What technically happens when you run a computer program? Welcome to the world of computer hardware, and how software actually controls it. You will receive a comprehensive overview from the lowest level of abstractions in hardware to the highest level of abstractions of modern programming languages. You will explore the design of instruction set architectures, memory hierarchy, and data paths. Computer architecture focuses on the high-level design principles and trade-offs that govern the organization of these components, such as pipelining, caching, and parallelism. Examples of topics that may be covered include logic circuits, machine language, processors, memory management, processes, concurrency, file systems, and operating systems. Throughout, special attention is paid to abstraction, performance, and other quality requirements. Understanding computer systems is essential for computer scientists, IT professionals, architects, and programmers to design, build, and optimize efficient and reliable computing systems for various applications and domains.
32
Autumn (September Start)
Spring (January Start)
Time limited test 25%
Time limited test 25%
Unseen examination 50%
Res-assessment - Like for Like
On successfully completing the module, students will be able to:
Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the hardware and software components of a typical computer system, and of how they interact.
Demonstrate originality in applying the principles of abstraction and layering for building complex systems.
Identify the interfaces of abstraction layers and be able to select an appropriate layer on which to build useful systems.
Manage their own learning and time.
University of Kent makes every effort to ensure that module information is accurate for the relevant academic session and to provide educational services as described. However, courses, services and other matters may be subject to change. Please read our full disclaimer.