IT&C 252
Computer Architecture and Organization
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering
Course Description
Principles of computer hardware and instruction set architecture. Subjects include: internal CPU organization and implementation, peripheral interconnect and IO systems, and low-level programming and security issues.
When Taught
Winter.
Grade Rule
Grade Rule 8: A, B, C, D, E, I (Standard grade rule)
Min
3
Fixed
3
Fixed
2
Fixed
3
Note
Students must receive a C or higher grade in this course to move on to IT&C 344.
Title
CPU Architecture
Learning Outcome
Demonstrate ability to modify a CPU design to add instructions and to improve the overall efficiency of execution.
Title
Security
Learning Outcome
Demonstrate how vulnerabilities in software coding can be exploited in computer security attacks (eg. buffer overflow).
Title
Abstraction
Learning Outcome
Demonstrate understanding of the various abstractions used to manage complexity in computer systems and support application concurrency. e.g. system calls and virtual memory.
Title
Development Tools
Learning Outcome
Demonstrate ability to use a C compiler, an assembler, a disassembler, a debugger, and CPU emulators to develop, debug, test, analyze and optimize programs.
Title
Input/Output
Learning Outcome
Demonstrate understanding of how peripherals are accessed in a computer system, e.g. polling or interrupt driven I/O.
Title
Performance
Learning Outcome
Know how application performance can be affected in a target system by memory hierarchy design factors such as cache size, bus width, clock rate and memory speed.
Title
Assembly Language
Learning Outcome
Demonstrate ability to understand and program with assembly language.
Title
Program Architecture
Learning Outcome
Know how to write more reliable, secure, and efficient software with an understanding of how the software is executed on the underlying architecture.
