EECE 476: Computer ArchitectureSlide Set #1: Introduction

Instructor: Tor Aamodt

Algorithm

Program ( + OS + Network )

ISA (Instruction Set Arch)

Microarchitecture

Circuits

Problem

Electronic Devices

Computer Architecture: What?

Computer Architecture: Where?

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Computer Architecture: Why? "What a Computer is to me: is the most remarkable tool that we

have ever come up with, and it is like the equivalent of a bicycle to our minds” -- Steve Jobs

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Advancing Computer Systems without Technology Progress

DARPA/ISAT Workshop, March 26-27, 2012

Mark Hill & Christos Kozyrakis

1971: Intel 4004

2012: Datacenter

1981: IBM 5150

2007: iPhone

Computer Architecture: How?

MarketOpportunities &Requirements

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hardwaredesign

implementationconstraints (area, frequency, power)

Architecture Design(result ~ block diagram)

AchievableProduct

How to evaluate architecture designs? Cycle-level timing simulator usually developed “in house”. Public (academic research) simulators: SimpleScalar, Marss86, gem5, GPGPU-Sim

Image: Justin Rattner

Computer Architecture: When?

Hardware Design:- VHDL/Verilog- circuit design - layout

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ArchitectureDesign:- Cycle level simulator

Qualcomm (multi-site team), March 2012

Position: “SoC Architect”• Architect market-leading mobile SoC products

• …. provide quantitative justification for architectural directions;

• Directly apply computer architecture knowledge of CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, cache coherency, virtual memory, etc.;

Skills• Hands-on experience in using and modifying simulators and performance/power

models…

• Proficiency in C/C++/SystemC programming.

• 0-3 years post-educational work experience

EducationBachelor’s or Master’s, Computer Science, Electrical, and/or Computer Engineering; Ph.D. is a plus

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EECE 476 Topics

• Fundamentals of Computer Design • Instruction Set Architecture Design• Pipelining• Out of order execution• Branch prediction• Superscalar instruction issue• Speculative execution• Caches• Virtual Memory• Cache Coherence

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EECE 476 Marks

• Participation (clickers / flipped classroom quizzes) 5%• Assignments (alone or in pairs) 20%• Quizzes (best 2 of 3; study group bonus) 10%• Midterm: Mon. Oct. 28 in lecture 20%• Exam: 45%

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Complexity vs. Ambiguity

• WARNING: Questions may contain ambiguities • Why?

– Computers are complex systems– We tend to abstract lower level design details to

focus on higher level design

• On the job you might ask for clarifications.• On quiz/midterm/exam: please state your assumptions.

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Textbook?OPTIONAL: Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, John L. Hennessy and David A. Patterson, Morgan Kaufmann, 5th Edition.

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Clickers (Required)

• 5% of final grade. Count number of questions answered (participation, not correctness).

• Answer 90% of questions to get full 5%. • Start counting next week.• Register your clicker online.

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Flipped Class?

• Zero or more lectures may be delivered by video and we will work through examples in the regular lecture time in a participatory manner.

• Will give you at least 48 hours notice (probably more).

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Course Website?

http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~aamodt/teach/476-2013/

Check here frequently for important news.

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