UC Davis Computer Architecture course offered by Jason Lowe-Power Winter Quarter 2023
UC Davis: ECS 154B and ECS 201A Winter 2024
This website contains a set of asynchronous short-ish lecture videos for UC Davis Computer Architecture (154B/201A). The videos were mostly taken during the pandemic (Spring ‘20 through Winter ‘22). It is a good idea to watch the asynchronous videos before attending lecture (kind of like reading the book). Then, during synchronous/live in-person lecture you can ask questions and get clarifications.
For more information on the class, see the syllabus.
The class is broken into four main components: Introduction to Computer Architecture, Processor Architecture, Memory Architecture, and Parallel Architecture.
This quarter (Winter 2024) lecture will be in-person in Storer Hall 1322. M/W/F 2:10pm - 3:00pm. All lecture videos will be available on Aggie video. I will be adding videos to the playlist as the quarter progresses. You are responsible for the information in both the videos and found in these pages. All notes can be found in the One Note notebook.
The information here is subject to change, especially the parts later in the quarter.
The class will generally be broken up into three parts, with more emphasis on the first section than the other two. Each section will begin with the motivation for why you should care about this architectural component based on the performance or other metrics of the system. Then, after going through the design details, we will summarize with specific example from modern systems.
Each section will have one or two project-based assignments. Those of you in ECS 154B will be using the DINO CPU, and those of you in ECS 201A will be using gem5. Each section will also have an exam at the end.
In the first section of the class we will cover some motivation for why you should care about computer architecture and general computer architecture principles.
This first section is going to be part of the “soft launch” or “transition period” for moving to online learning. There are due dates listed for the quizzes. However, for this first section there will be no late penalty.
Midterm exam on 2/7
Final exam on 3/20
Calendar view available here.