Courses in Computer Engineering

1997-98 Academic Year

This is a representative list of courses offered. There may be course additions/deletions. Please check with the ECE Department for the most recent list.

For information on other courses offered at Rice, check the Registrar's Schedule of Courses.

ECE Courses with Web Pages

320, F/S - INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER ORGANIZATION (Credits 4.00)

Survey of basic computer architecture and assembly language programming. Includes systems software, loaders and assemblers, input-output devices, and interrupt programming. Required for electrical and computer engineering majors.
Prerequisite: Comp 210 or Caam 210. Also offered as Comp 320.
Cox, A., Varman, P.J.

322,S - APPLIED ALGORITHMS AND DATA STRUCTURES (3-3-4)

Design analysis of computer algorithms and data structures useful for applied problems. Laboratory assignments will use these techniques in conjunction with advanced programming methods.
Prerequisite: Comp 212 and Comp 280. Also offered as Comp 314.
Kennedy, K.

326,F/S - DIGITAL LOGIC DESIGN (Credits 3.00)

Study of gates, flip-flops, combinational and sequential switching circuits, registers, and logical and arithmetic operations. Required for electrical and computer engineering majors.
Prerequisite: Comp 210.
Jump, J.R., Varman, P.J.

327,S - DIGITAL LOGIC DESIGN LABORATORY (0-1-1)

Design, construction, and testing of projects built from digital integrated circuits using techniques presented in ELEC 326.
Prerequisite: Elec 326 and Elec 241.
Jump, J.R.

421,S - OPERATING SYSTEMS AND CONCURRENT PROGRAMS (Credits 4.00)

Introduction to the design, construction, and analysis of concurrent programs with an emphasis on operating systems, including filing systems, schedulers, and memory allocators. Specific attention is devoted to process synchronization and communication within concurrent programs.
Prerequisite: Comp 212, Elec 320. Also offered as Comp 421.
Staff

422,F - VLSI DESIGN I (Credits 4.00)

Study of VLSI technology and design and MOS devices, characteristics, and fabrication. Includes logic design and implementation, VLSI design methodology, circuit simulation and verification, as well as group design projects. Limited enrollment. Must take Elec 423 VLSI Design II the following semester.
Prerequisite: Elec 326.
Cavallaro, J.

423,S - VLSI DESIGN II (Credits 2.00)

Testing and evaluation of VLSI circuits designed in VLSI Design I, Elec 422. Efficient test methodologies. Topics in computer aided design.
Prerequisite: Elec 422.
Cavallaro, J.

424,S - COMPUTER SYSTEM DESIGN (Credits 4.00)

The specification, design, and implementation of practical computer systems, taking into account such factors as cost constraints and available technology. Groups of students, operating as competing design teams, complete a major design project.
Prerequisite: Elec 425, 426. Not offered every year.
CANCELLED SPRING 1998

425,F - COMPUTER SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE (3-0-4)

Study of advanced uniprocessor system architecture and the basics of parallel architectures. Includes pipelining (e.g., dynamic scheduling and precise interrupt handling), techniques for exploiting instruction-level parallelism (e.g., superscalar and VLIW architecture), case studies of recent high-performance microprocessors, vector processors, memory systems design (e.g., techniques to improve cache performance, virtual memory systems, and main memory enhancements), I/O systems such as disk arrays and graphical interfaces, and an overview of parallel computers.
Prerequisites: Elec 320, Elec 326. Also offered as Comp 425.
Adve, S.V.

426,F - DIGITAL SYSTEM DESIGN (Credits 4.00)

Examination of the design elements of modern computer and microprocessor systems, with emphasis on state machine-based design and microcontrollers. Includes use of VHDL and graphical simulation software to model complex digital systems. Implementation of a system involving high-speed arithmetic techniques required in lab.
Prerequisite: Elec 320 and Elec 327.
Cyprus, J.

427,S - PULSE AND DIGITAL CIRCUITS (Credits 4.00)

Study of discrete and integrated solid state circuits. Includes monostable, bistable, and astable multivibrators, the interaction of linear components (e.g., with diodes, bipolar transistors, and field effect transistors), applications of linear one and two degree-of-freedom circuits to digital hardware, the analysis of circuits and their interconnection to form digital systems, and the construction of digital projects.
Prerequisite: Elec 326 and 342.
Cyprus, J.

428,S - COMPUTER SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE (Credits 4.00)

Examination of analytical models of computer systems. Includes queueing theory and Markov chains, simulation and analysis of simulation results, and operational analysis, as well as a project.
Prerequisite: Elec 331 and CAAM 381 or CAAM 382.
Sinclair, J.B.

429,S - INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER NETWORKS (Credits 4.00)

Computer network architectures and protocols. Packet switching and circuit switching. Routing and flow control. Error control. Access control. Quality of service. Examples of computer networks, including CSMA/CD (Ethernet), token rings, and ATM networks.
Prerequisite: Stat 310 or Elec331/Caam 381.
Sinclair, J.B.

440,S - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (Credits 4.00)

Techniques for simulating intelligent behavior by machine, problem solving, game playing, pattern perceiving, theorem proving, semantic information processing, and automatic programming.
Prerequisite: Comp 210. Also offered as Comp 440.
Subramanian, D.

490,F/S - ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING PROJECTS (Credits 1.00)

Theoretical and experimental investigations under staff direction. May be repeated for credit. Required for electrical and computer engineering majors in B.A. program; may substitute 491-492.
Staff

491,F - SENIOR HONORS PROJECTS (Credits 2.00)

Two-semester sequence for individual projects supervised by a faculty member. Includes group discussion of the professional aspects of engineering (e.g., technical writing, engineering ethics, research protocols, patent considerations). A written proposal, various oral presentations throughout the year, and a final written report with an oral, conference-style presentation.
Prerequisites: senior standing in department and permission of course coordinator. No credit will be given for Elec 491 without completion of Elec 492.
Baraniuk, R.B.

492,S - SENIOR HONORS PROJECTS (Credits 3.00)

See above.

519,S - PARALLEL ALGORITHMS AND ARCHITECTURE (Credits 3.00)

Study of parallel architectures (e.g., arrays, trees, hypercubes and shared memory), the structure and relation between architectures, and parallel time, work, and efficiency. Includes the design and analysis of parallel algorithms, VLSI complexity, area-time tradeoffs, and area-efficient VLSI networks.
Prerequisite: Elec 322. Also offered as Comp 583.
Varman, P.J.

520,F - DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS (Credits 4.00)

Study of distributed systems (e.g., workstations, local area networks, and server machines). Includes multiprocess structuring and interprocess communication, file access and memory management, user interfaces (e.g., window systems and command interpreters), and case studies of selected distributed systems, with emphasis on performance aspects of system software design.
Prerequisites: Elec 421 and 425. Also offered as Comp 520.
Cox, A.

522,S - ADVANCED VLSI DESIGN (Credits 3.00)

Design and analysis of algorithm-specific VLSI processor architectures. Includes the implementation of pipelined and systolic processor arrays, techniques for mapping numerical algorithms onto custom processor arrays, and a design project using high-level VLSI synthesis tools. Limited enrollment (15).
Prerequisites: Elec 422 and 423.
Cavallaro, J.

525,S - ADVANCED COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE (Credits 4.00)

Design of parallel architectures such as shared memory MIMD (multiple-instruction-multiple-data), message passing MIMD, and SIMD (single-instruction-multiple-data) architectures. Includes interconnection networks, techniques to reduce and tolerate communication latency (e.g., cache coherence protocols, memory consistency models, and multithreaded and data flow architectures), synchronization, and software involvement for improving performance, as well as case studies of parallel machines.
Prerequisite: Elec 425. Also Offered as Comp 525.
Adve, S.V.

526,S - COMPUTER NETWORKS DESIGN/ANALYSIS (Credits 3.00)

Design and comparison of computer networks. Includes transmission media, data encoding, error control, and techniques for performance analysis, as well as connectivity and reliability, capacity assignment, and network topologies, with emphasis on local area networks (e.g., rings, busses, and contention networks).
Prerequisite: Elec 428. Also offered as Comp 526.
CANCELLED Spring 1998

529,S - COMPUTER NETWORK: ARCHITECTURE AND PROTOCOL (Credits 3.00)

Introduction to computer networks and computer communication. Includes the design of protocols for error recovery, reliable delivery, routing and congestion control, as well as store-and-forward networks, satellite networks, local area networks, and locally distributed systems, using case studies of networks, protocols and protocol families, with emphasis on software design issues in computer communication.
Prerequisites: Caam 382 and Elec 421. Also offered as Comp 529.
CANCELLED Spring 1998

537, F - DESIGN & CONTROL OF BROADBAND NETWORKS (Credits 3.00)

This is a graduate-level introduction to fundamental concepts for the design and control of broadband networks. Topics include resource reservation for multimedia traffic, routing, traffic modeling, congestion control, service disciplines, and multicasting. Concepts are applied to state-of-the-art systems and protocols such as integrated services networks, ATM, and future Internet protocols.
Knightly, E.

538,S - BROADBAND INTEGRATED SERVICES NETWORKS (Credits 3.00)

Design and analysis of broadband networks that support multimedia applications via quality of service guarantees. Topics include end-to-end resource allocation for real-time multimedia applications, packet service disciplines, traffic modeling, and support for mobile and wireless hosts. Examples will be taken from the literature and from Internet and ATM protocols.
Prerequisite: Elec 537 or 529 and a background in probability and random processes.
Knightly, E.

590,F/S - SPECIAL PROJECTS (Credits 1.00)

Theoretical and experimental investigations under staff direction. May be repeated for credit.
Staff

625,F/S - COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE SEMINAR (Credits 1.00)

Discussion of recent research papers in computer architecture and current research at Rice.
Adve, S.V.

693,F - ADVANCED TOPICS IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS (Credits 1.00)

Permission of instructor required.
Varman, P.J.

694,S - ADVANCED TOPICS IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS (Credits 3.00)

May be repeated for credit.
Varman, P.J.

800,F/S - RESEARCH AND THESIS (Credits 1.00)

Staff