ECE 2195: Advanced Computer Architecture (20978)

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Fall 2006


Course Information - Fall 2006

Instructor

Professor Allen Cheng
accheng AT ece DOT pitt DOT edu
333 Benedum Hall

Course Description & Objectives

In this 3-credit graduate-level seminar course, we will explore the principles of state-of-the-art and futuristic computer architecture designs and research. The goal is to help increase the understanding of the current trend in computer architecture research and develop the interest and basis of being a world-class researcher and a professional engineer in this exciting field of rapid advancement.

Throughout the course, we will be intensively reading papers taken from the latest top-tier conferences and journals, as well as classic literature. Tentative topics include but are not limited to: emerging research areas in performance, ISA, instruction-level parallelism (ILP), thread-level parallelism (TLP), power, thermal, and reliability management, security and scaling issues, application-specific architectures, multithreading, multi-core processor, multiprocessor, cache/memory hierarchy, speculative execution, storage systems, interconnection network, new trends in architecture/microarchitecture development in face of physical design limit (e.g. quantum computer). Case studies are taken from current microprocessors.

Prerequisite

ECE 0142 or CS/COE 1541 or by the instructor's permission. Strong programming skills in C/C++ and/or Verilog/VHDL is assumed.

Class Time & Location

Time: Thursdays 5:20PM - 7:50PM
Location: 820 Benedum Hall

Requirements

This course is developed to train you to become a world-class researcher and professional. The goal is to help you develop critical and independent thinking required for your success. Therefore, besides intensive literature reading, you will have the opportunity to improve your skills in presentations and literature critiques. You will have the opportunity to participate in scholarly discussion in a conference-like setting. To increase your hands-on experience, you will also have the opportunity to work on a term project that you will be proud of at your job interview. There is one open-book, open-note, open-ended exam towards the end of the semester to help you gauge your level of understanding.

 


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