Course Info
| Lectures | Mon. & Wed. 10:30 - 11:50 AM in Doherty Hall 1212 |
|---|---|
| Web Page | http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ece741/ |
| Email list | ece741-official /at/ ece.cmu.edu
http://sos.ece.cmu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ece741-official
All students must subscribe through the link above! |
| Instructor | Babak Falsafi |
| Email, URL | babak /at/ cmu.edu, http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~babak/ |
| Office | Hamerschlag A305 |
| Phone | 412-268-7047 |
| Office Hours | Tuesdays 2:00 - 3:00 PM Fridays 3:00 - 4:00 PM |
| TA | Nikos Hardavellas |
| Email, URL | nhardave /at/ ece.cmu.edu, http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~nhardave/ |
| Office | Hamerschlag A312 |
| Phone | 412-268-5005 |
| Office Hours | Mondays 5:45 - 6:45 PM |
| TA | Ryan Johnson |
| Email, URL | ryanjohn /at/ ece.cmu.edu, http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ryanjohn/ |
| Office | Hamerschlag A313 |
| Phone | 412-268-7920 |
| Office Hours | Tuesdays 3:00 - 4:00 PM |
| TA | Stephen Somogyi |
| Email, URL | ssomogyi /at/ ece.cmu.edu, http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ssomogyi/ |
| Office | Hamerschlag A300, Cube A10 |
| Phone | 412-268-6108 |
| Office Hours | Thursdays 1:00 - 2:00 PM |
| Admin. Assistant | Matt Koeske |
| koeske /at/ ece.cmu.edu | |
| Office | Hamerschlag A302 |
| Phone | 412-268-7293 |
Description
What is computer architecture?
Computer architecture is the science and art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create a computer that meets functional, performance and cost goals. This course qualitatively and quantitatively examines computer design trade-offs. We will learn, for example, how uniprocessors execute many instructions concurrently and why state-of-the-art memory systems are nearly as complex as processors. Examining tradeoffs requires that you already know how to correctly design a computer, as is taught in the important prerequisite 18-347.18-741's sole goal is to familiarize computer architecture majors and those interested in computer system design with both the state-of-the-art and trends in processor, memory, and platform architectures in today's and future systems. 18-741 teaches students how to design a computer system well, and is not an introduction to computer system design.
Who should take 18-741?
18-741 is an entry-level graduate course and is best suited for graduate and fifth-year IMB students. Like other graduate-level courses, the course will include weekly readings, discussions, and student reviews and reports on publications (besides the text book) of seminal and recent contributions to the field of computer architecture. Student reviews, class discussions, and an independent research project will account for a significant fraction of the grade. Like other graduate-level courses, feedback on performance will be given only upon request by a student. There will be no recitation classes.The course will also include an independent and original research project, in which students study, improve, and evaluate architectural innovations using a software simulation infrastructure. There will be a list of project ideas given out, but students can suggest and work on their own ideas with potentials for advancing the state of the art.
What knowledge does 18-741 assume?
18-741 assumes that you are familiar with the following material:- Basic machine organization (18-347 or equivalent)
- Basic operating systems organization (15-412)
- Basic compiler structrure (15-411)
- High-level languages and data structures
- Programming in C and/or C++
- Assembly language programming: opcodes, operands, etc.