EE443

Computer Engineering Analysis And Design

Course syllabus

For the current version, and for the material (slides, homework and lab assignment, notes, etc.) please see Blackboard

COURSE INFORMATION

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Analysis and design of computer architecture and organization. Advanced digital design and principles and practices of computer engineering. Microprocessor operation, control and interfacing. Instruction sets, arithmetic, datapath, and control. Enhancing performance with pipelining; advanced pipelining. Memory hierarchy. Interfacing I/O devices to processors, operating systems, and memory. Design with traditional and Hardware Description Language techniques. Latest developments in computer architecture. (Prerequisite: EE343.).

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Students should complete the course with understanding of the following concepts:

    • Interdependence of Hardware and Software

    • Instruction Set Architecture

    • Performance Evaluation

    • Design Methodology

    • Computer Arithmetic and its Implementation

    • Datapath and Control Design

    • Pipelining

    • Memory Hierarchy Design and Evaluation

    • Interfacing Processors and Peripherals

IMPORTANT DATES:

    • Last day to drop the class (course does not appear on academic record): Friday, February 2

    • Last day to withdraw (W grade appears on academic record): Friday, March 23

    • Final Exam: 8-10 a.m., Thursday, May 11

    • Last EE443 class: Thursday, May 3

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

COURSE POLICIES

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Students with learning or other disabilities who may need classroom accommodations are encouraged to make an appointment with the Office of Disability Services (Phone # 474-7043). Please meet with me during office hours so that we can collaborate with the Office of Disability Services to provide the appropriate accommodations and supports to assist you in meeting the goals of the course.

GRADING

E-mail

Each student is required to check their alaska.edu email address. This address will be used for class correspondence - announcements, homework problems clarifications, etc. In addition, Blackboard will be used for communication.

Attendance

Class attendance is highly recommended. Material not in the text may be introduced at random intervals and occasional quizzes are part of your grade. If you miss a class, lecture slides and other handouts are available on the course home page.

Homework

Homework problems will be typically due one week after assigned. No late homework will be accepted without an appropriate excuse.

You are encouraged to work independently in study groups. The work you hand in should be your own effort, not merely a copy of another's work. If you have questions about a homework problem outside of office hours, feel free to contact the instructor and/or TA by e-mail. Homework assignments are expected to be neat and legible. The grader is not obligated to decode scribbles; illegible answers will be assumed to be wrong.

Quizzes

A short quiz might be given at random times in class. Quizzes will typically cover the material from the previous week or two, and the last homework. The material for quizzes will include lectures, homework, reading assignments, and laboratory exercises, but may also cover reading assignments. No make‑up quizzes will be given.

Laboratory

Written laboratory reports are due at the beginning of the next lab session (it is possible that for some lab assignments students will be given more than one week to complete it). Written reports will be graded for both writing style and technical content. A laboratory report submitted up to one week late will be penalized by up to 50% reduction in grade (5% for a 1-day delay, 10% for a 2-day, 15% for a 3-day, 20% for a 4-day, 30% for a 5-day, 40% for a 6-day delay, and 50% for a report that is one week late). No late laboratory reports will be accepted one week after due date.

Attendance is required during your assigned lab period; to pass this course, you will need to satisfactory complete the lab portion. Unless otherwise arranged with the instructor, you have to attempt all laboratory assignments. The lecture at the start of each lab period will provide useful information for completing the lab. If you are working with a partner, it does not necessarily mean that you will receive the same grade.

Exams

There will be two term exams and one final exam. The final exam will be comprehensive. No makeup exams will be given except for documented extenuating circumstances. If you can anticipate an absence (work commitments, intercollegiate sports), talk to your instructor as soon as possible to make arrangements. If the absence is unexpected (illness, family or personal difficulties), talk with your instructor at the earliest possible opportunity.

Grades

Plus/Minus grading will be used – see the UAF catalog for numerical values used for GPA calculation.

Teaching a class as small as this one allows me to use a more qualitative, subjective grading scale.

Final course grade will be determined, in part, based on the final distribution of all grades in the class. I will look at the individual students' achievements and try to find natural breaks in the grade distribution. The following descriptions will be used as guidelines:

A: achievement that is outstanding and well above the level necessary to meet course requirements;

B: achievement that is above the level necessary to meet course requirements;

C: achievement that meets the basic course requirements;

D: achievement that is worthy of credit even though it does not fully meet the basic course requirements;

F: achievement that fails to satisfy the basic course requirements.

The rank ordering of grades will not deviate from the rank ordering of student performance. In any case, the grade cutoffs will never be set higher than these:

A’s: 90+, B’s: 80+, C’s: 70+, D’s: 60+, F: 59 and below

PLAGIARISM

As a UAF student, you are subject to UAF's Honor Code:

"Students will not collaborate on any quizzes, in-class exams, or take-home exams that will contribute to their grade in a course, unless permission is granted by the instructor of the course. Only those materials permitted by the instructor may be used to assist in quizzes and examinations.

Students will not represent the work of others as their own. A student will attribute the source of information not original with himself or herself (direct quotes or paraphrases) in compositions, theses and other reports. No work submitted for one course may be submitted for credit in another course without the explicit approval of both instructors.

Violations of the Honor Code will result in a failing grade for the assignment and, ordinarily, for the course in which the violation occurred. Moreover, violation of the Honor Code may result in suspension or expulsion."

ABET CRITERIA

General ABET Engineering Program Criteria

Engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have:

a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering

b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data

c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability

d) an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams

e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems

f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility

g) an ability to communicate effectively

h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context

i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning

j) a knowledge of contemporary issues

k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice

General ABET Criteria Partially or Fully Satisfied by EE 443

a) Knowledge in mathematics (Boolean algebra, number systems), programming (C), and digital logic design is required to pass this course.

b) For the laboratory portion of the course students are required to set up the experiments to validate their designs. As a part of that process, they have to analyze the output of the experiments (waveform diagrams, timing measurements, etc.) and to compare it with the expected outputs.

c) Students are asked to design key components of a simple microprocessor using tools for hardware description, and to combine the designed components into a working microprocessor core.

e) In a typical laboratory exercise in this course students are given a desired functionality of a microprocessor subsystem; each group is left to work out the details of the implementation independently and the originality is stimulated. In a typical homework, quiz, and exam problem, students are asked to modify an existing real world design to achieve different functionality.

g) Class-participation is stimulated and constitutes a part of the final grade (5%). Students are required to write a report for each laboratory exercise, which includes a description of procedures, problems, other possible solutions attempted, and answers to questions. i) Students recognize that although the basic principles taught in this course remain the same, microprocessor architecture is significantly improving over the time and requires them to expand their knowledge.

j) Modern microprocessors that are not presented in the textbook are covered in class. Students are given additional reading material covering at least one of the cutting-edge microprocessors and asked to answer a set of questions.

k) Students are required to use modern tools for hardware description, simulation, and verification.