This is a first course in Computer Architecture.
The course is taught over 12 weeks with 2 lectures per week. There are also six 2-hour laboratory sessions.
The University's formal description of this module can be found by clicking here.
This module is offered to second year Computer Science (CK401) students at University College Cork.
The final mark for this course is a combination of a year's work mark and a mark obtained from a written end-of-year examination.
Class tests are worth 20% of the overall mark for this subject. The other 80% is associated with a written paper, which you must answer within a 1.5-hour interval.
The essential text for this course is
Stallings, William, Computer Organization and Architecture, 8th edition, published by Pearson.
The lectures will be held during term in the Western Gateway Building (old Cork Greyhound Track), on Mondays in WGBG02 at 10.00 a.m. and on Wednesdays in WGBG08 at 11.00 a.m.
The lectures closely follow the chapters of the essential class text. Additional material is linked from this page.
If you click on one of the following hyperlinks, your browser will display other notes I have written for this course.
Some assembly language information is provided here for your information.
| Assembly 1 | Assembly 2 | Assembly 3 | Assembly 4 | Assembly 5 | Assembly 6 |
| Assembly 7 | Assembly 8 | Assembly 9 | Hello World! | cs555 Practical 3 | The hexvu1.asm program |
Datasheets for processors and other circuits discussed in the lectures are available here:
| Intel 8085 | Intel 8085 | Rockwell 6502 | Intel 8086 | Intel 80186 | Intel 80286 |
| Intersil 80C286 |
The following table links datasheets for ICs used in the TomAL single-board computer.
Manuals for processors, circuits, and software relevant to the course can be consulted here:
| The nasm Assembler Manual | |||||
RISC materials, not directly studied in this module, can be seen here:
| Moore's Law 1 | Moore's Law 2 | Patterson's case for RISC | Hennessy & Patterson Appendix A | ||
Sample examination papers can be found here:
| Sample Examination Paper 2010 | |||||
Practicals are held in WGBG20 on the ground floor of the Western Gateway Building, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9.00 hours to 11.00 hours.
Students are requested to attend only the session to which they have been assigned.