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MIPS Computer Architecture and Performance Optimization

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MIPS Computer Architecture and Performance Optimization

Included with

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Intermediate level

Recommended experience

3 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Intermediate level

Recommended experience

3 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Evaluate and enhance computer system performance using industry-standard metrics.

  • Develop proficiency in MIPS ISA, including ALU and register file design for optimal performance.

  • Design efficient single-cycle, multi-cycle, and pipelined processors to maximize computing power.

  • Implement and optimize cache memory, understanding its impact on overall system performance.

Details to know

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Assessments

93 assignments

Taught in English
Build toward a degree

There are 10 modules in this course

This comprehensive course bridges the gap between software and hardware by exploring the fundamental architecture of computing systems through the lens of MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages). You'll master both theoretical concepts and practical skills essential for understanding how processors execute instructions and how architectural decisions impact performance.

From designing ALUs and register files to implementing advanced pipelining techniques and memory hierarchies, you'll gain the expertise to analyze, measure, and optimize computing system performance. This knowledge is invaluable for software engineers seeking to write more efficient code, hardware designers developing new architectures, and anyone wanting to understand the crucial intersection between software instructions and hardware execution. Skills Covered - MIPS architecture analysis and implementation - Computer performance measurement and optimization - Processor datapath and control design - Memory hierarchy optimization - Pipeline hazard resolution - Cache memory design and implementation - Hardware-software interface optimization This course is designed for computer science and engineering students, software developers seeking deeper hardware understanding, computer architecture enthusiasts, and professionals working in hardware design or performance optimization. It's ideal for those who want to bridge the gap between software development and hardware implementation to write more efficient code or design better computing systems.

Learn key performance metrics, Amdahl's law, and benchmarking techniques to evaluate computing systems.

What's included

9 videos3 readings7 assignments

9 videos•Total 48 minutes
  • Course Introduction Video•1 minute
  • Meet your Instructor: Prof. Virendra Shekhawat•1 minute
  • Meet your Instructor: Prof. Sudeept Mohan•1 minute
  • Defining Computer Performance: Performance Equations •11 minutes
  • Defining Computer Performance Using Instruction Performance •8 minutes
  • Understanding Program Performance •3 minutes
  • Understanding Performance Using Million Instructions Per Second (MIPS) Rate •7 minutes
  • Computer Performance Enhancement Rule: Amdahl’s Law •8 minutes
  • Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) Benchmarks •8 minutes
3 readings•Total 30 minutes
  • Course Overview and Information•10 minutes
  • Computer System Performance•10 minutes
  • Computer Architectures and Layered View of a Computing System•10 minutes
7 assignments•Total 48 minutes
  • Test Yourself: Computer System Performance and Its Measurement•12 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Defining Computer Performance: Performance Equations •6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Defining Computer Performance using Instruction Performance•6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Understanding Program Performance•9 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Understanding Performance Using Million Instructions Per Second (MIPS) Rate •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Computer Performance Enhancement Rule: Amdahl’s Law •6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) Benchmarks •6 minutes

Master the MIPS architecture's instruction formats, addressing modes, and register file structure.

What's included

11 videos4 readings12 assignments1 discussion prompt

11 videos•Total 75 minutes
  • R-Type Instructions and Register File •8 minutes
  • Memory Organization and I-Type (Load/Store) Instructions•6 minutes
  • Branch and Jump (J-Type) Instructions•5 minutes
  • MIPS Addressing Modes•2 minutes
  • MIPS Instructions: shift, and, or, not, slt, addi, and or•8 minutes
  • Multiply and Divide Instructions: Part I•7 minutes
  • Multiply and Divide Instructions: Part II•5 minutes
  • Floating Point Representation•20 minutes
  • Floating Point Addition •7 minutes
  • Guard and Round Bits in Floating Point Arithmetic•7 minutes
  • Floating Point Computation Capability in MIPS•2 minutes
4 readings•Total 40 minutes
  • Computer Instructions: MIPS Is an Example•10 minutes
  • Computer Operations and Operands•10 minutes
  • Arithmetic Operations•10 minutes
  • Floating Point Numbers•10 minutes
12 assignments•Total 69 minutes
  • Test Yourself: MIPS Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)•18 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: R-Type Instructions and Register File•6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Memory Organization and I-Type (Load/Store) Instructions•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: J-Type Instructions: Branch and Jump•6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: MIPS Addressing Modes•6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: MIPS Instructions: shift, and, or, not, slt, addi, and or•6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Multiply and Divide Instructions: Part I•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Multiply and Divide Instructions: Part II•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Floating Point Representation•6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Floating Point Addition•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Guard and Round Bits in Floating Point Arithmetic•6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Floating Point Computation Capability in MIPS•3 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
  • MIPS Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)•20 minutes

Design arithmetic logic units (ALU) and register files that form the core of MIPS processors.

What's included

5 videos2 readings6 assignments1 discussion prompt

5 videos•Total 39 minutes
  • ALU Design with AND, OR, ADD, and SUB Instruction Execution Capability •14 minutes
  • ALU Design with SLT and BEQ Instruction Execution Capability: Part I •8 minutes
  • ALU Design with SLT and BEQ Instruction Execution Capability: Part II •7 minutes
  • Hardware for Reading the Register File•4 minutes
  • Hardware for Writing to Register File •6 minutes
2 readings•Total 20 minutes
  • Designing ALU•10 minutes
  • Designing Register File•10 minutes
6 assignments•Total 24 minutes
  • Test Yourself: MIPS Processor•9 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: ALU Design with AND, OR, ADD, and SUB Instruction Execution Capability •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: ALU Design with SLT and BEQ Instruction Execution Capability: Part I •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: ALU Design with SLT and BEQ Instruction Execution Capability: Part II •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Hardware for Reading the Register File •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Hardware for Writing to Register File •3 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
  • MIPS Processor•20 minutes

Create a complete datapath and control unit for executing MIPS instructions in a single cycle.

What's included

8 videos3 readings9 assignments1 discussion prompt

8 videos•Total 56 minutes
  • Single Cycle Datapath Design for R-Type Instructions •5 minutes
  • Single Cycle Datapath for Memory Instructions: SW and LW •3 minutes
  • Single-Cycle Datapath Design for Branch Instructions•4 minutes
  • Developing Complete Datapath for Single Cycle MIPS Processor•11 minutes
  • ALU Controller•7 minutes
  • Main Controller: Part I•8 minutes
  • Main Controller: Part II •13 minutes
  • Adding New Instructions to the Datapath •5 minutes
3 readings•Total 30 minutes
  • Datapath Design•10 minutes
  • Combinational Control for ALU•10 minutes
  • Combinational Control for Main Controller•10 minutes
9 assignments•Total 45 minutes
  • Test Yourself: Single-Cycle Datapath and Control Design•21 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Single Cycle Datapath for R-Type Instructions•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Single Cycle Datapath for Memory Instructions: SW and LW •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Single Cycle Datapath Design for Branch Instructions•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Developing Complete Datapath for Single Cycle MIPS Processor•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: ALU Controller•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Main Controller: Part I •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Main Controller: Part II •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Adding New Instructions to the Datapath•3 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
  • Single-Cycle Datapath and Control Design•20 minutes

Break instructions into multiple steps to optimize hardware utilization through multi-cycle execution.

What's included

10 videos3 readings11 assignments1 discussion prompt

10 videos•Total 137 minutes
  • Introduction to Multi-Cycle Architecture •17 minutes
  • Multi-Cycle Datapath for ADD, LW, and SW Instructions•19 minutes
  • Multi-Cycle Datapath for BEQ and J Instructions •11 minutes
  • Execution State Diagram•19 minutes
  • Identifying the Control Signals •15 minutes
  • State Diagram and Building the Controller: Part I •9 minutes
  • State Diagram and Building the Controller: Part II •11 minutes
  • Introduction to ROM-Based Control Implementation •12 minutes
  • Control Microprogram•13 minutes
  • Microprogram Implementation •11 minutes
3 readings•Total 30 minutes
  • Multi-Cycle Datapath•10 minutes
  • Multi-Cycle Control•10 minutes
  • ROM Based Control and Control Microprogram•10 minutes
11 assignments•Total 51 minutes
  • Test Yourself: Multi-Cycle Datapath and Control Design•15 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Introduction to Multi-Cycle Architecture•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Multi-Cycle Datapath for ADD, LW, and SW Instructions •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Multi-Cycle Datapath for BEQ and J Instructions •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Execution State Diagram•6 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Identifying the Control Signals •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: State Diagram and Building the Controller: Part I •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: State Diagram and Building the Controller: Part II•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Introduction to ROM-Based Control Implementation •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Control Microprogram•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Microprogram Implementation •6 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
  • Multi-Cycle Datapath and Control•20 minutes

Implement instruction pipelining to significantly enhance processor throughput and performance.

What's included

10 videos3 readings11 assignments1 discussion prompt

10 videos•Total 138 minutes
  • Video 1: Introduction to Pipelining •12 minutes
  • Pipeline Datapath Design •17 minutes
  • Step-by-Step Execution of an Instruction in Pipelining •15 minutes
  • Graphical Representation of Pipelining Datapath•16 minutes
  • Introduction to Pipeline Control •13 minutes
  • Pipeline Control Signals and Pipeline Control Implementation•11 minutes
  • Step-by-Step Execution of an Instruction in Pipelining with Control Signals •11 minutes
  • Structural Hazard •11 minutes
  • Control Hazard •13 minutes
  • Data Hazard •18 minutes
3 readings•Total 30 minutes
  • Pipeline Datapath•10 minutes
  • Pipelining Control•10 minutes
  • Pipelining Hazards•10 minutes
11 assignments•Total 45 minutes
  • Test Yourself: MIPS Pipeline Architecture•15 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Introduction to Pipelining •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Pipeline Datapath Design •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Step-by-Step Execution of an Instruction in Pipelining•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Graphical Representation of Pipelining Datapath •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Introduction to Pipeline Control •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Pipeline Control Signals and Pipeline Control Implementation •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Step-by-Step Execution of an Instruction in Pipelining with Control Signals •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Structural Hazard •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Control Hazard•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Data Hazard•3 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
  • MIPS Pipeline Architecture•20 minutes

Master techniques to resolve pipeline hazards through forwarding, stalling, and branch prediction.

What's included

12 videos3 readings12 assignments1 discussion prompt

12 videos•Total 163 minutes
  • Data Forwarding Example Using ADD-ADD Instructions: Part I •20 minutes
  • Data Forwarding Example Using ADD-ADD Instructions: Part II•9 minutes
  • Data Forwarding Example Using LW-ADD Instructions •10 minutes
  • Mechanics of Stalling the Pipeline •12 minutes
  • Reducing Pipeline Stalls by Reordering of Instructions •8 minutes
  • Reducing Impact of Control Hazards•19 minutes
  • Delayed Branch Techniques•10 minutes
  • Exception Handling in Pipeline•11 minutes
  • 1-Bit Branch Predictor •12 minutes
  • 2-Bit Branch Predictor •12 minutes
  • Correlating Predictors •19 minutes
  • Tournament Predictors •21 minutes
3 readings•Total 30 minutes
  • Handling Data Hazards •10 minutes
  • Control Hazards and Exception Handling •10 minutes
  • Dynamic Branch Prediction•10 minutes
12 assignments•Total 51 minutes
  • Test Yourself: Handling Data and Control Hazards•18 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Data Forwarding Example Using ADD-ADD Instructions•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Data Forwarding Example Using LW-ADD Instructions •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Mechanics of Stalling the Pipeline •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Reducing Pipeline Stalls by Reordering of Instructions •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Reducing Impact of Control Hazards•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Delayed Branch Techniques•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Exception Handling in Pipeline •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: 1-Bit Branch Predictor •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: 2-Bit Branch Predictor •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Correlating Predictors •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Tournament Predictors •3 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
  • Handling Data and Control Hazards in Pipeline Datapath•20 minutes

Explore how different memory types and organization impact system performance.

What's included

9 videos3 readings10 assignments1 discussion prompt

9 videos•Total 114 minutes
  • Memory Technologies •17 minutes
  • Exploiting Memory Hierarchy in Computing Systems •9 minutes
  • Introduction to Cache Memory and Locality of References •12 minutes
  • Direct Cache Mapping •24 minutes
  • Fully Associative Mapping •9 minutes
  • Set Associative Mapping •14 minutes
  • Use of Write Back to Improve Performance •10 minutes
  • Cache Controller Implementation •10 minutes
  • FSM for Cache Controller •9 minutes
3 readings•Total 30 minutes
  • Memory Hierarchy •10 minutes
  • Cache Mapping•10 minutes
  • Cache Controller•10 minutes
10 assignments•Total 39 minutes
  • Test Yourself: Memory Hierarchy in Computing Systems•12 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Memory Technologies •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Exploiting Memory Hierarchy in Computing Systems •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Introduction to Cache Memory and Locality of References •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Direct Cache Mapping •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Fully Associative Mapping •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Set Associative Mapping •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Use of Write Back to Improve Performance •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Cache Controller Implementation •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: FSM for Cache Controller •3 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
  • Memory Hierarchy in Computing Systems•20 minutes

Analyze and enhance cache memory performance through optimized designs.

What's included

7 videos2 readings8 assignments1 discussion prompt

7 videos•Total 98 minutes
  • Cache Performance Metrics: Hit Rate, Miss Rate, and Miss Penalty•13 minutes
  • Impact of Increasing Block Size on Performance •14 minutes
  • Impact of Increasing Associativity on Performance •16 minutes
  • Improvement in Performance Using Multilevel Cache •15 minutes
  • Victim Cache•12 minutes
  • Why Do We Require Cache Coherence?•14 minutes
  • Snooping Protocols•15 minutes
2 readings•Total 20 minutes
  • Cache Performance•10 minutes
  • Cache Coherence•10 minutes
8 assignments•Total 36 minutes
  • Test Yourself: Cache Performance Measurement and Improvement•15 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Cache Performance Metrics: Hit Rate, Miss Rate, and Miss Penalty •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Impact of Increasing Block Size on Performance •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Impact of Increasing Associativity on Performance •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Improvement in Performance Using Multilevel Cache •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Victim Cache •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Why Do We Require Cache Coherence?•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Snooping Protocols•3 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
  • Cache Performance Measurement and Improvement•20 minutes

Understand hard disk and SSD storage organization to improve data access performance.

What's included

6 videos3 readings7 assignments

6 videos•Total 44 minutes
  • Hard Disk Drive Structure•7 minutes
  • Hard Disk Drive Performance•6 minutes
  • RAID Levels 0 and 1 •7 minutes
  • RAID Levels 4, 5, and 6 •9 minutes
  • Combining RAID Levels•8 minutes
  • Solid State Storage•6 minutes
3 readings•Total 75 minutes
  • Hard Disk Drive (HDD)•30 minutes
  • Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks•30 minutes
  • Anatomy of a Solid-State Drive•15 minutes
7 assignments•Total 33 minutes
  • Test Yourself: Secondary Storage•15 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Hard Disk Drive Structure•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Hard Disk Drive Performance•3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: RAID Levels 0 and 1 •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: RAID Levels 4, 5, and 6 •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Combining RAID Levels •3 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Solid State Storage•3 minutes

Build toward a degree

This course is part of the following degree program(s) offered by Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani. If you are admitted and enroll, your completed coursework may count toward your degree learning and your progress can transfer with you.¹

Instructor

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
43 Courses•78,715 learners

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Frequently asked questions

This course explores MIPS architecture and computing system performance optimization. It's important because understanding how hardware executes software instructions is essential for writing efficient code, designing faster systems, and solving performance bottlenecks in computing applications.

This course is for computer science students, software developers, hardware engineers, and technology professionals who want to understand the crucial interface between software and hardware to enhance their technical capabilities.

You'll be able to analyze processor architectures, design efficient datapaths, optimize memory hierarchies, resolve pipeline hazards, measure system performance, and understand the hardware implications of software design decisions.

Basic understanding of digital logic, familiarity with programming concepts, and fundamental computer organization principles are recommended. No specific experience with MIPS or assembly language is required.

The learning experience combines video lectures, interactive quizzes, hands-on design exercises, performance analysis activities, and AI-guided discussions to ensure both theoretical understanding and practical application of concepts.

This course uniquely balances theoretical foundations with practical applications, focusing specifically on how architectural decisions impact performance. Unlike many courses that focus only on concepts or implementation, this course connects architecture designs directly to their performance implications.

The course contains approximately 36 hours of instructional content spread across 10 modules. Most students complete it in 8-10 weeks with 3-5 hours of study per week.

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.

Financial aid available,