CMSC411 - Computer Systems Architecture
| Instructor | Section | Day & Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michelle Hugue | 0101 | MW 2:00PM - 3:15pm | CSI 1122 |
| 0201 | MW 3:30PM - 4:45PM | CSI 1122 |
Course Prerequisite(s)
Prerequisite: Minimum grade of C- in CMSC330; or must be in the (Computer Science (Doctoral), Computer Science (Master's)) program. Restriction: Permission of CMNS-Computer Science department.
Class Webpage
CMSC411 Course Webpage - This is from prior semesters. However, this course has been taught every semester since 1994 by Meesh.
Course Description
Input/output processors and techniques. Intra-system communication, buses, caches. Addressing and memory hierarchies. Microprogramming, parallelism, and pipelining.
Hours Per Week
The hard part of the course is reading the book and the supplementary material. Homeworks are not collected; however, a variety of worksheets taken from prior exams are available, as are excerpts from prior exams which are often available to enrich lecture material.
Languages Used
The MIPS computing language is a vehicle for exploring different computing paradigms, and students must have some understanding of the language. But, no actual MIPS programming is required.
Recommended Prior Experience
Projects, Exams, or other Assessments
See current webpage http://www.cs.umd.edu/class/
Misc Info
The material can be challenging because often little emphasis is placed on hardware or on how programs are processed. Student backgrounds are not uniform; so, some information will seem too hard to some students and too easy to others. Exams are designed to be learning tools and to make students think, rather than to have them repeat what they have read. However, the goal is to stay under the 10 hours per week of work outside of the classroom recommended for 3 credit classes so that CMSC411 can be taken with any other course without fear of an overload.
