About Book:

            This book is intended for use in a first-level course on computer organization in electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science curricula.  The book is self-contained, assuming only that the reader has a basic knowledge of computer programming in a high-level language.  Many students who study computer organization will have had an introductory course on digital logic circuits.  Therefore, this subject is not covered in the main body of the book.  However, we have provided an extensive appendix on logic circuits for those students who need it.

            The book reflects our experience in teaching computer organization to three distinct groups of undergraduates; electrical and computer engineering undergraduates, computer science specialists, and engineering science undergraduates.  We have always approached the teaching of courses in this area from a practical point of view.  Thus, a very consideration in shaping the contents of the book has been to illustrate the principles of computer organization using examples drawn from commercially available computers.  Our main examples are based on the following processors: ARM, Motorola 680X0, Intel Pentium, and Sun UltraSPARC.

            It is important to recognize the digital system design is not a straightforward process of applying optimal design algorithms.  Many design decisions are based largely on heuristic judgment and experience.  They involve cost/performance and hardware/software trade offs over a range of alternatives.  It is our goal to convey these notions to the reader