EXTRA CREDIT

Computer Architecture Term Paper

Number of points dependent on quality (Max. 15 homework points)

Due on Friday, Dec. 10, 2004 (BUT Sooner would be better!)

I'll let you choose your own topic which must be somewhat related to the course. Check with me if you think that your topic is not appropriate.

If you cannot think of a topic, I would suggest that you write a paper about a "hot" new processor (e.g., AMD Opteron, Intel Itanium2, etc.) processor and corresponding chipset. You should address the topics discussed in class, such as:

• what pipelining and superscalar techniques are used
• does it do something to reduce branch penalties (delayed branching, branch-history table, etc.)
• what types of buses are supported
• what cache is supported
• etc.

I expect that your paper will be within the 7 - 15 page range. Please include references where figures, and quotes are taken.

A good source of information is the AMD and Intel web sites:

http://www.amd.com

and

http://www.intel.com