COMPUTING SCIENCE 250
Computer Organization and Architecture I

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND REGULATIONS

Fall Term, 2004

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Instructor: Jonathan Mohr
Office: N104	Phone: 679-1514
Office Hours: click here	E-mail:

Calendar Description:

Introduction to computer systems as multilevel machines. Topics include data representation; the organization and execution cycle of von Neumann machines; assembly-level programming, addressing modes, control flow, procedure calls, input/output, interrupts; finite state machines, Boolean algebra, logic gates, and digital circuits.

Requirement:

• Prerequisite — CSC 120

Objectives:

1. to introduce the central ideas of computer organization, assembly language, and computer architecture;
2. to show the relationships between the several levels of abstraction at which computers operate;
3. to explain how high-level and theoretical constructs are implemented at lower levels (e.g., finite state machines, integral and real numbers, Boolean expressions, procedure calls, recursion, parsing);
4. to familiarize students with machine- and assembly-language programming and translation between them;
5. to teach basic circuit analysis and design.

Method of instruction:

The lecture component of this course will present the concepts and techniques of information representation, machine and assembly language, language translation, and logic gates and networks. Class discussion will focus on exercises completed by the students prior to each class session.

The lab portion of the course will consist of programming assignments in languages at several levels, from machine language and assembly language for a simulated computer system to high-level programs in C++.

Textbook:

Required:

• J. Stanley Warford, Computer Systems, 3e (Jones and Bartlett, 2005).

  Accompanying web site

  Errata list

Attendance and Course Work Policy:

In accordance with Augustana's policy on attendance and course work, any student who has an inordinate number of absences in a course or who neglects his/her academic work may be suspended from the course (which includes being refused permission to attend class sessions, submit assignments, and write examinations, including the final examination).

In this course, any student missing more than two class or lab sessions or failing to submit more than one assignment may be suspended from the course.

A suspended student will be notified of the suspension by e-mail and by paper mail addressed to the student's assigned campus mailbox. It is the student's responsibility to arrange a meeting with the instructor to discuss the terms under which the suspension may be lifted.

A more complete list of rules which will apply in this course and some suggestions for active learning are specified in Expectations Regarding Attendance and Course Work.

Grading Policy:

Grades will be awarded using the Alberta-wide standard alpha four-point grading system. For assignments marked in percent, the percent/grade equivalents in this course will be approximately as indicated in the following table:

Your performance will be evaluated through five programming assignments, a quiz, a mid-term exam, and a final exam. Class attendance and participation, including preparation through the completion of exercises, will also be assessed.

Assignments are due by midnight on the due dates stated in the course outline. Late submissions will be accepted with a penalty of 1% per hour or portion thereof.

The weighting of exams, written assignments, and programming assignments will be as follows:

The first two programming assignments will be weighted at 4% and 6%, respectively; the last three lab assignments will be weighted at 10% each.

Course Outline:

The approximate dates on which the various topics of the course will be presented, along with an indication of which chapters or sections of the textbook are to be read and which exercises are to be completed in connection with each topic, are given in the accompanying course outline.

Academic Integrity

The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.

Guidelines for Academic Integrity in This Course

All work submitted for grading must be your own, unless a group of students have arranged with the instructor in advance to complete a given assignment as a group project. Programs that appear to be the same, to have been derived from a common source, or to have been fraudulently obtained or created by any means will be given a failing grade.

Some of the practices which are regarded as inappropriate academic behaviour (academic dishonesty) are:

• submitting someone else's work as your own;
• writing or creating a work in the knowledge that it will be fraudulently submitted by someone else as his or her own (whether or not you receive payment);
• altering someone else's work (e.g., by changing the variable names) to conceal the fact that it was fraudulently obtained and submitted;
• using portions of another person's work (including algorithms or code from textbooks, magazines, or other sources) without acknowledgment.

Students are encouraged to assist one another in completing assignments, especially by explaining concepts to each other, by helping one another to learn the use of system utilities and programming environments, and by assisting each other in locating bugs. However, in order to avoid inadvertently becoming involved in a case of academic dishonesty (for example, when another student submits a program which is suspiciously similar to yours), you are advised to:

• protect your computer account with a secure password, changed frequently;
• ensure that copies of your program or work-in-progress are securely recycled or shredded;
• discuss programming principles and techniques with other students, not particular lines of code.

NOTE: Policy about course outlines can be found in §23.4(2) of the University Calendar.

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