EE 2310 logo

COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND DESIGN

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

PROF. C. D. CANTRELL

FALL 1999

COURSE INFORMATION

Teaching Personnel Teaching Personnel
Grading Grading
Homework Homework
Web Site Web Site
Required Textbooks Required Textbooks
Examinations Examinations
Academic dishonesty Academic dishonesty
Computer Use Computer Use

TEACHING PERSONNEL

Professor Cantrell
Dr. Dodge
Arturo Garcia (TA)
Sabrina Zaman (TA)

WEB SITE

The URL of the EE 2310 Web site is http://www.utdallas.edu/~cantrell/ee2310/.

All course notes and other vital information will be available primarily through the course Web site. Some information may also be available in McDermott Library (no guarantee of completeness).

You can access the EE 2310 Web site through the Microcomputer Laboratory in McDermott or the UNIX Laboratory in Jonsson. If you use the Microcomputer Laboratory, you will benefit by using a Macintosh, rather than a PC, because the utilization of the Macs is much lower than the utilization of the PCs.

If you wish to access the World Wide Web from your own computer, you are responsible for obtaining Web access through UTD or an independent Internet Service Provider.

If you have not used the Web before, get started in the first week of class. Tardiness in getting on the Web is the leading cause of poor performance in this course. We'll help, but you have to try!

REQUIRED and RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS

Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware-Software Interface, Second Edition, by Professors David Patterson and John Hennessy. This book is to undergraduate electrical engineering computer architecture courses as Professor Paul Samuelson's textbook is to introductory economics courses. (Required)
LogicWorks 4: Interactive Circuit Design for Windows and Macintosh, by Capilano Computing. The LogicWorks 4 software CD-ROM accompanies the book, which serves as the documentation. (Required)
Introduction to RISC Assembly Language Programming, by John Waldron, ISBN 0-201-39828-1 (published by Addison-Wesley). This book is the documentation for the SPIM simulator and the MIPS assembly language, mastery of both of which is critical for EE 2310 students. (Required)
Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Digital Principles, Third Edition, by Roger L. Tokheim, ISBN 0-07-065050-0 (published by McGraw-Hill) (Recommended)

Like all Schaum's outlines, this book contains many worked problems and many more practice problems. Topics covered include data representations, logic gates, Karnaugh maps, latches, flip-flops, counters, shift registers, and basic RAM architecture.

GRADING

HOMEWORK

Grading: Homework will receive 70% of full credit if you make a serious attempt at solving all problems. The remaining 30% of the homework credit will be given if the answers are correct.

Homework Policy:
  1. NO LATE HOMEWORK! Homework will be considered late at 10:00 AM the day after it is due, and will not be graded without a valid excuse.
  2. ALL HAND-WRITTEN ANSWERS TO HOMEWORK PROBLEMS MUST BE ON ENGINEERING PAPER TO RECEIVE CREDIT. NO EXCEPTIONS! (Pads of engineering paper are available in the UTD Bookstore and in many office-supply stores.)
  3. Pencil is preferred. Also, please use only one side of the paper.
  4. Organize your answer as shown in Example 1 or Example 2. State clearly the assumptions made in solving the problem, the theory or formula(s) to be used, and show all of the steps of the solution. Organizing your work in this way will help you follow the directions given for each problem.
  5. Some measures to ensure that your homework includes all required steps include (but are not limited to):
    1. Label equations taken from the text.
    2. List all given data and what you are looking for.
    3. List formulas to be combined or used before you start algebraic manipulations.
    4. Make numerical substitutions only at the end, if required.
    5. Define all variables you use.
    6. Explain what you are doing.
    7. Document your computer programs.
  6. Units are required thoughout your solution, wherever applicable. Common units used in computer design include clock periods (cycles), seconds, Hz (hertz, cycles per second), and MHz (megahertz, millions of cycles per second).
  7. Box your final answer so that it can be found quickly.
  8. Number each problem. The assigned order is preferred.
  9. Number your pages using the notation m/n in the upper right corners of your engineering sheets, where m is the number of the current page and n is the total number of pages in the current assignment. See Example 1 or Example 2.
  10. Staple your homework. If homework is not stapled, points will be deducted and neither the TA nor the instructor will be responsible if pages get lost.
  11. Full credit cannot be given, even if a solution is numerically correct, unless the TA can follow it. Partial credit will never be given for incomprehensible, poorly organized, or unexplained answers.
  12. Copies of sample or template programs with no additional work on your part, and source programs without output, will receive no credit.
  13. Take the time to do a good job. This is your introduction to writing useful, understandable engineering reports.

Homework Advice: DO NOT COPY HOMEWORK SOLUTIONS! You will cheat only yourself if you do. Many of the problems on the midterm and final exams will be very similar to exercises that have been assigned as homework. If you do not attempt to solve the homework exercises yourself, you will be completely unprepared for the exams, and will be likely to fail the course.

EXAMINATIONS

Please do not bring your own paper to an examination. Paper will be given to you after you enter the examination room.

Please do bring your student ID to the examination. We reserve the right to refuse admission to anyone who does not have a valid student ID that shows an ID number (Social Security number) that matches the number associated with the person's name in University records.

Please wait outside the examination room until Dr. Cantrell or Dr. Dodge tells you that you may enter. Seating is assigned randomly. Please do not sit anywhere except your assigned seat. Also, please leave all personal belongings (backpacks, etc.) in the front of the room for the entire duration of the examination.

You will be allowed to bring one 8 1/2 by 11 inch formula sheet into the examination. Dr. Cantrell must inspect and sign the formula sheet before it can be used.

Unless directed otherwise, please do not write any answers for which you want to receive credit on the exam paper that is handed out. You must return all exam papers to Dr. Cantrell or Dr. Dodge before leaving the room. These papers will shredded after the end of the examination.

Midterm exam #1: Wednesday and Thursday, September 29-30, 1999, during regular class hours. The exam will be CLOSED-BOOK, and NO CALCULATORS WILL BE ALLOWED. All calculations must be done by hand, with all work shown, in order to receive full credit. The exam will cover the topics assigned as homework through September 21 and 22.
Midterm exam #2: Wednesday and Thursday, November 3-4, 1999, during regular class hours. The exam will be CLOSED-BOOK, and NO CALCULATORS WILL BE ALLOWED. All calculations must be done by hand, with all work shown, in order to receive full credit. The exam will cover the topics assigned as homework through October 25 and 26.
Final exam: Tuesday, December 7, 1999, 8:00-10:30 AM (Dr. Cantrell's section). Friday, December 10, 1999, 5:00-7:30 PM (Dr. Dodge's section). The exam will be CLOSED-BOOK, and NO CALCULATORS WILL BE ALLOWED. All calculations must be done by hand, with all work shown, in order to receive full credit. The exam will be comprehensive.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Use of any materials other than those listed above, or use of a calculator, or consultation with any person (other than Prof. Cantrell or one of the TAs assisting him) at any location during an examination, constitutes cheating. If cheating is detected, the incident will be dealt with according to established UT-Dallas procedures. Possible disciplinary actions for academic dishonesty include a failing grade on the examination, a failing grade in this course, or expulsion from the University, depending on the severity of the infraction.

You will be asked to write the following affirmation on the paper that you hand in, replacing ``[your name]'' with your name and ``[your student ID number]'' with your student ID number:

I, [your name], Student ID [your student ID number], affirm that my answers are entirely my own work, and that I have not made use of any forbidden materials during this examination.

COMPUTER USE

Personal computers: The assembly-language programming assignments can be completed on PCs or Macs (yours or the University's) using the PC or Mac version of SPIM. If you do not own a PC or Mac, you may use the University Microcomputer Laboratory, which is located in McDermott Library. If you use the Microcomputer Laboratory, it will be to your benefit to use a Macintosh, rather than a PC. The waiting lines for the Macs are short to non-existent, and there's essentially no chance of getting bumped from a Mac, even at peak usage hours.
UNIX computers: The UTD Unix computer lab is located in the Jonsson building. You are responsible for obtaining a UNIX account. Computer account request forms may be obtained from Information Services in Jonsson. If you have installed linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, or Solaris on your own PC or Mac, you can use UNIX at home.