CSE 141 and 141L - Computer Architecture

News

For the final, you may bring two handwritten pages (each double-sided) of notes. For instance, you might want to bring your notes from the midterm plus a new one. (Incidentally, I try to ask questions that don't require your having any notes.)
This is //www-cse.ucsd.edu/users/carter/141 (and also //www-cse.ucsd.edu/classes/sp97/cse141)

Assignment & tests

Homeworks for 141 are to be done individually. Labs for 141L may be done in groups up to four people.

April 10 Homework #1 due. Here are solutions for part 1 and some plausible answers for part 2.
April 18 Lab #1 (time a program) due. The first quartile score on the lab was 52.5 (out of possible 70), the median was 60, and the third quartile was 64.
April 25 Homework #2 due. The first quartile score was 48, the median was 54, and the third quartile was 58 (out of a possible 60).
April 29 Lab #2 (cache simulations) due. Here are our answers. The first quartile score on the lab was 60, the median was 81, and the third quartile was 86.
May 1 Midterm Exam. Click here for a summary of the grades and some answers.
May 16 Lab #3 (design an instruction set) due.
May 22 Homework #3 due. Click here for some answers.
June 2 Lab #4 (implementation of the instruction set in LogicWorks) due.
June 6 Homework #4 due. (Due at 3:00 PM, AP&M 4101 (slide it under the door if I'm not in). Here's the answers to the second question.
June 13 Final Exam. 8-11 AM.

Vocabulary

Here's a growing list of vocabulary, terms that you should be familiar with and know something about (for example, what are the advantages and drawbacks of such-and-such). Many of the terms have only been introduced briefly so far, but we'll be learning more about as the course goes on. It might be useful to review these terms occasionally, and ask about any if you aren't sure about their meaning or significance.

Here are some characterists of a typical modern workstation or PC. Every literate computer scientist should have an intuitive feel for these speeds and capacities.

BotEC's

You are "strongly encouraged" to use our conventions for writing up Back of the Envelope Calculations .

Grading

Grades for CSE141 will be based on 30% homeworks, 25% midterm and 45% final.
Grades for CSE141L will be based on the labs.

Late assignments will be penalized 15% per class period.

Requests for reviewing grades on homeworks and tests are tolerated (but not encouraged) up to 1 week after it is returned. If you request a problem be regraded, we reserve the right to look at the entire homework to see if there might be some place where you were given too much credit. Academic dishonesty is unacceptable conduct. Incidents of cheating or plagiarism will be taken seriously. Homeworks in 141 are to be solved and written up individually. Labs in 141L are group efforts, but each group should work separately from other groups. Some guidelines:

Discussing homework problems with classmates is OK. There is a fine line between "discussing" (which is OK) and "copying" (which is cheating). To ensure you don't cross the line,
-> never make written notes while discussing homeworks <-
If you need to draw a picture or write some equations down, throw the paper away immediately.
For problem that ask you to find information on the web, each student should find it on their own. It's fine to tell a classmate how to use a search engine, but not to tell them where to find the answers. After all, the point of the exercise is to learn how to find information.
It is cheating to look at someone else's homework, or to help someone else write their homework.
Copying any part of a program or lab design from someone who is not in your lab group is cheating.
Studying for exams together is fine, but receiving or providing assistance from another student during a test is cheating.

Textbook

Patterson and Hennessy, "Computer Organization & Design: The Hardware/Sorfware Interface". Available at the UCSD bookstore, or possibly at Barnes&Noble. Here is a list of errors in the first printing (though you probably have a later printing).
The LogicWorks manual you bought last term will come in handy too.

Tentative Reading Assignments

Week 1: Chapters 1 and 2.
Week 2: Sections 5.6, 7.1, 7.2, and 8.5 and Appendices A.7 and A.8.
Week 3: Chapter 7 (remainder).
Week 5: Chapter 3 and Appendix E.
Week 6: Sections 4.1 to 4.4, and also pp. 225-230.
Week 7: Chapter 5
Week 8: Chapter 6

Staff

Instructor: Larry Carter (carter@cs.ucsd.edu).
Office hours - AP&M 4101:
- Monday 10:30 - 11:30
- Tuesday 1:30 - 2:30
- Or by appointment
TA's: Ismet Bayraktaroglu (ibayrakt@cs) and Lori Carter (lcarter@cs)
Office hours - AP&M 3337 or 3349:
- Tuesday 12:00 - 1:00
- Wednesday 2:30 - 3:30
- Thursday 11:30 - 1:30
Tutoring: Ken Wolfe will be available in the uAPE lab (B402 in AP&M). He can assist with both homework and lab questions. If he's not in the uAPE lab, check the Mac Lab (B325-337).
- Monday 2-4
- Tuesday 11:00-1:00
- Wednesday evening, 6:00-7:30, only on May 14.
He'll write his whereabouts on the white board in the lab so you can find him for help with the homeworks, labs, or whatever. His hours may change, so check this space for updates.

Class times

Tuesday and Thursday 10:00-11:20, Center 119.
Friday, 10:00-10:50, Center 101.
Optional discussion sections, starting second week
- Monday 12:00-12:50, WLH 2204.
- Tuesday 9:00-10:00, AP&M 4218.
- Wednesday 12:00-12:50, Peterson 104.

Computer facilities

Note: All students (even those with OCE accounts) will need to use their ACS account on icse3 in order to use LogicWorks on the Macintosh lab computers. Userid's will be handed out in class.

We have the following lab facilities:

General-purpose computers
- The uAPE Sun lab in B402, basement of AP&M
- The NT lab in AP&M 3444
Mac's for LogicWorks. (Note: There are only 10 licenses for AP&M. If none are available, try the other sites.)
- The ACSLAB in B325 and B337, basement of AP&M. and AP&M 2101. The hours are M-F 7AM-10:45PM, Sat 9AM-7PM, and Sun 9AM-10PM. (10 LogicWorks licenses).
- EBU2 room 338 (the OCE-ENG lab) (10 licenses).
- ACS overflow facilities in the Undergraduate, Geisel and S&E libraries and in the Warren Activity Center. (Possibly also 315 Center Hall, but I'm not sure they have LogicWorks.) (11 licenses.)
More information on rooms and hours.