Fundamentals of Computer Organization

Whether you're a curious programmer, an aspiring hardware engineer, or simply someone who wants to understand the technology that powers the world, this course will provide you with a fundamental and practical understanding of computer architecture. This course goes beyond surface-level programming to reveal the core architectural principles that determine a computer's speed and efficiency. You'll learn how a CPU executes a program, from the simple, one-step process to the high-speed efficiency of a 5-stage pipeline. You will also learn how to overcome performance barriers. Upon completion, one will be able to: - Discuss the significance of latches and clocks in circuit design. - Explain how instructions are executed in a single-cycle and a 5-stage pipelined design. - Identify and solve structural, data, and control pipelining hazards. - Demonstrate a deep understanding of branch prediction. - Describe the fundamental principles of an out-of-order processor implementation. - Elucidate how temporal and spatial localities affect cache performance. This is an intermediate-level course, intended for learners with a background in computer science or electronics engineering. To succeed in this course, you should have experience with a high-level programming language like C, C++, or Python.