Introduction to Computer Organization
Keep adding new skills with 10,000+ programs for $239 (usually $399). Save now.
Details to know
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
There are 4 modules in this course
Studying computer organization is essential for anyone in the technology field, as it provides a fundamental understanding of how computers work. It's not just for hardware engineers; it's a critical skill for a variety of roles, including software developers and IT professionals. Understanding hardware enables you to optimize performance, troubleshoot problems effectively, and innovate new technologies.
This course provides a foundational understanding of how computers work at a low level through the lens of MIPS architecture. You'll learn how to analyze a microprocessor's performance, trace program flow through assembly code, manage the stack, and understand how computers perform arithmetic from a hardware perspective. Upon completion, one will be able to: - Explain the role of the clock and the instruction cycle in a computer's operation. - Discuss the trade-offs between CPU performance and power consumption. - Describe how memory addresses are used to access data. - Write simple assembly language programs using MIPS instructions. - Demonstrate a deep understanding of procedure call conventions. - Explain the IEEE 754 standard for representing floating-point numbers. - Perform, debug, and trace arithmetic operations step-by-step. 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.
This module presents clocks, cycles, power wall, MIPS instruction set, operands, registers, and memory organization.
What's included
18 videos1 reading2 assignments
18 videos•Total 98 minutes
- Welcome to the Course•1 minute
- Why Study Hardware?•5 minutes
- Microprocessor Performance•7 minutes
- Power Consumption Trends•6 minutes
- A Primer on Clocks and Cycle•7 minutes
- Performance Equation•6 minutes
- MIPS Instruction Set•5 minutes
- A Basic MIPS Instruction•5 minutes
- MIPS: Example •4 minutes
- MIPS: Example (Continued)•6 minutes
- Operands•5 minutes
- Registers•6 minutes
- Memory Address•6 minutes
- Immediate Operands•6 minutes
- Memory Organization•7 minutes
- Memory Organization (Continued)•5 minutes
- Base Address and Offsets•6 minutes
- Example and Recap•6 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
- Course Structure•10 minutes
2 assignments•Total 90 minutes
- Module 1 Graded Quiz•40 minutes
- Practice MCQs for Module 1•50 minutes
This module discusses control instructions, branching, simple assembly codes, procedure calls, jump-and-link, data movement among registers, endian-ness, and dealing with large constants.
What's included
24 videos2 assignments
24 videos•Total 122 minutes
- Instruction Formats•5 minutes
- Logical Operations•6 minutes
- Control Instructions•4 minutes
- Control Instructions (Continued)•4 minutes
- Control Instructions: Example•5 minutes
- An Example of While Loop•6 minutes
- An Example of While Loop (Continued)•6 minutes
- Flow of Control•5 minutes
- Managing Registers•5 minutes
- Program Counter•5 minutes
- An Registers•5 minutes
- Overview•6 minutes
- Using the Stack•6 minutes
- Storage Management•6 minutes
- An Example•6 minutes
- An Example of Factorial•5 minutes
- An Example of Factorial (Continued)•5 minutes
- Characters and Strings•5 minutes
- Copying a String•6 minutes
- Copying a String (Continued)•5 minutes
- Large Constants•5 minutes
- Large Constants (Continued) & Instruction Sets•4 minutes
- Instruction Sets (Continued) & Endian-ness•5 minutes
- Program Execution in Practice•5 minutes
2 assignments•Total 90 minutes
- Module 2 Graded Quiz•40 minutes
- Practice MCQs for Module 2•50 minutes
This module covers ASCII vs. binary, 2's complement, signed-unsigned, sign extension, alternative representations, and performing simple arithmetic.
What's included
16 videos2 assignments
16 videos•Total 84 minutes
- Binary Representation and ASCII vs. Binary•5 minutes
- Negative Numbers•5 minutes
- 2's Complement•6 minutes
- 2's Complement (Continued) and Example•6 minutes
- Signed-Unsigned Representations•5 minutes
- Sign Extension and Alternative Representation•5 minutes
- Addition and Substraction•4 minutes
- Multiplication•5 minutes
- Multiplication: Example•6 minutes
- Hardware Algorithm 1•6 minutes
- Hardware Algorithm 2•5 minutes
- Fast Algorithm•4 minutes
- Division: Example 1•6 minutes
- Division: Example 1 (Continued)•5 minutes
- Division: Example 2•6 minutes
- Hardware for Division•6 minutes
2 assignments•Total 90 minutes
- Module 3 Graded Quiz•40 minutes
- Practice MCQs for Module 3•50 minutes
This module explains sign and magnitude representation, exponent representation, floating point addition, multiplication, fixed point representation, and subword parallelism.
What's included
13 videos2 assignments
13 videos•Total 61 minutes
- Floating Point Numbers•4 minutes
- Representing Floating Point Numbers•5 minutes
- Representing Floating Point Numbers (Continued)•5 minutes
- Representing Exponents•5 minutes
- Representing Exponents (Continued)•6 minutes
- Some Examples•6 minutes
- Some Examples (Continued)•6 minutes
- Floating Point Addition•5 minutes
- Floating Point Addition (Continued) & Multiplication•4 minutes
- Floating Point MIPS Instructions•6 minutes
- Floating Point and Fixed Point Operations•5 minutes
- Fixed Point (Continued) & Subword Parallelism•6 minutes
- Your Learning Journey•0 minutes
2 assignments•Total 90 minutes
- Module 4 Graded Quiz•40 minutes
- Practice MCQs for Module 4•50 minutes
Instructor
Why people choose Coursera for their career
Frequently asked questions
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
More questions
Financial aid available,