Courses I teach include:   Syllabus for CS147   |   Syllabus for CS149   |   Syllabus for CS247
 

                   CS 147    Introduction to Computer Architecture

Introduction to computer systems design. Topics for discussion revolve around alternative machine architectures for major processor subsystems. Discussion includes data representation, arithmetic logic unit operations and algorithms, and hierarchical memory organization. Hardware characteristics of generic computer architectures and devices are analyzed and "non-classical" architectures such as parallel processors and RISC machines are presented. Performance measurement and speedup techniques are studied to perform tradeoff analysis and design optimization. VHDL programming projects will be used to demonstrate the use of computer-aided design tools.
 
 

                   CS 149    Introduction to Operating Systems

Introduction to computer operating systems principles. Topics for discussion will center around the fundamental responsibilities of an operating system kernel including hierarchical memory management, task scheduling, input/output processing, and file management. Several alternative algorithms associated with the implementation for each of the major topics will be studied along with an analysis of their properties, advantages, and disadvantages. Hardware characteristics of generic computer architectures and devices are analyzed to the extent necessary to emphasize the role of the operating system as a resource manager and controller. Related topics such as interprocess communication and synchronization, deadlocks, emulation, reliability, security, and distributed systems are also presented. Programming projects will be used to demonstrate implementation techniques for various ideas presented in class.
 
 

Detailed analysis of high-performance, fault-tolerant computer systems. Survey various machine architectures including implementation alternatives for major processor sub-systems. Pipelined, vector, VLSI, and dataflow architectures are examined. Discussion includes data representation, arithmetic logic unit operations and algorithms, control unit operation and instruction formats, memory addressing schemes, and hierarchical memory organization. Performance measurement and speedup techniques are studied to perform tradeoff analysis and design optimization. Programming projects using the VHDL language and Cadence simulation environment will be used to demonstrate computer-aided design and functional verification techniques for digital systems. A written report and oral presentation on a relevant and approved topic of interest to the student will be required.