CSEE 3827: Fundamentals of Computer Systems

Announcements

• 4/28: Practice final exam is available here.
• 4/13: Final exam to be held on Monday 5/11 from 1:10-4:00pm in Fayerweather 310.
• 3/20: Lecture on Monday 3/23 is cancelled. Prof. Kim's office hours on Tuesday 2/24 are also cancelled; email her to schedule an alternate time. The first class after break will meet on Wednesday 3/25.
• 3/2: The midterm will be on Wednesday 3/11 during class time. It will be open book and open note (but no electronic devices). A practice exam is available here. Review session will be held during class time on Monday 3/9.
• 2/1: Lecture slides will now be available online the evening before class.
• 1/16: First class meeting on Wednesday 1/21 in Fayerweather 310.

Course Information

• Description: The purpose of this course is to examine how the digital 1s and 0s that are the foundation of digital computing are organized, structured, and manipulated to become a full-fledged computer system. In bridging this gap, the course will cover many subjects including binary logic, combinatorial and sequential circuit design, instruction set architectures, and finally basic processor design.


• Lectures: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:10pm - 2:25pm in Fayerweather 310.


• Course staff and contact information:
  
  

  		Office	Phone	E-Mail	Office Hours
  Prof.	Martha Kim	CSB 461	212-939-7094	mak2191@columbia.edu	Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2-3pm
  TA	Roopa Kakarlapudi	TA Room, 1st floor Mudd		rk2489@columbia.edu	Tuesdays 5-6:30pm
  TA	Harsh Parekh	TA Room, 1st floor Mudd		hdp2111@columbia.edu	Mondays 11-12:30pm; Tuesdays 3:30-5pm
  TA	Nishant Shah	TA Room, 1st floor Mudd		nrs2127@columbia.edu	Wednesdays 10-11:30am



• Prereqs: An introductory programming course (e.g., COMS 1004 or 1007).


• Problem sets: There will be eight problem sets over the course of the semester. The problem sets will be due in class on their due date. If you cannot attend class, you can slip them under my office door (CSB 461) before the start of class on the due date. Although these assignments will not be a large part of your final grade in this course, use them to reinforce what you learn in lecture and to diagnose gaps in your knowledge.


• Grading: Your grade in this course will be based principly on the two exams. However, in the interest of those two scores, we encourage you not to neglect the lectures and problem sets!
  • Midterm exam (40%)
  • Final exam (40%)
  • Problem sets (20%)


• Collaboration policy: In working on the problem sets, feel free to discuss the problems with your classmates. However, no collaboration is allowed in writing up the solutions. Each student is to write up his or her own solution and is expected to be able to explain and reproduce the work she or she submits.


• Textbooks: There are two required texts:
  • Logic and Computer Design Fundamentals, 4th ed, by M. Morris Mano and Charles Kime (ISBN: 978-0131989269)
  • Computer Organization and Design, The Hardware/Software Interface, 4th ed, by David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy (ISBN: 978-0123744937)

Syllabus

Date	Topic	Reading	Lecture Notes	Problem Set Out	Problem Set Due
Wed 1/21	Introduction	M&K Ch. 1	slides
Mon 1/26	Binary logic : truth tables and logic gates	M&K 2.1	slides
Wed 1/28	Binary logic : boolean algebra, DeMorgan's Theorem, duals	M&K 2.2	slides	PS 1
Mon 2/2	Binary logic : standard forms, k-maps I	M&K 2.3-2.5	slides (for lectures 4 & 5)
Wed 2/4	Binary logic : k-maps II		slides (for lectures 4 & 5)	PS 2	PS 1 (soln)
Mon 2/9	Combinational circuit design : standard circuits	M&K 3.1-3.2, 3.6-3.9	slides
Wed 2/11	Combinational circuit design : arithmetic circuits I	M&K 4.1-4.3	slides (for lectures 7 & 8)		PS 2 (soln)
Mon 2/16	Combinational circuit design : arithmetic circuits II	M&K 4.4-4.5	slides (for lectures 7 & 8)
Wed 2/18	Sequential circuit design : latches and flip-flops	M&K 5.1-5.3,5.6	slides	PS 3
Mon 2/23	Sequential circuit design : state machines I	M&K 5.4-5.5	slides
Wed 2/25	Sequential circuit design : state machines II		slides		PS 3
Mon 3/2	Sequential circuit design : state machines III		slides	PS 4
Wed 3/4	Catchup / Review
Mon 3/9	Review session				PS 4
Wed 3/11	Midterm exam
Mon 3/16	Spring Break / No Class
Wed 3/18	Spring Break / No Class
Mon 3/23	No Class
Wed 3/25	Storage design I	M&K 7.1-7.2, 8.1-8.4	slides (for lectures 13 and 14)
Mon 3/30	Storage design II	M&K 8.5-8.7, 6.8	slides (for lectures 13 and 14)
Wed 4/1	Instruction set architecture I	P&H 2.1-2.10, 2.17	slides (for lectures 15, 16 and 17)	PS 5
Mon 4/6	Instruction set architecture II		slides (for lectures 15, 16 and 17)
Wed 4/8	Instruction set architecture III		slides (for lectures 15, 16 and 17)	PS 6	PS 5
Mon 4/13	Single-cycle processor I	P&H 4.1-4.8	end of previous deck, new slides (for lectures 18, 19, 20)
Wed 4/15	Single-cycle processor II		slides (for lectures 18, 19, 20)
Mon 4/20	Single-cycle processor III		slides (for lectures 18, 19, 20)	PS 7	PS 6
Wed 4/22	Optimization : pipelining I		slides (for lectures 21 and 22)
Mon 4/27	Optimization : pipelining II		slides (for lectures 21 and 22)	PS 8	PS 7
Wed 4/29	Optimization : caching	P&H 5.1-5.2	end of previous deck, slides
Mon 5/4	Catchup / Review				PS 8
Wed 5/6	Study Week / No Class
Fri 5/8 - Fri 5/15	Final Exam Week