EEC170 - Computer Architecture

This course gives students a high-level overview of how a simple computer works. We will first study the RISC-V instruction set, which is a low-level assembly language that can be directly translated into machine code for the processor to execute and accomplish some tasks. Next, we will remove the abstraction on the processor and look at the digital circuit inside that accomplishes the processor's functionality. Lastly, we'll examine the memory system that allows the computer to grab the data and store the processed result.

Course Content

Lecture

• Chapter 1 - Introduction to the Instruction Set
• Chapter 2 - Arithmetic in the Computer
• Chapter 3 - Inside the Processor
• Chapter 4 - Memory

RISC-V Assembly Programming Lab

• Average of Numbers
• Even Odd Parity Corrector

Reference

• This course note was compiled while taking the EEC170 course with UC Davis Professor Akella Venkatesh. See more about the course here: https://ece.ucdavis.edu/course-catalog
• The textbook we used was: David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy's Computer Organization and Design RISC-V Edition: The Hardware Software Interface
• Some images in the notes come from the textbook.