The objective of this course is to familiarize the student  with the organization and architecture of modern computing systems, with an emphasis on performance.  Topics include system buses, internal and external memory, input/output, computer arithmetic, instruction sets, and CPU structure and function. Assembly language will be used as a vehicle to learn about different architectures as well as to explain how higher level languages take advantage of architectural features. The Intel architecture will be used as the primary example. The Basic Stamp microcontroller will also be used in the laboratory to illustrate embedded computing. Syllabus Fall 02 Class list  Web Resources Class BBS