BCT3208 Computer Organization and Architecture

This course deals with computer systems structural relationships that are not visible to the programmer such as clock frequency, size of the physical memory, how different computer attributes and features are implemented including control signals, memory technology, etc attributes and functional behavior of a computer system that are visible to the programmer such as instruction set, number of bits used for data representation, input-output mechanisms, addressing techniques, and types of operations that are supported by computer systems e.g., addition, subtraction and subroutine calls. This course is a key component of computer engineering. Knowledge in computer architecture makes it easier to design an operating system

Course Objectives
After completing this course students will able to:

• Explain the overview of computer organization
• Explain the principle of the CPU system
• Explain the principle of memory system
• Explain the principle of data flow 

Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the students should be able to:

• Describe the organization of a von Neumann machine, its major functional units, its strength and weaknesses
• Write small programs of assembly language code to demonstrate an understanding of machine level operations
• Discuss the generation of control signals using hardwired or microprogrammed implementation 
• Identify the new trends and technologies of computer architecture and organization
• Recognize the importance of pipelining to enhance the performance
• Identify the main types of memory technologies and performances
• Explain the use of memory hierarchy and principles of memory management
• Explain how to use interrupts to implement I/O control and data transfer
• Identify various types of buses used in a modern computer system.
• Recognize the computer architecture and organization from the software standpoint
• Explain the factors that contribute to computer performance and limitations of computer performance metrics
• Recognize the improvement of computer performance at various aspects and various levels in a computer
• Use some simulation and profiling tools