Aims & Learning
Objectives:
The course provides a foundation for the design of combinational and sequential logic circuits using formal design methods. The implementation of sequential logic is extended to microprocessors and the aim is to enable students understand the architecture of microprocessors and to design and implement simple real-time microprocessor systems. Students should be able to design a wide range of asynchronous logic circuits using finite state-machine methods. They should be able to describe the operation of a microprocessor in terms of its general architecture and understand how microprocessors can be programmed and used in a variety of real-time applications.
Content:
Applications of combinational logic, synchronous and asynchronous sequential circuits: finite state machine description; primitive flow tables; internal state reduction, merging and row assignment problems; essential hazards and races. Computer architecture: the Von Neuman architecture, CPU, volatile and non-volatile memory (ROM, SRAM, DRAM, EPROM etc.), peripheral devices. General purpose microprocessors: architecture, arithmetic and logic units, program control sequences, microcode, register organization. Control: exception processing, interupts, resets and CPU initialisation, software traps. Bus control: synchronous/asynchronous bus timing diagrams, multiplexed bus. Real-time microprocessor systems: machine code programming; address decode-read/write operations, etc.; analogue and digital input/output; interupt driven I/O vs polled I/O; case studies of various 8/16 bit microprocessors.
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