CS501 Advanced Computer Architecture

CS501: Advanced Computer Architecture

This course provides a deep dive into the principles and design of modern high-performance computer systems. Moving beyond basic computer organization, CS501 Advanced Computer Architecture explores the sophisticated techniques used to achieve greater processing speed and efficiency. Students will investigate the underlying structures that power everything from mobile devices to large-scale supercomputers.

The curriculum is built around understanding the complex trade-offs in processor and system design. You will learn how instructions are processed in parallel, how memory systems are organized to minimize latency, and how multiple processors work together to solve complex problems. This course is essential for students who wish to specialize in system design, hardware engineering, or high-performance computing.

Key Topics Covered:

• Instruction-Level Parallelism (ILP): Exploration of pipelining, superscalar processors, VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) architectures, and the challenges of data and control hazards.
• Processor Design: A comparative study of RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) and CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) architectures, including their design philosophies and performance characteristics.
• Memory Hierarchy: In-depth analysis of cache memory principles (write policies, replacement algorithms, multilevel caches), virtual memory, and main memory organization.
• Multiprocessor Systems: Study of shared-memory and distributed-memory multiprocessors, interconnection networks, cache coherence protocols, and synchronization mechanisms.
• Advanced Topics: Introduction to vector processing, GPU architectures, and domain-specific accelerators, which are becoming increasingly important in modern computing workloads.

Course Objectives:

1. Understand the fundamental principles of advanced computer architecture.
2. Analyze the performance of different architectural designs and features.
3. Investigate the design of pipelined and multiprocessor systems.
4. Comprehend the intricacies of memory hierarchies and cache coherence.
5. Gain exposure to recent trends in computer architecture, including parallel and vector processing.

By the end of this course, students will be equipped with the conceptual grounding and design principles necessary to understand, evaluate, and contribute to the development of next-generation computer architectures.