ENGINEERING TRIPOS PART IIA – 2012/2013

Module 3F5 - Computer and Netwirk Systems

Leader: Dr AH Gee (ahg@eng)

Timing: Michaelmas term
Prerequisites: None
Structure: 16L
Assessment: Material / Format / Timing / Marks
Lecture Syllabus / Written exam (1.5 hours) / Start of Easter Term / 100 %

AIMS

This module aims to give an understanding of the enabling technology which underlies a variety of modern information processing systems. It covers the architecture and hardware of modern computer systems and of the networking technologies that interconnect them to form distributed systems

SYLLABUS

Computer systems. (8L)

Computer Architecture, von Neumann machines, historical perspectives. Instruction set architectures, RISC vs CISC. ALU design, datapath and control, pipelining. Memory hierarchy, caches, virtual memory. Input/output, bus organization, polling and interrupt driven I/O, DMA. Operating systems, interaction with hardware. Parallel processors, SIMD and MIMD architectures.

Telecommunications and computer networks. (8L)

Introduction to networks, basic switching and the OSI reference model. Common transmission media used in networks from Coax to fibres, including a simple introduction to GSM and WDM. The use if pulse code modulation and multiplexing to create the synchronous digital hierarchy and SONET. Synchronous digital WANs and the mapping of IP and ATM to allow transmission of computer data.

Computer networks including packet switched and frame relay. LAN structures including Ethernet and the methods of LAN and internet working and switching. The TCP/IP protocol stack, layer 3 switches, routing techniques and the evolution of global networks and the Internet.

OBJECTIVES

On completion of the course students should:

Telecommunications and computer networks

• Be familiar with the basic requirements of networks and their topologies.
• Have knowledge of the transmission media used by typical networks.
• Understand the difference between telephone, data and multimedia network systems.
• Be able to understand the switching and multiplexing methods which allow many messages to be passed over a common network.
• Have knowledge of local area networks and their typical protocols.
• Have knowledge of large telecommunications networks and their multiplexing methods.

Computer Systems

• Be familiar with the basic components needed to construct a computer and the different ways to interconnect these components, including the various ways of exploiting parallelism.
• Compare the instruction sets, implementation issues and performance of CISC and RISC architectures.
• Know about memory organisation, addressing schemes and the use of caches, and their effect on performance for different types of application.
• Be familiar with the various ways of handling input and output in a computer system.
• Appreciate the role of operating systems, the services they provide and the way they interact with the underlying hardware.

REFERENCES

Please see the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references for this module.