Introduction to computer systems, their various components and functions. Topics covered include memory organization and management, computer arithmetic, hardware design algorithms and I/O. Concepts in CPU architecture (RISC, CISC) , instruction cycle, instruction pipelining, control unit design, and multicore processor organization are also covered.

• CSC 204 + Lab : Introduction to Computer Hardware and Digital Logic

• Understand design principles and methods used in contemporary processors and memory systems and apply them to new designs.
• Evaluate the performance of a modern computer.
• Determine sources of potential performance bottlenecks in a processor design and determine techniques to address them.
• Reason about sources of low memory system performance for a workload and determine techniques to address them.
• Evaluate tradeoffs between hardware and software techniques to achieve a performance goal.

1. Computer Organization & Architecture: Design for Performance by William Stallings
2. Computer Architecture and Organization by John P. Hays