CDA 3101: Introduction to Computer Hardware and Organization
Fall Term, 1999

Text:

Computer Engineering: Hardware Design by Mano (Prentice-Hall)

Supplemental Materials:

Layout of 7400-series Chips

CDA 3101 Lecture Supplement (includes UNFRTL)

Course Perequisites:

COT 3100 (Computational Structures) and either COP 2120 (COBOL) or COP 2220 (C)

Description:

The purpose of this course is to provide background in fundamental computer hardware logic and organization. No background in electronic circuits is presumed. Components are constructed using "black box" logic, typically employing chip technology. "Combinational" logic (for memory-less logic circuits) is examined first, then extended to provide for "sequential" logic (for next-state components such as registers and counters). Based on this background, the construction of fundamental CPU components (such as the ALU - arithmetic and logic unit) and memory organization is discussed. Register-transfer language (RTL) design of low-level components is introduced. RTL simulation software is employed to demonstrate the behavior of CPU components designed using RTL and register-transfer modules. Organization of these elements to form a basic CPU is discussed along with associated microcode control logic. The course concludes with an examination of input/output requirements, basic CPU architecture, and microprocessors, time permitting. Hardware concepts introduced in the course are augmented by a series of laboratory exercises involving the implementation of various types of illustrative circuits on a circuit "breadboard" integrated into a digital logic trainer.