 architecture (Chapter 2)

    • Overview of an x86 processor.
    • Introduction to assembly language programming (notes).
    • Assembly process and instruction encoding.
    • Memory addressing modes.

    Week 7 (Oct 6, 8, 10): Exam 1 and assembly basics

    • Basics of assembly language programming.
    • Exam 1 on Thursday, Oct 9 2008, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (room TBD).

    Week 8 (Oct 13, 15): More assembly programming

    • Arithmetic and logic instructions.
    • Branching and looping in assembly.
    • Oct 17 (Fall Break): No class

    Week 9 (Oct 20, 22, 24): Assembly continued

    • Discussion on procedure calls.
    • Working with the stack.

    Week 10 (Oct 27, 29, 31): String processing

    • Memory addressing revisited.
    • String processing in assembly.

    Week 11 (Nov 3, 5, 7): Floating point numbers

    • Representation
    • x86 FPU and instructions.

    Week 12 (Nov 10, 12, 14): Pipelining (Section 6.1 to 6.6)

    • Instruction level parallelism.
    • Introduction to pipelining.
    • Hazards in a pipeline.

    Week 13 (Nov 17, 19, 21): Exam 2 and Superscalar architecture

    • Exam 2 on Thursday, Nov. 20 2008, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (room TBD).
    • Superscalar architecture and concepts.
    • Introduction to SSE instruction set.

    Week 14 (Nov 24): Assessing & Understanding Performance (Chapter 4)

    • CPU performance and its factors.
    • Thanksgiving break.

    Week 15 (Dec 1, 3, 5): Assessing & Understanding Performance (Chapter 4 Contd.)

    • Evaluating Performance.
    • Benchmarks.

    Week 16 (Dec 8, 10, 12): Multi-core processors and Review

    • Introduction to multi-core processors.
    • Catch up.
    • Review.
    ]]>     http://www.gen.newrandom.com/2008/12/26/tentative-schedule/feed/ 0