To introduce how computers function at the instruction operation level. To introduce the relationships between the instruction operation level and both the higher (software) and lower (hardware) levels

(LO1) At the conclusion of the module, students should understand how a computer operates at the machine code level;

(LO2) At the conclusion of the module, students should understand at an introductory level the structure of computer hardware at the gate and register transfer level;

(LO3) At the conclusion of the module, students should appreciate the roles and organisation of the major kinds of system software, including operating systems, compilers and system service routines.

(S1) Problem Solving - Numeracy and computational skills

(S2) Problem solving – analysing facts and situations and applying creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions.

Machine Architecture and instruction execution ( 6 lectures): The CPU. Stored Program concept.   Program Execution.  A very basic overview of instruction-level operation, using a small number of instructions only. Machine-level correspondence to high level constructs (6 lectures): Simple Arithmetic expressions.  Array variables.  Very simple loops. Conditional expressions.  Subroutines and subroutine calling mechanisms. Stacks and recursion. Introduction to Electronic Logic Circuits (4lectures): Elementary logic gates. Simple  combinational circuits, half-adder and full-adder, parallel adder and comparator. Flip-flops. Introduction to Operating Systems (3 lectures):Outline of time-sharing, interrupt mechanism, normal state/special state switching. Introduction to Compilers (2 lectures): Lexical analysis, syntax analysis and code generation. Concepts of process (3 lectures): Idea of a process. Foreground and background processes.  Inter process communication, process spawning. Simple Unix process control facilities.  Shell scripts. Basic networking concepts (3 lectures):Protocols, client-server concept, the Internet. System support tools (2 lectures): Introduction to the Assembler and simulator/debugger used in the practical work Practical Work: Practical work is carried out on the Departmental Unix system.  Some introductory assembly-language programming will be carried out using a simulator, but facility in assembly-language programming is NOT an aim of the course. A modest Unix Shellscript will also be developed.

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description:
Attendance Recorded: Yes
Notes: 3 per week for 1 semester

Teaching Method 2 - Laboratory Work
Description:
Attendance Recorded: Not yet decided