CIS 351 Computer Organization and Assembly Language
Fall 2018

Contact Information:
Instructor: Zachary Kurmas Office: MAK C-2-316
Phone: 331-8688 Office Hours: MWF 9:30-11
Home page: http://www.cis.gvsu.edu/~kurmasz
Course Documents:
Announcements:
I will post announcements at Piazza. Please check there regularly.
Discussion Board:
Please post questions about homework, projects, etc. to Piazza. Doing so allows everybody to see the question and answer and saves me the time of answering the same question multiple times. Other students can also answer your question, which may help you get a faster response.
Grades:
I will post grades on Blackboard.
Assignments:
Due Name Details
Tue. 28 Aug. First Day Survey
Fri. 7 Sep. Homework 1: Introduction to Digital Logic
Wed. 19 Sep. Project 1: Build an Adder
Mon. 24 Sep. Project 2: Build a Subtractor and SLT
Wed. 26 Sep. Homework 2: Boolean Algebra
Fri. 5 Oct. Practice Test 1
Fri. 5 Oct. Homework 3: Sequential Circuits
Mon. 22 Oct. Project 3: Build an ALU
Wed. 24 Oct. Homework 4: Single Cycle CPU Please work in pairs.
Wed. 31 Oct. Homework 5: Loops and Memory
Fri. 2 Nov. Practice Test 2
Fri. 16 Nov. Homework 6: Cache Problems 1 - 6 only.
Mon. 3 Dec. Homework 7: Pipeline Implementation
Wed. 5 Dec. Homework 8: Pipeline Performance
Fri. 7 Dec. Practice Final Not due for credit
Labs:
Date Name Details
Tue. 28 Aug. Lab 1: Number Conversions
Tue. 11 Sep. Lab 2: Introduction to Digital Logic
Tue. 18 Sep. Lab 3: Subtraction and Comparison Get started on Project 2
Tue. 25 Sep. Lab 4: Sequential Circuits
Tue. 2 Oct. Lab 5: Introduction to Assembly
Tue. 16 Oct. Lab 6: Assembly Branches
Tue. 23 Oct. Lab 7: Computer Instruction Types
Tue. 30 Oct. Lab 8: Finish Single Cycle CPU Please work in pairs
Tue. 13 Nov. Lab 9: Cache (part 1)
Tue. 20 Nov. Lab 10: Cache (part 2)
Tue. 27 Nov. Lab 11: Pipeline
Tue. 4 Dec. Lab 12: Recursion
(Labs are due the following Monday, unless otherwise specified.)
Text:
The official textbook for this class is
  • Digital Design and Computer Architecture (2nd edition) by David Money Harris and Sarah L. Harris. ISBN: 9780123944245

If you already have a copy of the Patterson and Hennessy text (shown below), you may use that text instead. This book goes into more depth for some of the later course topics. It can be helpful; but, I wouldn't spend more than about $10 on it.

  • Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface, 4th Edition by David Patterson and John Hennessy. ISBN: 1558606041

Also, the differences between the 1st and 2nd edition of Harris and Harris are minimal. If you can find a cheap copy of the first version, go ahead and use it.

Reference:

Updated Wednesday, 28 November 2018, 9:03 PM

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