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Comp 220 - Computer Organization (Spring 2026)
Introductory Information
Syllabus
.
Canvas site
.
Dive into Systems
- online book for introductory explanations of some course content.
MARS
- MIPS Assembler and Runtime Simulator; IDE for running MIPS/SPIM. From our friends at Missouri State University.
Compiler Explorer
- see what your C++ code looks like in Assembly.
Computer for sale!
2026 Dell Pro 16 laptop
Image of laptop motherboard
- with labels
Image of another laptop motherboard
- no labels
Simpler parts of motherboard
- with labels
How transistors work
- short YouTube video.
Cosmic Rays Can Flip Bits!
- video on how cosmic rays can impact ICs due to the latter's increasingly tiny size.
Fun Images
(??)
Photos from the Arithmeum Museum in Bonn, Germany.
99.9999999% pure silicon crystal
Silicon wafers
, and self portrait
Chips on a wafer
This IS your father's memory
(magnetic core memory; 10000 bit capacity)
So easy, a monkey can do it!
(check out the text from the original instructions in upper left)
As exciting as it gets for a mathematician
And more from the London Science Museum.
PDP8 minicomputer
Crazy Model Expo through the years...
Rube Goldberg?
- no, it's a portion of the CPU!
Katie and Sam showing a
binary counter
.
Eammon's slightly more sophisticated
binary counter
.
Jon and Lex excited about
their contraption
.
Jeffrey explaining his
flip-flop poster
.
Sayed and Anton showing a
ripple adder
.
Ethan explaining how
a computer is like an octopus (?)
.
Colin and his
LEGO computer
.
Examples/Handouts
Measurements and Units
Chapter 1 problems
Eight Great Ideas in Computer Architecture
.
Figure 1.16 (pdf)
- clock rate and power over time to 2018 (from text).
Figure 1.17 (pdf)
- processor performance over time to 2018 (from text).
42 Year Trend
- processor performance over time to 2017.
Current CPU performance
- processor performance on benchmarks. Be careful at what you're looking at!
CPU clock rates and core counts over time
.
SPIM Quick Reference
example1.s
- simplest little assembly program.
handout2.s
- some basic math in assembly.
Lab Info
lab1start.cpp
- starting point for Lab 1.
randomNums4M
-
download
this file - don't try to look at it (it will take forever to load)!
fileAverage.cpp
- example of how to read (and write) a file.
Projects/Homeworks
Homework 1
.
Homework 1 solutions
.
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