CSE 30321

Sharon Hu

By the end of the semester, students will be able to:

1.   Understand the organization of modern computer systems, the functionality of their components, instruction sets and their underlying execution.

Direct measures: Homework 2: 5, 6; Homework 4, 5, 8: All; Homework 6: 1-4; Lab 2, 4, 5; Quiz 2-5; Midterm: 1, 2(a), 3; Final: A, B1-3.

2.   Goal 2: Compare differing architectures and application of relevant performance metrics.

Direct measures: Homework 1: 1 (9 sub-problems), 2; Lab1; Quiz 1; Midterm: 2(b); Final: B4, C.

3.   Goal 3: Become familiar with top-down design methodology and modern CAD tools, including VHDL.

Direct measures: Homework 2: 1-4; Homework 6:5; Lab 2,3, 5; Final Project; Midterm: 2(c); Final: D;

4.   Practice team design.

Direct measures: Homework 1, 2, 4, 6-8; Lab 2-5; Final project;



Fall 2006 report


Course: CSE 321 (Computer Architecture I)
Instructor: X. Sharon Hu

Students preparedness: 
 - students were better prepared in working with the Unix environment compared with the previous semester
 - student preparedness was acceptable for fundamentals in combinational logic but not as well for sequential logic
 - students were not well prepared in VHDL

Quality of text:
 - The textbook worked well 

Points to consider:
 - Students didn't like the Simple12 part. There is no textbook for this part. Students complained about too much work to study two different architectures.
 - Less homework and lab assignments?