cse141L: Introduction to Computer Architecture Lab

Warren Lecture Hall 2111
Wednesday; 5:00-5:50pm
Fall, 2009
Shortcuts: Schedule Labs

Instructor

Steven Swanson
Email: swanson @ cs.ucsd.edu
IM (not email): professorswanson@{AIM, Yahoo!, google talk, MS Messenger}
Office: EBU3B 3212
Office Hours: Tuesday 5-6pm, in CSE basement B-230,B-240 (and by appointment)
UCSD homepage

Teaching Assistant

Vasileios Kontorinis
Email: vkontori @ cs.ucsd.edu
Office: EBU3B 3252
Office Hours: Thursday 5-8pm in CSE basement B-230,B-240


Course discussion board: cse141L. Required reading. Get signed up.

Course Description

This is the laboratory class associated with cse141: Introduction to Computer Architecture. Over the course of the quarter, you will design a processor that implements an instruction set of your own design. It will provide you the chance to grapple first-hand with the issues of processor design.


Text books

Required: Patterson & Hennessy, Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface, Patterson & Hennessy, Morgan Kaufmann, 4th Edition This is the text for 141.

Grading

There are two ways to get an "A" in this class. One is to implement a working processor by the end of the quarter that executes programs in an ISA of your design. This is the grading option you should strive for.

The other way is to do well on the labs. If your processor doesn't turn out as well, I will consider your performance on the labs and participation (see below). Your grade will be at least the maximum of the "your processor works" grade and the lab assignment grade.

In addition to the labs, you should be an active contributer to the web board. The tools are challenging and sometimes buggy. Your classmates (in addition to the course's staff) are an excellent resource for help with the tools.

This class is about doing. You will learn almost everything you learn in this class by doing it. This means that you (or your team) must do all your own work. As long as you meet this criteria, you can consult with and discuss your project with other groups. We have structured the course so that there is no incentive to be stingy with your knowledge of the tools or in sharing your expertise with your classmates.

Calculating grades I compute the lab grades (for the second of the above two options) using an Excel spread sheet. In the interests of transparency, the current grade sheet (with identifying information removed) is available here. The grade sheet contains all the information about curves and how the grades are computed. It is somewhat sophisticated, if you find bugs please bring them to my attention.

Late lab write ups If you cannot complete you lab on time, you can turn it in late, but your grade will be penalized. The penalty is one letter grade per 24 hours extension. Up to 2 extensions are possible. For example, if the labs are due at 5pm, you have until 5pm the next day to turn it in with one letter grade penalty, and until 5pm the day after to turn it in with a two letter grade penalty, and so on.

Labs 84% There are six labs of equal weight.
Class and Blackboard participation. 16% This includes speaking up in class, helping other folks in the lab, and posting to the Blackboard.

Schedule

Items in the schedule more that one week in the future are subject to change. Check back for updates for the assigned readings, etc. The date for the midterm will not change, however. Nor will deadlines for homeworks/projecsts that have been assigned be move earlier.

I will post the slides for most lectures. Since the slides contain material I am not allowed to distribute publically, they are only available from on campus or via the campus proxy. Instructions for setting up the proxy can be found here. Using the proxy is useful in general, since it gives you full access to the libraries and other resources from off campus.

Date Topic Readings Slides Due Notes
Wednesday, September 30 Administrivia; Overview of the course; Lab 1 assigned; Verilog I 00_Introduction.pdf,
01-Verilog1.pdf
Wednesday, October 7 Verilog II; datapath and control design. Lab 2 preview. 03_CodeStandardsAndDatapaths.pdf,
02-VerilogFundametals.pdf,
TrivialScalarDatapath.pdf
Project 1-1; Project 1-2;
Wednesday, October 14 Verilog II; datapath and crontrol design; Lab 3 preview. 04_ControlAndLab3.pdf Project 2;
Wednesday, October 21 Lab 4 preview Project 3;
Wednesday, October 28 Lab questions
Wednesday, November 4 Lab 5 preview Project 4;
Wednesday, November 11 Holiday: Veteran's Day
Wednesday, November 18 No class Project 5;
Wednesday, November 25 Lab questions Private meditation on processor design at a location of your choosing.
Wednesday, December 3 Lab questions/CAPE
Friday, December 4 Lab 6 Due Project 6;
Wednesday, December 10 Final

Integrity Policy


Labs

Lab 1: Be a Hardware Hacker!
Lab 2: TrivialScalar Datapath
Lab 3: TrivialScalar - Control
Lab 4: Materialize Your Processor - Datapath
Lab 5: Materialize Your Processor - Control
Lab 6: Bells and Whistles