This is a graduate level course and students need to apply and be approved to one of the graduate programs or as a non-program School of Computing and Information Systems graduate student in order to take this course. Minimum admission requirements must be met. Undergraduate students who do not meet admission requirements will not normally be permitted to take this course.
This course provides a background in hardware and software technology that will enable systems development personnel to understand the trade-offs in computer architecture for effective use in a business or scientific environment. The course will explain system architecture for single-user, central, and networked computing systems; and single- and multi-user operating systems. It will help you gain a good understanding of general computer organization, basic microprocessor architecture and assembly language, and operating system internals.
Outline
Unit 1: Overview
Unit 2: Process Management
Unit 3: Memory Organization
Unit 4: Protection and Security
Unit 5: CPU Architecture
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to
know modern computer architecture components.
begin to write assembly language programs.
obtain detailed knowledge about the internals of single-user and multi-user operating systems.
Evaluation
To receive credit for COMP 503, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least B– (70 percent), an average grade of at least 60 percent on the assignments, and a grade of at least 60 percent on the final exam.
The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
Activity
Weight
Assignment 1
20%
Assignment 2
20%
Assignment 3
20%
Final Examination
40%
Total
100%
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
Materials
Silberschatz, A., Gagne, G., & Galvin, P. B. (2018). Operating system concepts (10th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. (eText)
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.