RISC Architectures

(3-0-0-3)

CMPE Degree: This course is Not Applicable for the CMPE degree.

EE Degree: This course is Not Applicable for the EE degree.

Lab Hours: 0 supervised lab hours and 0 unsupervised lab hours.

Technical Interest Group(s) / Course Type(s): Computer Systems and Software

Course Coordinator:

Prerequisites: ECE 6100

Corequisites: None.

Catalog Description

An advanced design oriented class studying the design techniques and
operational principles of modern Superscalar RISC datapaths.

Textbook(s)

Modern Processor Design: Fundamentals of Superscalar Design

Course Outcomes

Not Applicable

Student Outcomes

In the parentheses for each Student Outcome:
"P" for primary indicates the outcome is a major focus of the entire course.
“M” for moderate indicates the outcome is the focus of at least one component of the course, but not majority of course material.
“LN” for “little to none” indicates that the course does not contribute significantly to this outcome.

1. ( Not Applicable ) An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics

2. ( Not Applicable ) An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors

3. ( Not Applicable ) An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences

4. ( Not Applicable ) An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts

5. ( Not Applicable ) An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives

6. ( Not Applicable ) An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions

7. ( Not Applicable ) An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs)

Not Applicable

Course Objectives

Topical Outline

A Brief History of Computer Architecture
- Technology and Architecture
- RISC Design Philosophy
- Case Study: IBM 801, RISC 2, and MIPS-X

Exploiting Instruction-Level Parallelism
- Hazards and Instruction Scheduling
- Instruction Dispatch, Issue, and Retirement
- Reorder & Renaming Buffers
- Dynamic Scheduling and Speculative Execution
- Superscalar versus Superpipelining
- Case Study: Motorola PowerPC 620 and DEC Alpha 21164

Intel 80x86 Instruction Set: A RISC in CISC Clothing
- ISA Limits
- Runtime ISA Translation
- Case Study: AMD T5 and Intel P6

Compilation Issues
- Instruction Set Architecture
- Dependency Graphs and Register Allocation
- Static Instruction Reordering
- Branch Scheduling

Very Long Instruction Word Architectures
- Trace Scheduling
- Case Study: Multiflow Trace

Tomorrow's Microprocessors
- Multithreading
- Multiprocessor PCs
- Case Study: SUN UltraSPARC, HP VLIW