Introduction to Computer Architecture: Part 1

To introduce the architecture of current and past processors; to show the relationship between hardware and software; to focus on the concepts that provide the basis for current computers.

Reading

• course textbook: Computer Organization and Design (Sixth Edition) by D.A. Patterson and J.L. Hennessy, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers; with Section 5.5: multi-cycle datapath, Section 5.6: exceptions, Appendix B: the basics of logic design, Appendix C: mapping control to hardware.

Links

• great microprocessors, ARM, MIPS, Pentium, Sparc, ARC, JVM, transputer, Transmeta, PTX, SCIP, Reduceron, von Neumann bottleneck
• domain-specific accelerators, a golden age for computer architecture, architecture for deep neural networks
• Simodense, flexible instruction processor, Arvand, FISH, CHIPS, Custard, verify customised processors
• mata-programming, Contessa, machine learning acceleration, climate modelling acceleration, reconfigurable computing research
• embedded processor comparison, Intel hyperthreading, Sparc multithreading, SPEC CPU 2000 (overview), SPEC CPU 2006, CHERI secure processor, security-aware cache
• Microsoft AI cloud, Amazon F1, Axel, Convey, Cube, FPGA vs ASIC, FPGA-based supercomputer, RAW
• future of microprocessor business, Nano FPGA, quantum FPGA, IRAM, nanotechnology survey, nanotechnology presentation, historical computing engines, code-breaking Colossus
• Intel, Celoxica, Hewlett Packard, Sharp, Sony, Xilinx, FCCM Symposium, FPT Conference