Microprocessors and Personal Computers

Code:

EIC0016

Acronym:

MPCP

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Computer Arquitechture

Instance: 2009/2010 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Electronics and Digital Systems
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Informatics and Computing Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIEIC	171	Syllabus since 2009/2010	1	-	6	56	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

BACKGROUND

The PC-compatible desktop and portable computers have become an everyday tool in modern societies.
At the core of the PC-compatible computer, the IA-32 ISA is the most widespread instruction set architecture in use today. Both computer architecture and ISA have a deep impact on the day-to-day practice of informatics engineers.

SPECIFIC AIMS

The course unit Microprocessors and Personal Computers aims to develop, combine and apply concepts in the areas of Computer Architecture and Programming Languages. The course explores the relationships between the CPU instruction set and low-level programming (assembly language). The student should also acquire the basic concepts about the architecture of the personal computers used today.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will have acquired the ability to identify and describe the architecture of personal computers in use today, as well as the ability to apply assembly programming to the implementation of any algorithm.

PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE

EIC0083: principles of assembly language programming and computer organization.

PERCENTUAL DISTRIBUTION

Scientific component: 60%
Technological component: 40%

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing the course, students will be able to:

- identify and describe the major subsystems of a personal computer [knowledge & understanding];
- use tools for compiling and debugging (MASM, debugger) [knowledge & understanding];
- describe the architecture of the IA-32 instruction set [knowledge & understanding];
- develop short programs in IA-32 assembly language [engineering design];
- explain the operation of programs written in IA-32 assembly language [engineering analysis];
- explain the mechanisms for invocation of subroutines [knowledge & understanding];
- use modular subroutines to implement programs [engineering design];
- eescribe the IEEE 754 format for floating-point representation of numeric data [knowledge & understanding];
- use the math co-processor (floating point instructions) [engineering design];
- describe the characteristics of SIMD instructions [knowledge & understanding];
- apply MMX instructions to improve performance [engineering design];
- explain the principles of memory system organization for x86 systems with 8- and 16-bit busses [knowledge & understanding];
- design memory decoding circuits [engineering design];

Program

Introduction to the microprocessor and the microcomputer. IA-32 microprocessor architecture. Addressing modes. Instruction coding. Functionality and organization of an Assembler. Data transfer, arithmetic, and logic instructions. Program flow control instructions: unconditional and conditional jumps, subroutine call. Structures and Macros. Modular programming. Inputs and outputs / interfaces to peripherals. Interrupts. Programable peripherals. Arithmetic co-processor. Programming with MMX instructions.

Mandatory literature

Kip R. Irvine; Assembly Language for Intel- Based Computers, Prentice Hall

Complementary Bibliography

Barry B. Brey; The Intel Microprocessors 8086/8088, 80186/80188, ... and Pentium Pro Processor, Prentice Hall

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theorical classes: Oral presentation of the different topics of the course. This presentation will be supported, when possible, with examples and its discussion. Practical classes: The methodology of the practical classes is based in the presentation, discussion, and resolution of problems that will be tested in a personal computer.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	64,00
	Teste	40,00
	Exame	32,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Description	Type	Time (hours)	End date
	Estudo autónomo	26
	Total:	26,00

Eligibility for exams

The average of the 2 mini-tests should be equal or greater than 6 (out of 20)

Calculation formula of final grade

Final Classification=0,6 x exam +1/2 x (mini-test1 +mini-teste2) x 0,4

Warning: an exam classification greater than 7 (out of 20) is required to pass the subject

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Special exam for students that have not previously attained frequency.

Classification improvement

The exam classification can be improved in the recourse exam through the realization of a written test with difficulty similar to that of the exam. The final global classification (including the distributed evaluation) can be improved through the realization of a special written test.

Observations

The development of Microcomputer applications requires knowledge related to Computer Architecture, development of Microcomputers based on Microprocessors, low-level programming languages (Assembly) and interfacing to external physical devices. This course appears in the plan of studies after the course “Computer Architecture” and its objective is to develop and apply these concepts in the context of the Intel IA-32 processor line. A more detail study of the interfacing with external physical devices and its concrete applications are left to the following course “Computer Laboratory”