Course Information

Computer architecture is a foundation for computer scientists and engineers. CS211 is intended for students who are with basic understandings of computer architecture and interested in pursuing research in computer architecture or related fields. CS211 will help students to observe and explore computer architecture in both macroscopic and microscopic dimensions. The goal of CS211 is to make students better understand how software and hardware cooperate and gain knowledge from the classic and state-of-the-art with regard to technology, applications, and economics that drive continuing changes in the area of computer architecture.

The topics covered by CS211 will include (but are not limited to): instructions and instruction set, memory hierarchy, pipeline, out-of-order execution, speculative execution, caching, memory consistency, multi-threading, vectors, virtual machines, etc.


Course Staff

Instructor: Chundong Wang, wangchd <the-at-sign> shanghaitech.edu.cn.

Office Hours: 9:00am - 11:00am, every Monday of Fall 2024 (except public holidays), at SIST 1A-504.D.

TA: Yang Yunxin, yangyx12023 <the-at-sign> shanghaitech.edu.cn


Course Resources


Course Schedule

Lecture Date   Topic   Notes
L01 Wed 18/09/2024   Introduction (L01 slides)
L02 Fri 20/09/2024   Entry-level Test
L03 Wed 25/09/2024   ISA, Microcode, ROP (L03 slides)   Reverse Polish Notation
L04 Fri 27/09/2024   Pipeline I (L04 slides)
L05 Wed 09/10/2024   Pipeline II (L05 slides)
L06 Fri 11/10/2024   Memory Hierarchy I (L06 slides)
L07 Wed 16/10/2024   Memory Hierarchy II (L07 slides)
L08 Fri 18/10/2024   Memory Hierarchy III (L08 slides)
L09 Wed 23/10/2024   Advanced Topics on Cache and Memory (L09 slides)
L10 Fri 25/10/2024   Out of Order Execution (L10 slides)
L11 Wed 30/10/2024   Speculative Execution (L11 slides)
L12 Fri 01/11/2024   VLIW (L12 slides)
L13 Wed 06/11/2024   Multi-threading (L13 slides)
- Fri 8/11/2024   Mid-term Exam
L14 Wed 13/11/2024   Vector (L14 slides)
L15 Fri 15/11/2024   Cache Coherence (L15 slides)
L16 Wed 20/11/2024   Memory Consistency (L16 slides) A tutorial on MCM
L17 Fri 22/11/2024   Synchronization (L17 slides)
L18 Wed 27/11/2024   Virtualization (L18 slides)
- Fri 29/11/2024   Recess Day The benefits of recess
L19 Wed 04/12/2024   Hardware Security (L19 slides)
L20 Fri 06/12/2024   Summary (L20 slides)
- Wed 11/12/2024   Final Exam