6.823 Computer System Architecture - Spring 2021


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6.823 Spring 2021 Reading List
Optional readings are NOT required for the class, but interested students are always encouraged to check them out for in-depth understanding of the topics.

Readings refer to:

  • H&P6: Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 6th edition, by Hennessy and Patterson
  • H&P5: Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 5th edition, by Hennessy and Patterson
  • H&P4: Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 4th edition, by Hennessy and Patterson
  • H&P3: Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 3rd edition, by Hennessy and Patterson
  • H&P2: Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 2nd edition, by Hennessy and Patterson
  • P&H: Computer Organization & Design, by Patterson and Hennessy
  • D&T: Principles and practices of interconnection networks by Dally and Towles.
All these books and their online/e-book versions are available through MIT libraries.


Description Reading (H&P6) Reading (H&P5) Reading (H&P4) Reading (H&P3) Reading (H&P2)
History of Calculation and Computer Architecture App M App L App K Ch 1: p67-72 Ch 1: p53-60
Influence of Technology and Software on Instruction Sets: Up to the dawn of IBM 360 Ch 1: p2-67 Ch 1: p2-61 Ch 1: p2-54
App J: p83-90
Rest of Ch 1 Rest of Ch 1
From Non-Pipelined ISA Implementation to a Simple Pipeline App A: p2-33 App A: p2-32 App B: p2-32 Ch 2: p90-129 Ch 2: p69-96
Instruction Pipelining and Hazards App C: p2-10 (background: P&H Ch 6) App C: p2-11 (background: P&H Ch 6) App A: p2-11 (background: P&H Ch 6) App A: p2-11 (background: P&H Ch 6) Ch 3: p125-160 (background: P&H Ch 6)
Microprogramming App C: p45 App C: p50-51 App A: p46-47 Ch 2: p129-158 Ch 2: p96-116
Caches Ch 2: p78-84
Ch 2: p94-118
App B: p2-40
Ch 2: p72-96
App B: p2-40
Ch 5: p288-310
App C: p1-38
Ch 5: p413-460, p478-489 Ch 5: p390-439, p457-474
Complex Pipelines: Superscalar/Scoreboarding App C: p37-70 App C: p43-81 App A: p37-77 App A: p47-78 Ch 3: p187-214
Complex Pipelins: OOO & Register Renaming Ch 3: 191-240 Ch 3: 167-212 Ch 2: 89-129 Ch 3: p172-196 Ch 4: p221-261
Branch Prediction Ch 3: p182-191 Ch 3: p162-167 Ch 2: p80-89 Ch 3: p196-259 Ch 4: p262-289, p317-335
Speculative Execution Ch 3: p228-240 Ch 3: p202-213 Ch 2: p121-141
Advanced Memory Operations
Absolute Addresses to Demand Paging Ch 2: p118-142; App B: p40-59 Ch 2: p105-131; App B: p40-60 Ch 5: p315-342; App C: p38-58 Ch 5: p460-478 Ch 5: p439-457
Modern Virtual Memory App L App A: p37-47 Ch 3: p178-187
Multithreading Ch 3: p242-247 Ch 3: p223-247 Ch 3: p172-185 Ch 3: p272-273,
Ch 6: p608-615, 635-636
VLIW/EPIC App H App H App G Ch 4: p304-362 Ch 4: p223-240, p284-317
Vector processors Ch 4: p282-310
App G
Ch 4: p262-288
App G
GPUs Ch 4: p310-336 Ch 4: p288-315
On-Chip Networking [Dally & Towles] Topology: Ch3 p45-60 (3.1-3.3), Ch5 p89-98 (5.1-5.2); Flow control: Ch12 p221-230 (12.1-12.3), Ch13 p233-250 (13.1-13.3); Routing: Ch8 p159-168 (8.1-8.4), Ch9 p173-180 (9.1-9.3), Ch14 p258-270 (14.1-14.2); Router microarchitecture: Ch16 p305-319 (16.1-16.5)
Synchronization and Sequential Consistency Ch 5: p417-422 Ch 5: p392-400 Ch 4: p243-249 Ch 6: p590-607 Ch 8: p694-713
Cache Coherence Ch 5: p377-412 Ch 5: p351-386 Ch 4: p205-237 Ch 6: p549-590, App I Ch 8: p654-693, App E
Directory-Based Cache Coherence Protocols: Part I Ch 5: p404-412 Ch 5: p351-386 Ch 4: p230-237 Ch 6: p549-590, App I Ch 8: p654-693, App E
Directory-Based Cache Coherence Protocols: Part II
Relaxed Memory Models Ch 5: p419-422 Ch 5: p394-400 Ch 4: p245-249 Ch 6: p607-608, 618-619 Ch 8: p714-720