% Author: Ian! D. Allen - idallen@idallen.ca - www.idallen.com % Date: Winter 2011 - January to April 2011 - Updated 2011-03-26 05:19 EDT % Title: Week 01 Notes for DAT2343 - Winter 2011 - [Course Home Page] - [Course Outline] - [All Weeks] - [Plain Text] DAT2343 - Computer Systems Architecture ======================================= Course Description, Course Outline, Timetable --------------------------------------------- From the [Course Outline]: > This course provides students with a basic understanding of computer > architecture. The focus of the course is on hardware and its functions, > internal encoding of data and instructions, logic circuits, microprocessor > instruction execution, levels of computer languages and how they are > processed. Basic assembler simulation provides a practical application. > Prerequisites: CST8281 - 2 hours in classroom / 1 hour online / 1 hour in laboratory (per week) - The [Timetable] page has the full class schedule for all classes and sections. - Midterm and Exam dates will be posted on the [Course Home Page]. Put them in your own personal calendar and agenda! Course Home Page ---------------- The [Course Home Page] is located off-campus. You can link to it via the Algonquin [Blackboard] system or via either link below: - - *.COM domain* - - *.ORG domain* Make sure you find the page for this term, not previous terms! Bookmark both the *.com* and the *.org* page locations. Read the [Course Home Page] carefully, including the parts about plagiarism and course notes. Note the important dates. Write down *on paper* the location of the Alternate Web Notes. Course Documents on Blackboard ------------------------------ - Homework and in-class Exercises may appear via [Blackboard]. - Some course files with publisher-restricted distribution are stored only on the Algonquin [Blackboard] server. Make sure you get copies of these files before the course ends, otherwise you will lose access to them. Other than these restricted files, everything else is stored on a public web server and will remain available forever in the Internet archives. Google indexes this course (but not [Blackboard]). - On-line materials require a player for Microsoft PowerPoint slide shows. Course Textbook and Readings ---------------------------- There is no formal textbook for this course. The main source of content for this course will be the web-based notes provided on-line. You will be expected to follow the course outline and keep up-to-date with the reading in the web notes even when specific reading assignments are not provided in class. Ideally, to optimize your understanding of the lecture material, corresponding material should be read prior to the class in which it is covered. Note that just printing the class notes on paper is no substitute for actually reading and understanding them. Print less and read more! Course Handouts --------------- - In general, in-class handouts are not common in this class since all such material will normally be posted to the web; students are expected to download and read such materials on their own. - Some course files with publisher-restricted distribution are stored only on the Algonquin [Blackboard] server. Make sure you get copies of these files before the course ends, otherwise you will lose access to them. - Other than these restricted files, everything else is stored on a public web server and will remain available forever in the Internet archives. Course Marking Scheme --------------------- For full mark credit, read the [Test Instructions] for important directions on how to enter your answers on the mark-sense forms. Homework Exercises / Assignments / Projects - 25% : Homework, in the form of exercises, assignments, and small projects to be picked-up from the web and answered and submitted electronically, will be assigned approximately weekly. Such assignments are to be completed by the given due dates. Assignments that are not submitted by their due dates may not be marked. Approximately 1/3 of the minor homework assignments will be collected for marking using a random draw. All projects will be marked. Most marks for minor homework assignments will be based on a written demonstration that a reasonable attempt was made to answer each of the assigned problems, whether or not the correct answers were obtained. (If you don’t answer, or don’t show your work and only submit an incorrect answer, no marks will be awarded.) All homework will be answered fully either in class or online; check your actual answers and your work against the correct solutions provided. Much of the Test and Exam material will be based on the Homework. Two Mid-Term Tests - 15% + 20% = 35% : Midterm and Exam dates will be posted on the [Course Home Page]. Put them in your own personal calendar and agenda! Final Exam - 30% : All tests and exams will be based largely on modified homework assignment questions. A majority of the material for each test will come from material covered in the immediately preceding weeks, but material is cumulative and many questions (especially on the final exam) will be based on material covered earlier in the course. Course Feedback and Participation - 10% : Many opportunities will be provided throughout the term to earn the final 10% of your course mark via feedback to the instructor. You will be self-grading many of your assignments as credit toward your mark. I will use the self-grades to assess areas that need more lecture and lab attention. For full mark credit, read the [Test Instructions] for important directions on how to enter your answers on the mark-sense forms. Instructor Contact Info and Timetable ===================================== - Ian! D. Allen - - [www.idallen.com] - Make sure you add idallen@idallen.ca and alleni@algonquincollege.com to your email white-list, or you may not receive important email from me (especially email with your marks in it). Whitelist me now! - The [Timetable] page has Contact Information, Office Hours, and my full Class Schedule. Know how to set up an office appointment with me by email. - The fastest way to email me is via the address. I forward my Algonquin **`alleni`** email to the above address, but the forwarding doesn’t work well. Email *idallen* directly. - Did you remember to whitelist my two email addresses? Attendance, Attention, and Success Factors ========================================== Attendance is also critical to course success. If you know the material and don’t need to come to classes, ask for a Prior Learning Assessment. If you paid to be here, please be here. If you are in class, shut your laptop, turn off your phone, and pay attention to your lecturer. The person at the front of the room cannot compete with the entire Internet and your personal phonebook for your attention - he doesn’t have the budget. If you’re bored or falling asleep, take notes. Take Notes in Class ------------------- You will need to take notes in class. Not everything I say ends up in these online files. Passing the information through your body onto paper or into a computer helps you remember it, even if you never read the notes later. If you have a question about course content, the first thing I will ask is to see your notes, to see what you wrote down about the topic. Often the answer is there! Plan your Workload ------------------ The overall term workload usually overwhelms students who try to leave everything to the last minute. You need to put in approximately an extra hour per day, per course, to keep up. There aren’t enough hours in a day to catch up in mid-term. Submit on Time -------------- Late assignments are penalized, usually resulting in a mark of zero. The due date for an assignment is given in the assignment. Read each assignment to know the due date. Not every assignment is due on the same weekday or at the same time; pay attention and record each due date in your weekly calendars. Read your EMail --------------- You must read your course email regularly. EMail is a critical component of course delivery for this course. If you don’t read your Algonquin College email account daily, make sure that your forward your College email to an account that you do read. See the link on the [Course Home Page]. Test to make sure that your forwarded Algonquin email works! Send yourself a test message. You must have a working Algonquin EMail address for this course (that you can forward elsewhere). Make sure you add idallen@idallen.ca and alleni@algonquincollege.com to your email white-list, or you may not receive important email from me, especially email with your marks in it. Whitelist me now! Plagiarism ========== See the [Course Home Page] for information on copying and working together on assignments. You may not copy material from anywhere else without clearing the copying with me and identifying the source, in writing or by email, first. If your submission resembles that of another person, I am required to inquire whether you are the author. If I authorize copying, and only if, you must attribute the source of copied material that you use that isn’t yours. Most coursework does not permit copying, group work, or “working together” on a common answer. Do your own work unless the assignment permits group work. You earn marks for the new material that you write, not material that comes from other people and other sources (e.g. from me). Lecture Notes for This Week =========================== From the Class Notes link on the Course Home Page ------------------------------------------------- - [Course Home Page] - [All Weeks] - [000_README.txt] - Index to this DAT2343 directory - [Test Instructions] - Important directions on how to enter your answers on the mark-sense forms. - [000_Licensing.txt] - Creative Commons Licenses: - [Course Outline] - Course Outline - [Assignment #01] - Multi-tasking and Homework - [Assignment #02] - range/precision errors in simple numerical calculations - [005_this_is_your_brain.txt] - This is your Brain on the Internet - [010_arithmetic_terms.txt] - Basic Arithmetic Operations Terminology - [020_operation_output_size.txt] - Size needed for output of ADD and MULTIPLY - [030_binary_math.txt] - Binary Integer Mathematics, unsigned, two’s complement, etc. From Blackboard Course Documents -------------------------------- These documents have restricted distribution and cannot be put on the [Course Home Page]. - [01.ppt][Blackboard] - Introduction (vonNeumann, prefixes, reciprocal) - [02.ppt][Blackboard] - Data Representation - ignore slides 62-70 (the “simplified” model) - ignore slides 75-76 (floating-point multiplication) - use my web pages instead - you do not need to know how to do math with sign-magnitude numbers - you do need to know how to convert them to/from decimal - you do not need to know how to do math with one’s complement numbers - you do need to know how to convert them to/from decimal - you need to know how to do addition with two’s complement numbers - you also need to know how to convert them to/from decimal - you do not have to multiply or divide or subtract any binary numbers - omit “Booth’s algorithm” - omit most of the math in 2.8 “Error Detection and Correction” From the Internet ----------------- - - - From the Classroom Whiteboard/Chalkboard ---------------------------------------- - Your in-class notes go here. Make sure you add idallen@idallen.ca and alleni@algonquincollege.com to your email white-list, or you may not receive important email from me, especially email with your marks in it. Whitelist me now! ![Computer Architecture Explained] -- | Ian! D. Allen - idallen@idallen.ca - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Home Page: http://idallen.com/ Contact Improv: http://contactimprov.ca/ | College professor (Free/Libre GNU+Linux) at: http://teaching.idallen.com/ | Defend digital freedom: http://eff.org/ and have fun: http://fools.ca/ [Plain Text] - plain text version of this page in [Pandoc Markdown] format [Course Home Page]: .. [Course Outline]: 2010-2011_DAT2343.pdf [All Weeks]: indexcgi.cgi [Plain Text]: week01notes.txt [Timetable]: ../schedule_11w.html [Blackboard]: http://blackboard.algonquincollege.com/ [Test Instructions]: 000_test_instructions.html [www.idallen.com]: http://www.idallen.com [000_README.txt]: 000_README.txt [000_Licensing.txt]: 000_Licensing.txt [Assignment #01]: assignment01.txt [Assignment #02]: assignment02.txt [005_this_is_your_brain.txt]: 005_this_is_your_brain.txt [010_arithmetic_terms.txt]: 010_arithmetic_terms.txt [020_operation_output_size.txt]: 020_operation_output_size.txt [030_binary_math.txt]: 030_binary_math.txt [Computer Architecture Explained]: http://abstrusegoose.com/strips/computer_programming_101.JPG "Computer Architecture Explained" [Pandoc Markdown]: http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/