Cornell University
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
ECE 4750 / CS 4420 / ECE 5740
Computer Architecture
Fall 2025
Prof. Anne Bracy
Mon/Wed @ 2:55–4:10pm • Gates G01
home | syllabus | staff | handouts | schedule | readings | resources
this entire site is under construction. stay tuned...
Schedule is subject to change, but is currently the intended schedule for Fall 2025.
| Mon | Aug 25 | Lecture | Course Overview (lecture notes are on handouts page) |
| Wed | Aug 27 | Lecture | Topic 1: Processor Concepts |
| Fri | Aug 29 | Section 1 | RTL Design with Verilog |
| Mon | Sep 1 | Labor Day – No Lecture | |
| Wed | Sep 3 | Lecture | Topic 2: Processor Microarchitecture (single cycle processor) |
| Fri | Sep 5 | Section 2 | RTL Testing with Python |
| Sat | Sep 6 | due | Lab 1: Incremental Milestone |
| Mon | Sep 8 | Lecture | — Topic 2: Continued (FSM processor) |
| Wed | Sep 10 | Lecture | — Topic 2: Continued (pipelined processor) |
| Fri | Sep 12 | due | Lab 1: Iterative Integer Multiplier |
| Fri | Sep 12 | Section 3 | Lab 2 Head Start |
| Mon | Sep 15 | Lecture | — Topic 2: Continued |
| Wed | Sep 17 | Lecture | — Topic 2: Continued |
| Fri | Sep 19 | Section 4 | Pipelining Diagram Common Mistakes |
| Mon | Sep 22 | Lecture | — Topic 2: Continued |
| Wed | Sep 24 | Lecture | — Topic 2: Continued |
| Thu | Sep 25 | due | Lab 2: Incremental Milestone |
| Fri | Sep 26 | Section 5 | Bug Hunt? |
| Mon | Sep 29 | Lecture | Topic 3: Memory Concepts |
| Wed | Oct 1 | Lecture | — Topic 3: Continued |
| Fri | Oct 3 | Lecture | — Topic 3: Continued |
| Sun | Oct 3 | due | Lab 2: Pipelined Processor |
| Mon | Oct 6 | Lec / Sec 6 | Topic 4: Memory Microarchitecture and Lab 3 Head Start |
| Wed | Oct 8 | Lecture | — Topic 4: Continued |
| Fri | Oct 10 | No Section | |
| Mon | Oct 13 | Fall Break – No Lecture | |
| Wed | Oct 15 | Lecture | — Topic 4: Continued |
| Thu | Oct 16 | due | Lab 3: Incremental Milestone |
| Fri | Oct 17 | Section 7 | Problem-Based Learning |
| Mon | Oct 20 | Lecture | — Topic 4: Continued |
| Tue | Oct 21 | exam | Prelim #1 @ 7:30–9pm, Klarman Hall, G70 |
| Wed | Oct 22 | Lecture | — Topic 4: Continued (Virtual Memory) |
| Fri | Oct 24 | Section 8 | Memory Random Testing & Queues |
| Mon | Oct 27 | Lecture | Topic 5: Integrating Processors, Memories, and Networks |
| Wed | Oct 29 | Lecture | Topic 6: Advanced Processors – Superscalar Execution |
| Thu | Oct 30 | due | Lab 3: Blocking Cache |
| Fri | Oct 31 | Section 9 | Lab 4 Headstart |
| Mon | Nov 3 | Lecture | Topic 7: Advanced Processors – Out-of-Order Execution |
| Wed | Nov 5 | Lecture | — Topic 7: Continued |
| Fri | Nov 7 | Section 10 | Prelim 1 Redux |
| Mon | Nov 10 | Lecture | — Topic 7: Continued |
| Wed | Nov 12 | Lecture | — Topic 7: Continued |
| Fri | Nov 14 | Section 11 | Integrating Processors and Memories |
| Sun | Nov 16 | due | Lab 4: Incremental Milestone |
| Mon | Nov 17 | Lecture | Topic 8: Advanced Processors – Register Renaming |
| Wed | Nov 19 | Lecture | Topic 9: Advanced Processors – Memory Disambiguation |
| Thu | Nov 20 | exam | Prelim #2 @ 7:30–9pm in Uris Hall G01 |
| Fri | Nov 21 | Section 12 | Networks |
| Mon | Nov 24 | Lecture | Topic 10: Advanced Processors – Branch Prediction |
| Tue | Nov 25 | due | Lab 4: Milestone 2 (working lab 4) |
| Wed | Nov 27 | Thanksgiving Break – No Lecture | |
| Fri | Nov 28 | Thanksgiving Break – No Section | |
| Mon | Dec 1 | Lecture | — Topic 10: Continued |
| Wed | Dec 3 | Lecture | Topic 11: Advanced Processors – Speculative Execution |
| Fri | Dec 5 | Section 13 | Prelim 2 Redux |
| Mon | Dec 8 | Lecture | Topic 12: Sidechannels, Meltdown, and Spectre, Oh My! |
| Mon | Dec 8 | due | Lab 4: Multicore Processor (Optimized) |
| Fri | Dec 19 | exam | Final @ 2 PM in location TBD |