Course title
1M984500,7M5900001
Advanced Computer Architecture

 usami kimiyoshi Click to show questionnaire result at 2016
Course content
CPU chips are the most important components in computer systems and their performance has been continuing to grow. In this lecture, we study representative computer architectures that are actually used in high performance processor chips. Furthermore, through designing hardware components (i.e. function units) and simulations, we analyze and discuss how the hardware structure influences the performance.
Purpose of class
To understand technologies in computer architecture to achieve high performance through case studies of real processor chips
Goals and objectives
  1. To understand representative computer architectures that are actually used in high performance CPU chips
  2. To understand how the hardware structure influences the performance through a design project of hardware components
  3. To be able to actually design a hardware component used in a CPU and evaluate its performance
Language
English
Class schedule

 Class schedule HW assignments (Including preparation and review of the class.) Amount of Time Required
1． Guidance and overview of high-performance architecture Fundamentals of computer architecture 80minutes
2． Technology/power trends and changes in computer architecture Review of changes in computer architecture, Instruction-level parallelism, Data-level parallelism and Domain-Specific architecture 200minutes
3． Instruction-level parallelism, Pipelining and Dynamic scheduling techniques Review of pipelining, hazard and concept of dynamic scheduling 200minutes
4． Dynamic scheduling and issues Review of techniques and issues in dynamic scheduling 200minutes
5． Superscalar technology (1) Review of concept of superscalar 200minutes
6． Superscalar technology (2) Review of basic components in superscalar architecture 200minutes
7． Case studies of superscalar processors (1) Review of superscalar in Intel Pentium processor 200minutes
8． Case studies of superscalar processors (2) Review of superscalar in Intel Pentium2 and Pentium4 processors 200minutes
9． Design project on CPU datapath components (1) Review of structure of an adder; Designing a ripple-carry adder circuit in Verilog HDL and conducting logic simulation 200minutes
10． Design project on CPU datapath components (2) Review of a carry-lookahead adder (CLA) and carry-select adder; Designing a CLA circuit in Verilog HDL and conducting logic simulation 200minutes
11． Design project on CPU datapath components (3) Review of parallel prefix adders 200minutes
12． Data-level parallelism, Vector and SIMD architectures Review of data-level parallelism in Vector architecture; SIMD architecture for multi-media processing 200minutes
13． Domain-Specific architecture Review of Domain-Specific architecture for Deep Neural Networks and Google's Tensor Processing Unit 200minutes
14． Presentation of the design and analysis results Design of high-speed adder and evaluation from performance and area 200minutes
Total. - - 2680minutes
Relationship between 'Goals and Objectives' and 'Course Outcomes'

 Class participation and Submitted reports Presentation on the design project Total.
1. 20% 80% 100%
2. 0%
Total. 20% 80% -
Evaluation method and criteria
If the student submits the design competition assignment and the adder which he/she designed based on the method introduced in the class works correctly and makes the presentation on it, the score 60% is given. Upper score than 60% is given depending on the achieved circuit speed and the area of his/her adder.
Textbooks and reference materials
J. Hennessey and D. Patterson, “Computer Architecture, Sixth Edition: A Quantitative Approach”, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2017.
J. Shen, M. Lipasti, “Modern Processor Design: Fundamentals of Superscalar Processors”, McGraw-Hill, 2005.
D. Patterson and J. Hennessey, “Computer Organization and Design RISC-V Edition: The Hardware Software Interface”, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2017.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge on computer architecture is required.
Office hours and How to contact professors for questions
  • 11:00am – 12:00 on Thursdays
Relation to the environment
Non-environment-related course
Regionally-oriented
Non-regionally-oriented course
Development of social and professional independence
  • Course that cultivates an ability for utilizing knowledge
  • Course that cultivates a basic problem-solving skills
Active-learning course
About half of the classes are interactive
Course by professor with work experience
Work experience Work experience and relevance to the course content if applicatable
Applicatable About 20 years of working experience at Toshiba, where he was actually involved in the design of CPU chips
Last modified : Sun Sep 22 04:00:58 JST 2019