This textbook provides semester-length coverage of computer architecture and design providing
a strong foundation for students to understand modern computer system architecture and to apply
these insights and principles to future computer designs. It is based on the author¿s decades
of industrial experience with computer architecture and design as well as with teaching
students focused on pursuing careers in computer engineering. Unlike a number of existing
textbooks for this course this one focuses not only on CPU architecture but also covers in
great detail in system buses peripherals and memories. This book teaches every element in a
computing system in two steps. First it introduces the functionality of each topic (and
subtopics) and then goes into ¿from-scratch design¿ of a particular digital block from its
architectural specifications using timing diagrams. The author describes how the data-path of a
certain digital block is generated using timing diagrams a method which most textbooks do not
cover but is valuable in actual practice. In the end the user is ready to use both the design
methodology and the basic computing building blocks presented in the book to be able to produce
industrial-strength designs.
