
	CSEE W3827 Fundamentals of Computer Systems Fall 2011

Lectures

Class meets 10:35 - 11:50 AM Tuesdays and Thursdays in 633 Mudd.

Staff

Name	Email	Office Hours
Prof. Stephen A. Edwards	sedwards@cs.columbia.edu	M 3-4, Th 2-3, 462 CSB
Yoonji Shin	ys2476@columbia.edu	Thursdays 5:30 - 7:30, TA Room, Mudd
Ravi Netravali	ran2122@columbia.edu	Tuesdays 2:30 - 4:30, TA Room, Mudd
Gouri Dongaonkar	gpd2115@columbia.edu	Wednesdays 4:15 - 6:15, TA Room, Mudd

Overview

This course examines how the 1s and 0s that form the foundation of digital computing are organized, structured, and manipulated to produce full-fledged computer systems. In bridging this gap, the course will cover many subjects beginning with binary logic, combinatorial and sequential circuit design, memory structures, instruction set architectures, and, ultimately, basic processor design.

Prerequisites

An introductory programming course, such as COMS 1004 or 1007. You need to understand the basics of imperative, sequential programming to understand the assembly language programming we will discuss.

Schedule

Date	Lecture	Reading	Due
Sep 6	Representing Numbers	1.4
Sep 8	Boolean Logic	1.5,2.1–2.7
Sep 13	"
Sep 15	Combinational Logic	2.8,2.9,5.2
Sep 20	"		HW1 Solutions
Sep 22	Sequential Logic	3.1–3.3,3.5
Sep 27	"
Sep 29	Finite State Machines	3.4	HW2 Solutions
Oct 4	Transistors, Gates, and ICs	1.7
Oct 6	Memory Elements	5.5
Oct 11	"
Oct 13	Datapath and Control
Oct 18	"		HW3 Solutions
Oct 20	Midterm Review
Oct 25	Midterm Exam
Oct 27	The MIPS Instruction Set	6.1–6.7
Nov 1	"
Nov 3	"
Nov 8	Election Day Holiday
Nov 10	"
Nov 15	MIPS Microarchitecture	7.1–7.3
Nov 17	A Multicycle MIPS Processor	7.4	HW4 Solutions
Nov 22	Pipelining MIPS	7.5
Nov 24–25	Thanksgiving Holiday
Nov 29	"		HW5 Solutions
Dec 1	Caches
Dec 6	"		HW6 Solutions
Dec 8	Final Review
Dec 20	Final Exam 9–12

Required Text

David Harris and Sarah Harris.
Digital Design and Computer Architecture.
Morgan-Kaufmann, 2007.

A perfect fit for our class, half of this book is devoted to classical digital logic design; the other half to processor architecture centered on the practical, but teachable, MIPS processor.

Cover of Digital Design and Computer Architecture

Homework

Each homework assignment is due at at the beginning of lecture on the due date. Late submissions will not be accepted.
We will drop each student's lowest homework grade when calculating final grades.
You may discuss homework problems with your classmates, but your work must ultimately be your own.
Write the names of any collaborators at the top of your submission.

Grading

40% Homeworks

30% Midterm

30% Final

Academic Honesty Policy

You may discuss homework problems with your classmates, but you must write up your solution independently and understand it. Students turning in copied homeworks will be referred to the dean. See the Columbia CS department academic policies for more details.