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Reading Assignment and Discussion Topics
Computer Science 471

for class on Tuesday Sept. 17, 1996

Please read Appendix B of the Patterson & Hennessy text, and be prepared to discuss the following issues:

1. We looked at the datapath of a simple processor last time. Let's add the nasty details: the control and the clocking. Assume that all the state devices (accumulator, registers) are made of edge-triggered D-type flip-flops. Is there a finite-state machine buried somewhere in the control? Does the design need more than one clock signal?

2. What do you think is meant by the cycle time of a computer? What determines the cycle time in our simple processor?