Computer Architectures

The Computer Architectures module introduces students to how a basic computer works. It starts by introducing the traditional Von-Neumann Architecture. It then goes on to explore the movement of data within a machine, from secondary to primary storage. The module then focuses on the central processing unit (CPU) and its various constituents. Once the high-level concepts are dealt with, the focus moves to a granular level and examines the fetch-decode-execute cycle and the peculiarities of different processor families.
Students will also explore how data is stored as bits, bytes, words, and how to convert between different representations as well as how to use Hamming codes and the various components of computer logic.