CSE 520 Computer Architecture II - Spring 2026


Class Syllabus

The general format of the course consists of some regular lectures, problem sets, labs, a project, and exams.
Grading Policy
  • Grades will be posted on Canvas.
  • Participation: 5%
  • Laboratory Assignments: 65%
  • Midterm Exam: 15%
  • Final Exam: 15%
  • Grades will be assigned two ways:
    • >90 [A], >80 [B], >70 [C], >60 [D]
    • Curved according to the class median. Here your relative score is what really matters, rather than the objective scores above.
Late Submission Policy

Problem sets or laboratory assignments or course project submitted after the due date/time are considered late and will not be graded. Late submissions will only be graded in cases of documented emergencies.

Plagiarism

Discussion of course material and collaboration with other students is encouraged but each student must write/type and submit his/her own solution. Your essays, code and proofs (if applicable) should never contain sections which are identical to the submission of another student, past or present. Submitted work must be entirely that of the student(s) whose name(s) appear(s) on the submission and not solicited in any way from others. Violation of these policies can result in automatic failure of the course.

Please refer to the Arizona State University’s policy on academic dishonesty.
Tentative Schedule
Monday Wednesday

Jan 12 - Review Module - L01

History of Computer Systems Review

Self-Assessment

M. Kinsy

Jan 14 - Learning Module 1 - L02

Influence of Technology and Software on Instruction Sets

Self-Assessment DUE

Laboratory 0

M. Kinsy

Jan 19

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Jan 21 - L03

Intel Pin introduction

M. Kinsy

Jan 26 - L04

Single-cycle & Multi-cycle Architectures

M. Kinsy

Jan 28 - L05

Preformance Evaluation Methodologies

Laboratory 0 DUE

Laboratory 1

M. Kinsy

Feb 02 - L06

Pipelining & Hazard Resolution

M. Kinsy

Feb 04 - L07

Complex Pipelining: Superscalar

M. Kinsy

Feb 09 - L08

Branch Prediction

M. Kinsy

Feb 11 - L09

Complex Pipelining: VLIW

Laboratory 1 DUE

Laboratory 2

M. Kinsy

Feb 16 - L10

SIMD and Vector Processors

M. Kinsy

Feb 18 - L11

Multithreading

M. Kinsy

Feb 23 - L12

GPU Architectures

Feb 25 - L13

Dataflow & Systolic Architectures

Laboratory 2 DUE

M. Kinsy

Mar 02 - LR1

Review Lecture

M. Kinsy

Mar 04

Midterm Exam

M. Kinsy

Mar 09

No Class - Spring Break

M. Kinsy

Mar 11

No Class - Spring Break

M. Kinsy

Mar 16 - L14

Memory Organization

Laboratory 3

M. Kinsy

Mar 18 - L15

Advanced Memory Operations

M. Kinsy

Mar 23 - L16

Advanced Memory Technologies - PIM, NVM, etc.

M. Kinsy

Mar 25 - L17

Modern Virtual Memory

M. Kinsy

Mar 30 - L18

Process Synchronization

M. Kinsy

Apr 01 - L19

Sequential Consistency

Laboratory 3 DUE

M. Kinsy

Apr 06 - L20

Cache Coherence - Snoopy Cache

M. Kinsy

Apr 08 - L21

Cache Coherence - Directory Cache

M. Kinsy

Apr 13 - L22

On-chip Interconnect Network

M. Kinsy

Apr 15 - L23

Interconnect Networking

Laboratory 3 DUE

M. Kinsy

Apr 20 - L24

On-chip Interconnect Network

M. Kinsy

Apr 22 - L25

2.5/3D Chips & Chiplet Architectures

Laboratory 3 DUE

M. Kinsy

Apr 27 - L26

Massively Parallel Architectures (MPP)

M. Kinsy

Apr 29 - LR2

Review II

M. Kinsy

May 4

Final Exams

May 6

Final Exams