Syllabus: CS 3011, Information Technology Hardware and Software

CS 3011 Course Description

Teaching Staff

• Lecturer: Gary Shute
• Teaching Assistant: Vidya Attivilli

Course Text and Resources

• Systems Architecture, 6th edition, by Stephan D. Burd, Thompson.
• Assembly Language Home Page, http://www.d.umn.edu/~gshute/asm/asm.html
• The MIPS Processor, http://www.d.umn.edu/~gshute/mips/MIPS.html
• Operating Systems Home Page, http://www.d.umn.edu/~gshute/os/os.html
• Networks Home Page, http://www.d.umn.edu/~gshute/net/net.html

Course Content and Objectives

The purpose of this course is to provide the hardware/software technology background to enable systems development personnel to understand the tradeoffs in computer architecture for effective use in a business environment. System architectures for single-user, central, and networked computing systems will be discussed, as well as single-user and multi-user operating systems. Topics include CPU architecture and instruction sets, input and output devices, networking components, and operating system software for coordinating and controlling the use of all of the hardware.

Grading Basis

Your grade will be based on the total points you earn on exams and assignments. These points are broken down as follows:

The final grades will be based on the 500 point total. Generally:

• 90% guarantees an A-
• 80% guarantees an B-
• 70% guarantees a C-
• 60% guarantees a D

These grade cutoffs will never be raised; but they may be lowered.

Course Calendar

Course Organization

We will meet in lecture on Mondays, and Wednesdays, and Fridays, when new material will be presented. We will follow the text generally, but non-text material may also be included in the lectures. The midterm exams will also be given during the lecture hour.

On Thursdays you will meet in a computer lab, where you will be led by the teaching assistant.

Assignments

Assignments will significantly build on the material from the lab exercises and lectures. They will be posted on the course web page at least ten days before they are due. You can expect to spend several hours per week outside of class preparing these assignments, which will be turned in to the teaching assistant during lab on the days indicated on the term schedule. On these days, you must have your program completed before you come to lab. By the end of the lab, you must also turn in a lab report for the assignment. Instructions on what to turn in will be given for each assignment.

Exam Dates

CS 3011 Policies