Digital Design and Computer Architecture

by David Harris, Sarah Harris

Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
ISBN: 0123944244

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Book Description

Digital Design and Computer Architecture takes a unique and modern approach to digital design. Beginning with digital logic gates and progressing to the design of combinational and sequential circuits, Harris and Harris use these fundamental building blocks as the basis for what follows: the design of an actual MIPS processor. SystemVerilog and VHDL are integrated throughout the text in examples illustrating the methods and techniques for CAD-based circuit design. By the end of this book, readers will be able to build their own microprocessor and will have a top-to-bottom understanding of how it works. Harris and Harris have combined an engaging and humorous writing style with an updated and hands-on approach to digital design.

This second edition has been updated with new content on I/O systems in the context of general purpose processors found in a PC as well as microcontrollers found almost everywhere. The new edition provides practical examples of how to interface with peripherals using RS232, SPI, motor control, interrupts, wireless, and analog-to-digital conversion. High-level descriptions of I/O interfaces found in PCs include USB, SDRAM, WiFi, PCI Express, and others. In addition to expanded and updated material throughout, SystemVerilog is now featured in the programming and code examples (replacing Verilog), alongside VHDL. This new edition also provides additional exercises and a new appendix on C programming to strengthen the connection between programming and processor architecture.

Book Reviews

".intended as a course text for college or university level students, this book would serve just as well for anyone who just wants to learn about computer architecture or design. it stands as one of the best introductions to the subject and seems ideal for anyone wanting to learn digital design with no prior knowledge. The time investment would be handsomely rewarded and the range of topics covered, as well as the clear explanation of trickier issues, is extremely impressive." - BCS.org, April 2013

"Harris and Harris have taken the popular pedagogy from Computer Organization and Design down to the next level of refinement, showing in detail how to build a MIPS microprocessor in both Verilog and VHDL. Given the exciting opportunity that students have to run large digital designs on modern FGPAs, the approach the authors take in this book is both informative and enlightening." - David A. Patterson, University of California at Berkeley, Co-author of Computer Organization and Design

"Developed at Harvey Mudd College, this undergraduate textbook introduces combinatorial logic and sequential logic circuit design, describes the computer's microarchitecture that connects hardware with software, and explains how to build a MIPS microprocessor." - Reference and Research Book News, February 2013

About the Author

David Money Harris is an associate professor of engineering at Harvey Mudd College. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University and his M.Eng. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT. Before attending Stanford, he worked at Intel as a logic and circuit designer on the Itanium and Pentium II processors. Since then, he has consulted at Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Evans & Sutherland, and other design companies.

David's passions include teaching, building chips, and exploring the outdoors. When he is not at work, he can usually be found hiking, mountaineering, or rock climbing. He particularly enjoys hiking with his son, Abraham, who was born at the start of this book project. David holds about a dozen patents and is the author of three other textbooks on chip design, as well as two guidebooks to the Southern California mountains.

Sarah L. Harris is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Harvey Mudd College. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Before attending Stanford, she received a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Brigham Young University. Sarah has also worked with Hewlett-Packard, the San Diego Supercomputer Center, Nvidia, and Microsoft Research in Beijing.

Sarah loves teaching, exploring and developing new technologies, traveling, wind surfing, rock climbing, and playing the guitar. Her recent exploits include researching sketching interfaces for digital circuit design, acting as a science correspondent for a National Public Radio affiliate, and learning how to kite surf. She speaks four languages and looks forward to learning more in the near future.

Customer Reviews

This book is great! David Money Harris and Sarah Harris are great at explaining the material. Unlike many authors they don't lose this in their writing. This book does a great job of teaching as well as serving as a reference. I have a hard time reading most textbooks but I read this one pretty much cover to cover. There are great practice problems as well as interview questions. The book starts with the basics and does a great job building up until you have a strong understanding of the hardware involved in several types of microprocessors. I would strongly recommend buying this book to anyone interested in computer architecture.

I'll try to remember to update this when I finish the book, but it is quite excellent so far. I wish all textbooks were this well written. I looked up David Harris' resume and he is quite "decorated" for as young as he is. Of course it would be nice to have answers to all the problems instead of just odd numbered ones, but still, that is something. I would recommend this for sure.

Very easy to understand. Good use of diagrams/visual aids. Very interesting content.

I highly recommend this book - it helps me understand lecture material so much more! Whenever I get the chance to read it before lecture, the lecture makes more sense. If I don't have time to read it before and I need more references beyond lecture, I go to this book and it usually clarifies my confusion.