15 credits in science/engineering. Participation in Algebra I and Program Design and Data Structures.
The course covers how modern computer systems are structured, including details on pipelines, memory organization, virtual and physical memory, and memory technologies. Principles for constructing instruction sets and what limits computer systems in terms of bandwidth, power consumption, and cooling are included. How computer systems interact with their environment through input and output systems including handling of interrupts is an important part of the course, as well as synchronisation techniques to manage concurrency in computer systems, and assess their suitability in different situations. In the course, short programs are constructed in assembly language to control a computer system and its interaction with the outside. It also includes presenting and discussing the content of the course orally and in writing.
