Course 372

Microprocessor Systems 1 (3D1)
Concurrent Systems (3D3)

3D1 Microprocessor Systems 1

Date: 1995-96

Groups: Optional JS & SS Mathematics, SS Two-subject Moderatorship

Prerequisites: 262

Duration: 11 weeks

Lectures Per Week: 3 and a 2 hour practical

Assessment: Programming exercises.

Exams: One 3-hour examination at the end of January.

Description: This course runs for the first semester in the Junior Sophister Year.
The aim of the course is to introduce students to those aspects of a computer system that are normally hidden by programs, in other words, the aim of the course is to familiarise students with the basic properties of a bare computer.

These basic properties include the layout of the computer (its 'architecture'); the language implemented by the computer (machine language); the resources available to a program (memory, input/output devices, etc.).

Emphasis is placed on programming, so that students use their knowledge of the computer system in constructing working programs.
Currently, the computer used is based on the Motorola MC68000 microprocessor.

Syllabus:

• Introduction to Unix and Editors.
• The evolution of the Microprocessor:
  • Some Terminology
• Brief (re)view of the standard layout of a computer system.
• Review of Binary & Hexadecimal Arithmetic.
• Introduction to programming:
  • Programmer's Model of 68000
  • Simple Instructions:
    • operations
    • operand specification
    • condition codes
  • Examples
• Interfaces with outside world:
  • I/O Programming Techniques
  • Sample Programs
• Advanced features of the 68000:
  • Status Register
  • Supervisor & User Modes
  • Instructions
  • Exceptions and Exception Handling
    • Interrupts
• Advanced I/O techniques.
• Hardware:
  • Bus System Operation
  • Bus Arbitration

3D3 Concurrent Systems

Date: 1995-96

Groups: Optional JS & SS Mathematics, SS Two-subject Moderatorship

Prerequisites: 262

Duration: 11 weeks

Number of hours lectures/tutorials: 33 hours lectures, 11 hours tutorials and 5 lab classes.

Syllabus

1. System structure and dynamic execution: modules, abstract data types, objects, process concept, operating system functions and structure.
2. Device management: Processor and device speeds, polling and interrupts exceptions. User level input/output, buffers and synchronisation.
3. Memory management: process address space, relocation and protection, segmentation paging.
4. File management: file and directory structure, filing system interface, filing system implementation.
5. Process management: processes and processors, process state, events. Process scheduling.
6. Low level mechanisms for process synchronisation: mutual exclusion, use of semaphores, implementation, multiple readers and single writer problem.
7. Language primitives for shared memory: critical regions, monitors and their use.