Description taken from CS website is:

Following ICS, CAR forms an introduction to the structure of computers at the machine instruction and higher architectural levels. The module is split into two halves. The first half deals with the inter-dependence of design between machines, programs, compilers, and performance. The approach is, as far as possible, quantitative; it emphasizes engineering choices and the reasoning behind them. The route to this understanding is via programming in machine code with a hypothetical machine, which is studied as a tool for exemplifying and investigating low-level computer architectures; it involves assembly language only as a notation for expressing machine code, and not as a programming medium. The second part covers the past, present and future architectures of a range of machines. It explores the development of computers to allow the student to place in context the present advances in computer architecture. The student is shown the various design levels a designer would use to develop an architecture. This is combined with the design strategy for various sections of a processor, from the instruction set to the memory sub-systems. The emphasis is on essential structure rather than detail, and the approach is comparative.

Assessment:  By Closed Exam in Summer Term (100 Marks)

Lecturer (when I took course):

• Mike Freeman
• Chris Bailey

Review:

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Assessment Result: