Computer Organization and Architecture Lab
Lectures/ Tut and Lab evaluation to be held Online via Google Meet
Announcements, Assignment submission and Quiz evaluations via Google Classroom
Course Objective:
The goal of this course is to have students understand and appreciate the principles of computing hardware and how it interfaces to software. It would provide the students the understanding of system-level programming and provide a high-level understanding of the role played by compilers, assemblers, instruction sets, and hardware
Lab Course Outline: The lab classes will mainly consist of (a) Assembly language programming using MIPS and ARM instruction set
(b) Design and Simulation of Data Path and Control of CPUs (c) Parallel Programming on multicore architecture / GPU Programming
It is expected that students perform the lab assignments seriously to have a more refined knowledge of the topics. 1. David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy,,
Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface Morgan Kaufmann ARM Edition, 2010.
2. Carl Hamachar, Zvonco Vranesic and Safwat Zaky,
Computer Organization, 3. Donald E. Thomas and Philip R. Moorby, The Verilog® Hardware Description Language, Springer 4. Michael D. Ciletti , Advanced Digital Design with the Verilog HDL, 2nd Edition, Pearson
5. Morris Mano ,
Computer System Architecture, Pearson Education Important Instructions: 1.
The laboratory assignments will be mainly implementation-oriented
which have to be coded in Verilog and ARM/MIPS assembly. The lab assignments will be based on the topics discussed in theoretical lectures. 2.
Every student is expected to have access to at least
One of the reference books . 3.
Attendance in lab classes is mandatory. If the
attendance of a student falls below 75%, he/she may expect a "F Grade" 4.
The laboratory course will consist of class
assignments as well as take home assignments. . 5.
All class assignemnts have to be done very seriously and should be submitted to the TAs at the end of the class hour. Performance during class assignemnts not only carries wieghtage for grades, they also help in clearing the concepts discussed in theoretical lectures. If a student does not submit
the clas assignments or in non-responsive during viva, his/her may expect a "F" grade. Take home assignments help in preparing for the lab exam. . 6.
Tutorial sessions will be conducted by TAs for the first hour of every lab session. Interact with them to clear your doubts regarding the lab assignments.. 7.
Grading Policy (For each of Components 1 and 2) :
o 5%:
Implementation of the assignment o 5%:
VIVA (each day) Important Links: Lab Assignments: Sl. No. Topic Tutorials Assignments Helpful Resources 1. Assembly Language Programming I : Understanding the MIPS Architecture Tutorial : MIPS Assembly Language Programming Using MARS Tutorial Video on MIPS Programming using MARS - Part 1 Tutorial Video on MIPS Programming using MARS - Part 2 Tutorial Video on MIPS Programming using MARS - Part 3 2. Assembly Language Programming II
All codes, assignments and lab exercises will be implemented in MIPS Assembly and Verilog language only.
The prefered simulators would be (i) MARS simulator for simulating the MIPS instructions (ii) emuARM simulator for simulating the ARM instructions (iii) Modelsim to simulate the Verilog models
1. MARS Simulator requires the Java Run Time environment (JRE). A local copy of JRE and MARS has been provided for download through the course website.
2. Consult the TAs in case of difficulty in download and installation.
3. Necessary instructions and tutorials have also been provided in the lab resources section of the course website to help in installation of MARS32.
Modelsim is available in both Linux and Windows environment. We will be using the Linux version in the labs. A local copy of the software has been provided on the course website (scroll down on this page). 1. Refer to the Course Contents section of this page 2. Download the .run file from the Modelsim Setup - Linux link and follow the instructions provided at Installing Modelsim 3. Consult the TAs in case of difficulty in download and installation.
A student edition of the Modelsim software ( in Windows environment) can be obtained from [here]
1. Setting up your environment for programming in Iverilog (Windows/Linux)
2. Tutorial: Verilog Programming using Iverilog Simulator
The computer systems for the course can be any machine with standard configuration.
The preferred operating system for the tutorials and lab would be Ubuntu Linux. It is a good idea to have linux installed on your machine. Linux can co-exist with windows, if you have that already installed. Otherwise, if you like to have both then you should install windows first and linux next. Windows sometimes disturbs other installed systems. A recent Ubuntu distribution is available [here]
Programming Language : The lab assignments will involve coding in either MIPS Assembly / ARM assembly or Verilog programming language. Although we will initially help you to debug your codes, the debugging support will be slowly withdrawn as time progresses. For MIPS Assembly / ARM assembly and Verilog syntax, look at the lecture slides, or bring with you any reference
Plagiarism : We have a zero tolerance policy towards plagiarism. Any case of cheating or stealing codes would result in imposition of "Unfair Means" charge on you and you will have to face the disciplinary committee of the Department leading to probable de-registration from the course. The person who allowed his program to be copied and the one who copied it will face same consequences. If you copy parts of your code from the Internet, you must mention that clearly in your code. Failure to do that will lead to your entire submission being invalid.
WWW Computer Architecture
Tools , Simulators and Benchmarks