CS 4515: Computer Architecture

This course explores the architectural design of modern computer systems in terms of instruction sets and the organization of processors, controllers, memories, devices, and communication links. Topics include an overview of computer architectures and system components, theoretical foundations, instruction-level and thread-level pipelining, multifunction pipelines, multi-core systems, caching and memory hierarchies, and multi-core and parallel computer organization. Students may be expected to design and implement programs that simulate significant components of modern computer architectures. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.