ITC222 Computer Organisation (8)

CSU Discipline Area: Computing (COMPU)

Duration: One session

Abstract:

This subject provides a study of the organisation and operation of computers through programming at the assembly language level. It introduces the architecture of microprocessors and relates low-level hardware and software organisation to the structures with which students are familiar from their previous knowledge of programming in a high-level language.

+ Subject Availability Modes and Locations

Session 2
Internal	Bathurst
Distance	Bathurst

Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: ITC222

Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.

Assumed Knowledge:

ITC106 or ITC129 or ITC140 or ITC421 or ITC429

Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

* be able to describe how high-level language constructs are implemented at a low-level;
* be able to discuss computer design and organisation from the standpoint of how data is represented and how operations are implemented;
* be able to discuss the instruction-set architecture of a well-known processor and write short programs using that instruction set;
* be able to describe the actions of an optimising compiler and discuss how these influence high-level language coding techniques;
* be able to describe the static and dynamic memory allocation for a process;
* be able to describe the mechanisms by which user programs interact with kernel services and I/O devices;
* be able to calculate CPU performance and discuss issues of performance benchmarking;
* be able to discuss some of the performance-related design issues in the areas of instruction-set design, hardware implementation and memory hierarchy.

Syllabus:

The subject will cover the following topics:

. The organisation of a computer as a hierarchy of levels, their inter-relations and the low-level view of computer operation; . An instruction set, and its design and use; . The use of registers and a comparison of memory-memory, register-memory and load-store architectural models; . Procedure calls and the data structures used to support them; . How a low-level program is constructed; . How data structures are implemented at a low level; . The assembly process and the characteristics of a program in memory; . Compiler optimisation and coding techniques; . Number systems and data representation; . The basic arithmetic and logical operations used to manipulate data and the algorithms that they use; . The interaction of a user program with the operating system and the hardware including programmed I/O, interrupts and direct memory access; . Calculating CPU performance and performance benchmark issues; . Performance-related design issues including instruction-set choice, pipelining, branching techniques and memory hierarchy; . CISC versus RISC issues.

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