Course Syllabus

This course covers the fundamental issues in the design of modern computer systems, including the design and implementation of key hardware components such as the processor, memory, and I/O devices, and the software/hardware interface.

Basic information

• Course Number: 01:198:211 Sections 05, 06, 07, and 08
• Instructor: Yipeng Huang (http://cs.rutgers.edu/~yh804)
• Email: yipeng.huang@rutgers.edu
• Course Type: Undergraduate
• Credits: 4
• Learning Management System (LMS): https://rutgers.instructure.com/courses/104725

When and where to find the class

Lectures

Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:20 PM - 4:40 PM Eastern Time. Join here: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/96684867178. If possible join by logging into Zoom with your Rutgers email address.

Lectures will be recorded live, and students are encouraged to attend at that time to best keep up with the class.

Recitation and office hour information

https://rutgers.instructure.com/courses/104725/pages/recitation-and-office-hour-information

Piazza discussion board

This term we will be using Piazza for class discussion. The system is highly catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates, the TA, and myself. Rather than emailing questions to the teaching staff, I encourage you to post your questions on Piazza. If you have any problems or feedback for the developers, email team@piazza.com.

Find our class signup link at: https://piazza.com/rutgers/spring2021/01198211

Learning goals

• Throughout the course, students will learn about low-level programming, digital logic, and the memory hierarchy via case studies that are representative of real-world computer systems.
• Students will apply essential knowledge about computer systems to modify and create new low-level software and hardware implementations via hands-on programming exercises.
• At the end of this course, students should have the preliminary skills to design and evaluate solutions involving the computer software-hardware interface to address new problems.

Topics

• C programming
• Data representation and computer arithmetic
• Assembly language programming
• Boolean algebra
• Basic digital logic design
• Processor design
• Cache design
• Main memory design

Recommended textbooks

• Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective (CS:APP, 3rd ed.) ISBN: 9780134092669
• Modern C (https://modernc.gforge.inria.fr/)

Expected work

• 6 programming assignments, 12% of the course grade each
• Weekly short timed quizzes, 2% of the course grade each
• Class and recitation participation
• Discussion via Piazza

Grading policy

The course letter grade will be assigned according to this scale:

Syllabus

Resources