Introduction to Computers

• Teachers
• Weekly hours
• Competences
• Objectives
• Contents
• Activities
• Teaching methodology
• Evaluation methodology
• Bibliography
• Web links
• Previous capacities

Teachers

Person in charge

• Enric Morancho Llena ( )
• Josep-Llorenç Cruz Diaz ( )

Others

• Eduardo Tommy Lopez Pastor ( )
• Josep Larriba Pey ( )
• Josep Sole Pareta ( )
• Marc Gonzàlez Tallada ( )
• Octavio Castillo Reyes ( )
• Pau Bofill Soliguer ( )
• Toni Cortés Rosselló ( )

Weekly hours

Competences

Transversal Competences

Teamwork

• G5 - To be capable to work as a team member, being just one more member or performing management tasks, with the finality of contributing to develop projects in a pragmatic way and with responsibility sense; to assume compromises taking into account the available resources.
• CT3 - Ability to work as a member of an interdisciplinary team, as a normal member or performing direction tasks, in order to develop projects with pragmatism and sense of responsibility, making commitments taking into account the available resources.
• CTR3 - Capacity of being able to work as a team member, either as a regular member or performing directive activities, in order to help the development of projects in a pragmatic manner and with sense of responsibility; capability to take into account the available resources.

Entrepreneurship and innovation

• G1 - To know and understand the organization of a company and the sciences which govern its activity; capacity to understand the labour rules and the relation between planning, industrial and business strategies, quality and benefit. To develop creativity, entrepreneur spirit and innovation tendency.
• CT1 - Know and understand the organization of a company and the sciences that govern its activity; have the ability to understand labor standards and the relationships between planning, industrial and commercial strategies, quality and profit. Being aware of and understanding the mechanisms on which scientific research is based, as well as the mechanisms and instruments for transferring results among socio-economic agents involved in research, development and innovation processes.
• CTR1 - Capacity for knowing and understanding a business organization and the science that rules its activity, capability to understand the labour rules and the relationships between planning, industrial and commercial strategies, quality and profit. Capacity for developping creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation trend.

Appropiate attitude towards work

• G8 - To have motivation to be professional and to face new challenges, have a width vision of the possibilities of the career in the field of informatics engineering. To feel motivated for the quality and the continuous improvement, and behave rigorously in the professional development. Capacity to adapt oneself to organizational or technological changes. Capacity to work in situations with information shortage and/or time and/or resources restrictions.
• CT5 - Capability to be motivated for professional development, to meet new challenges and for continuous improvement. Capability to work in situations with lack of information.
• CTR5 - Capability to be motivated by professional achievement and to face new challenges, to have a broad vision of the possibilities of a career in the field of informatics engineering. Capability to be motivated by quality and continuous improvement, and to act strictly on professional development. Capability to adapt to technological or organizational changes. Capacity for working in absence of information and/or with time and/or resources constraints.

Reasoning

• G9 - Capacity of critical, logical and mathematical reasoning. Capacity to solve problems in her study area. Abstraction capacity: capacity to create and use models that reflect real situations. Capacity to design and perform simple experiments and analyse and interpret its results. Analysis, synthesis and evaluation capacity.
• CT6 - Capability to evaluate and analyze on a reasoned and critical way about situations, projects, proposals, reports and scientific-technical surveys. Capability to argue the reasons that explain or justify such situations, proposals, etc..
• CTR6 - Capacity for critical, logical and mathematical reasoning. Capability to solve problems in their area of study. Capacity for abstraction: the capability to create and use models that reflect real situations. Capability to design and implement simple experiments, and analyze and interpret their results. Capacity for analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

Sustainability and social commitment

• G2 - To know and understand the complexity of the economic and social phenomena typical of the welfare society. To be capable of analyse and evaluate the social and environmental impact.
• CT2 - Capability to know and understand the complexity of economic and social typical phenomena of the welfare society; capability to relate welfare with globalization and sustainability; capability to use technique, technology, economics and sustainability in a balanced and compatible way.
• CTR2 - Capability to know and understand the complexity of the typical economic and social phenomena of the welfare society. Capacity for being able to analyze and assess the social and environmental impact.

Third language

• G3 - To know the English language in a correct oral and written level, and accordingly to the needs of the graduates in Informatics Engineering. Capacity to work in a multidisciplinary group and in a multi-language environment and to communicate, orally and in a written way, knowledge, procedures, results and ideas related to the technical informatics engineer profession.
• CT5 - Achieving a level of spoken and written proficiency in a foreign language, preferably English, that meets the needs of the profession and the labour market.

Effective oral and written communication

• G4 - To communicate with other people knowledge, procedures, results and ideas orally and in a written way. To participate in discussions about topics related to the activity of a technical informatics engineer.

Information literacy

• G6 [Avaluable] - To manage the acquisition, structuring, analysis and visualization of data and information of the field of the informatics engineering, and value in a critical way the results of this management.
  • G6.1 - To identify the own needs of information and to use the available collections, locations and services to design and execute simple searches suited to the thematic scope. To classify the gathered information and synthesize it. To value the intellectual property and cite properly the sources.
• CT4 - Capacity for managing the acquisition, the structuring, analysis and visualization of data and information in the field of specialisation, and for critically assessing the results of this management.
• CTR4 - Capability to manage the acquisition, structuring, analysis and visualization of data and information in the area of informatics engineering, and critically assess the results of this effort.

Autonomous learning

• G7 - To detect deficiencies in the own knowledge and overcome them through critical reflection and choosing the best actuation to extend this knowledge. Capacity for learning new methods and technologies, and versatility to adapt oneself to new situations.

Analisis y sintesis

• CT7 - Capability to analyze and solve complex technical problems.

Basic

• CB6 - Ability to apply the acquired knowledge and capacity for solving problems in new or unknown environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of study.
• CB7 - Ability to integrate knowledge and handle the complexity of making judgments based on information which, being incomplete or limited, includes considerations on social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments.
• CB8 - Capability to communicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these, to both skilled and unskilled public in a clear and unambiguous way.
• CB9 - Possession of the learning skills that enable the students to continue studying in a way that will be mainly self-directed or autonomous.
• CB1 - That students have demonstrated to possess and understand knowledge in an area of ??study that starts from the base of general secondary education, and is usually found at a level that, although supported by advanced textbooks, also includes some aspects that imply Knowledge from the vanguard of their field of study.
• CB2 - That the students know how to apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and possess the skills that are usually demonstrated through the elaboration and defense of arguments and problem solving within their area of ??study.
• CB3 - That students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their area of ??study) to make judgments that include a reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues.
• CB4 - That the students can transmit information, ideas, problems and solutions to a specialized and non-specialized public.
• CB5 - That the students have developed those learning skills necessary to undertake later studies with a high degree of autonomy
• CB10 - Possess and understand knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and/or application of ideas, often in a research context.

Transversals

• CT1 - Entrepreneurship and innovation. Know and understand the organization of a company and the sciences that govern its activity; Have the ability to understand labor standards and the relationships between planning, industrial and commercial strategies, quality and profit.
• CT2 - Sustainability and Social Commitment. To know and understand the complexity of economic and social phenomena typical of the welfare society; Be able to relate well-being to globalization and sustainability; Achieve skills to use in a balanced and compatible way the technique, the technology, the economy and the sustainability.
• CT3 - Efficient oral and written communication. Communicate in an oral and written way with other people about the results of learning, thinking and decision making; Participate in debates on topics of the specialty itself.
• CT4 - Teamwork. Be able to work as a member of an interdisciplinary team, either as a member or conducting management tasks, with the aim of contributing to develop projects with pragmatism and a sense of responsibility, taking commitments taking into account available resources.
• CT5 - Solvent use of information resources. Manage the acquisition, structuring, analysis and visualization of data and information in the field of specialty and critically evaluate the results of such management.
• CT6 - Autonomous Learning. Detect deficiencies in one's own knowledge and overcome them through critical reflection and the choice of the best action to extend this knowledge.
• CT7 - Third language. Know a third language, preferably English, with an adequate oral and written level and in line with the needs of graduates.

Gender perspective

• CT6 - An awareness and understanding of sexual and gender inequalities in society in relation to the field of the degree, and the incorporation of different needs and preferences due to sex and gender when designing solutions and solving problems.

Technical Competences

Common technical competencies

• CT1 - To demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of essential facts, concepts, principles and theories related to informatics and their disciplines of reference.
  • CT1.1B - To demonstrate knowledge and comprehension about the fundamentals of computer usage and programming. Knowledge about the structure, operation and interconnection of computer systems, and about the fundamentals of its programming.
• CT2 - To use properly theories, procedures and tools in the professional development of the informatics engineering in all its fields (specification, design, implementation, deployment and products evaluation) demonstrating the comprehension of the adopted compromises in the design decisions.
• CT3 - To demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of the organizational, economic and legal context where her work is developed (proper knowledge about the company concept, the institutional and legal framework of the company and its organization and management)
• CT4 - To demonstrate knowledge and capacity to apply the basic algorithmic procedures of the computer science technologies to design solutions for problems, analysing the suitability and complexity of the algorithms.
• CT5 - To analyse, design, build and maintain applications in a robust, secure and efficient way, choosing the most adequate paradigm and programming languages.
• CT6 - To demonstrate knowledge and comprehension about the internal operation of a computer and about the operation of communications between computers.
  • CT6.2 - To demonstrate knowledge, comprehension and capacity to evaluate the structure and architecture of computers, and the basic components that compound them.
• CT7 - To evaluate and select hardware and software production platforms for executing applications and computer services.
• CT8 - To plan, conceive, deploy and manage computer projects, services and systems in every field, to lead the start-up, the continuous improvement and to value the economical and social impact.

Technical competencies

• CE1 - Skillfully use mathematical concepts and methods that underlie the problems of science and data engineering.
• CE2 - To be able to program solutions to engineering problems: Design efficient algorithmic solutions to a given computational problem, implement them in the form of a robust, structured and maintainable program, and check the validity of the solution.
• CE3 - Analyze complex phenomena through probability and statistics, and propose models of these types in specific situations. Formulate and solve mathematical optimization problems.
• CE4 - Use current computer systems, including high performance systems, for the process of large volumes of data from the knowledge of its structure, operation and particularities.
• CE5 - Design and apply techniques of signal processing, choosing between different technological tools, including those of Artificial vision, speech recognition and multimedia data processing.
• CE6 - Build or use systems of processing and comprehension of written language, integrating it into other systems driven by the data. Design systems for searching textual or hypertextual information and analysis of social networks.
• CE7 - Demonstrate knowledge and ability to apply the necessary tools for the storage, processing and access to data.
• CE8 - Ability to choose and employ techniques of statistical modeling and data analysis, evaluating the quality of the models, validating and interpreting them.
• CE9 - Ability to choose and employ a variety of automatic learning techniques and build systems that use them for decision making, even autonomously.
• CE10 - Visualization of information to facilitate the exploration and analysis of data, including the choice of adequate representation of these and the use of dimensionality reduction techniques.
• CE11 - Within the corporate context, understand the innovation process, be able to propose models and business plans based on data exploitation, analyze their feasibility and be able to communicate them convincingly.
• CE12 - Apply the project management practices in the integral management of the data exploitation engineering project that the student must carry out in the areas of scope, time, economic and risks.
• CE13 - (End-of-degree work) Plan and design and carry out projects of a professional nature in the field of data engineering, leading its implementation, continuous improvement and valuing its economic and social impact. Defend the project developed before a university court.

Especifics

• CE1 - Develop efficient algorithms based on the knowledge and understanding of the computational complexity theory and considering the main data structures within the scope of data science
• CE2 - Apply the fundamentals of data management and processing to a data science problem
• CE3 - Apply data integration methods to solve data science problems in heterogeneous data environments
• CE4 - Apply scalable storage and parallel data processing methods, including data streams, once the most appropriate methods for a data science problem have been identified
• CE5 - Model, design, and implement complex data systems, including data visualization
• CE6 - Design the Data Science process and apply scientific methodologies to obtain conclusions about populations and make decisions accordingly, from both structured and unstructured data and potentially stored in heterogeneous formats.
• CE7 - Identify the limitations imposed by data quality in a data science problem and apply techniques to smooth their impact
• CE8 - Extract information from structured and unstructured data by considering their multivariate nature.
• CE9 - Apply appropriate methods for the analysis of non-traditional data formats, such as processes and graphs, within the scope of data science
• CE10 - Identify machine learning and statistical modeling methods to use and apply them rigorously in order to solve a specific data science problem
• CE11 - Analyze and extract knowledge from unstructured information using natural language processing techniques, text and image mining
• CE12 - Apply data science in multidisciplinary projects to solve problems in new or poorly explored domains from a data science perspective that are economically viable, socially acceptable, and in accordance with current legislation
• CE13 - Identify the main threats related to ethics and data privacy in a data science project (both in terms of data management and analysis) and develop and implement appropriate measures to mitigate these threats
• CE14 - Execute, present and defend an original exercise carried out individually in front of an academic commission, consisting of an engineering project in the field of data science synthesizing the competences acquired in the studies

Technical Competences of each Specialization

Information systems specialization

• CSI2 - To integrate solutions of Information and Communication Technologies, and business processes to satisfy the information needs of the organizations, allowing them to achieve their objectives effectively.
• CSI3 - To determine the requirements of the information and communication systems of an organization, taking into account the aspects of security and compliance of the current normative and legislation.
• CSI4 - To participate actively in the specification, design, implementation and maintenance of the information and communication systems.
• CSI1 - To demonstrate comprehension and apply the principles and practices of the organization, in a way that they could link the technical and management communities of an organization, and participate actively in the user training.

Software engineering specialization

• CES1 - To develop, maintain and evaluate software services and systems which satisfy all user requirements, which behave reliably and efficiently, with a reasonable development and maintenance and which satisfy the rules for quality applying the theories, principles, methods and practices of Software Engineering.
• CES2 - To value the client needs and specify the software requirements to satisfy these needs, reconciling conflictive objectives through searching acceptable compromises, taking into account the limitations related to the cost, time, already developed systems and organizations.
• CES3 - To identify and analyse problems; design, develop, implement, verify and document software solutions having an adequate knowledge about the current theories, models and techniques.

Information technology specialization

• CTI1 - To define, plan and manage the installation of the ICT infrastructure of the organization.
• CTI2 - To guarantee that the ICT systems of an organization operate adequately, are secure and adequately installed, documented, personalized, maintained, updated and substituted, and the people of the organization receive a correct ICT support.
• CTI3 - To design solutions which integrate hardware, software and communication technologies (and capacity to develop specific solutions of systems software) for distributed systems and ubiquitous computation devices.
• CTI4 - To use methodologies centred on the user and the organization to develop, evaluate and manage applications and systems based on the information technologies which ensure the accessibility, ergonomics and usability of the systems.

Computer engineering specialization

• CEC1 - To design and build digital systems, including computers, systems based on microprocessors and communications systems.
• CEC2 - To analyse and evaluate computer architectures including parallel and distributed platforms, and develop and optimize software for these platforms.
• CEC3 - To develop and analyse hardware and software for embedded and/or very low consumption systems.
• CEC4 - To design, deploy, administrate and manage computer networks, and manage the guarantee and security of computer systems.

Computer science specialization

• CCO1 - To have an in-depth knowledge about the fundamental principles and computations models and be able to apply them to interpret, select, value, model and create new concepts, theories, uses and technological developments, related to informatics.
• CCO2 - To develop effectively and efficiently the adequate algorithms and software to solve complex computation problems.
• CCO3 - To develop computer solutions that, taking into account the execution environment and the computer architecture where they are executed, achieve the best performance.

Academic

• CEA1 - Capability to understand the basic principles of the Multiagent Systems operation main techniques , and to know how to use them in the environment of an intelligent service or system.
• CEA2 - Capability to understand the basic operation principles of Planning and Approximate Reasoning main techniques, and to know how to use in the environment of an intelligent system or service.
• CEA3 - Capability to understand the basic operation principles of Machine Learning main techniques, and to know how to use on the environment of an intelligent system or service.
• CEA4 - Capability to understand the basic operation principles of Computational Intelligence main techniques, and to know how to use in the environment of an intelligent system or service.
• CEA5 - Capability to understand the basic operation principles of Natural Language Processing main techniques, and to know how to use in the environment of an intelligent system or service.
• CEA6 - Capability to understand the basic operation principles of Computational Vision main techniques, and to know how to use in the environment of an intelligent system or service.
• CEA7 - Capability to understand the problems, and the solutions to problems in the professional practice of Artificial Intelligence application in business and industry environment.
• CEA8 - Capability to research in new techniques, methodologies, architectures, services or systems in the area of ??Artificial Intelligence.
• CEA9 - Capability to understand Multiagent Systems advanced techniques, and to know how to design, implement and apply these techniques in the development of intelligent applications, services or systems.
• CEA10 - Capability to understand advanced techniques of Human-Computer Interaction, and to know how to design, implement and apply these techniques in the development of intelligent applications, services or systems.
• CEA11 - Capability to understand the advanced techniques of Computational Intelligence, and to know how to design, implement and apply these techniques in the development of intelligent applications, services or systems.
• CEA12 - Capability to understand the advanced techniques of Knowledge Engineering, Machine Learning and Decision Support Systems, and to know how to design, implement and apply these techniques in the development of intelligent applications, services or systems.
• CEA13 - Capability to understand advanced techniques of Modeling , Reasoning and Problem Solving, and to know how to design, implement and apply these techniques in the development of intelligent applications, services or systems.
• CEA14 - Capability to understand the advanced techniques of Vision, Perception and Robotics, and to know how to design, implement and apply these techniques in the development of intelligent applications, services or systems.

Professional

• CEP1 - Capability to solve the analysis of information needs from different organizations, identifying the uncertainty and variability sources.
• CEP2 - Capability to solve the decision making problems from different organizations, integrating intelligent tools.
• CEP3 - Capacity for applying Artificial Intelligence techniques in technological and industrial environments to improve quality and productivity.
• CEP4 - Capability to design, write and report about computer science projects in the specific area of ??Artificial Intelligence.
• CEP5 - Capability to design new tools and new techniques of Artificial Intelligence in professional practice.
• CEP6 - Capability to assimilate and integrate the changing economic, social and technological environment to the objectives and procedures of informatic work in intelligent systems.
• CEP7 - Capability to respect the legal rules and deontology in professional practice.
• CEP8 - Capability to respect the surrounding environment and design and develop sustainable intelligent systems.

Direcció i gestió

• CDG1 - Capability to integrate technologies, applications, services and systems of Informatics Engineering, in general and in broader and multicisciplinary contexts.
• CDG2 - Capacity for strategic planning, development, direction, coordination, and technical and economic management in the areas of Informatics Engineering related to: systems, applications, services, networks, infrastructure or computer facilities and software development centers or factories, respecting the implementation of quality and environmental criteria in multidisciplinary working environments .
• CDG3 - Capability to manage research, development and innovation projects in companies and technology centers, guaranteeing the safety of people and assets, the final quality of products and their homologation.

Especifics

• CTE1 - Capability to model, design, define the architecture, implement, manage, operate, administrate and maintain applications, networks, systems, services and computer contents.
• CTE2 - Capability to understand and know how to apply the operation and organization of Internet, technologies and protocols for next generation networks, component models, middleware and services.
• CTE3 - Capability to secure, manage, audit and certify the quality of developments, processes, systems, services, applications and software products.
• CTE4 - Capability to design, develop, manage and evaluate mechanisms of certification and safety guarantee in the management and access to information in a local or distributed processing.
• CTE5 - Capability to analyze the information needs that arise in an environment and carry out all the stages in the process of building an information system.
• CTE6 - Capability to design and evaluate operating systems and servers, and applications and systems based on distributed computing.
• CTE7 - Capability to understand and to apply advanced knowledge of high performance computing and numerical or computational methods to engineering problems.
• CTE8 - Capability to design and develop systems, applications and services in embedded and ubiquitous systems .
• CTE9 - Capability to apply mathematical, statistical and artificial intelligence methods to model, design and develop applications, services, intelligent systems and knowledge-based systems.
• CTE10 - Capability to use and develop methodologies, methods, techniques, special-purpose programs, rules and standards for computer graphics.
• CTE11 - Capability to conceptualize, design, develop and evaluate human-computer interaction of products, systems, applications and informatic services.
• CTE12 - Capability to create and exploit virtual environments, and to the create, manageme and distribute of multimedia content.

Computer graphics and virtual reality

• CEE1.1 - Capability to understand and know how to apply current and future technologies for the design and evaluation of interactive graphic applications in three dimensions, either when priorizing image quality or when priorizing interactivity and speed, and to understand the associated commitments and the reasons that cause them.
• CEE1.2 - Capability to understand and know how to apply current and future technologies for the evaluation, implementation and operation of virtual and / or increased reality environments, and 3D user interfaces based on devices for natural interaction.
• CEE1.3 - Ability to integrate the technologies mentioned in CEE1.2 and CEE1.1 skills with other digital processing information technologies to build new applications as well as make significant contributions in multidisciplinary teams using computer graphics.

Computer networks and distributed systems

• CEE2.1 - Capability to understand models, problems and algorithms related to distributed systems, and to design and evaluate algorithms and systems that process the distribution problems and provide distributed services.
• CEE2.2 - Capability to understand models, problems and algorithms related to computer networks and to design and evaluate algorithms, protocols and systems that process the complexity of computer communications networks.
• CEE2.3 - Capability to understand models, problems and mathematical tools to analyze, design and evaluate computer networks and distributed systems.

Advanced computing

• CEE3.1 - Capability to identify computational barriers and to analyze the complexity of computational problems in different areas of science and technology as well as to represent high complexity problems in mathematical structures which can be treated effectively with algorithmic schemes.
• CEE3.2 - Capability to use a wide and varied spectrum of algorithmic resources to solve high difficulty algorithmic problems.
• CEE3.3 - Capability to understand the computational requirements of problems from non-informatics disciplines and to make significant contributions in multidisciplinary teams that use computing.

High performance computing

• CEE4.1 - Capability to analyze, evaluate and design computers and to propose new techniques for improvement in its architecture.
• CEE4.2 - Capability to analyze, evaluate, design and optimize software considering the architecture and to propose new optimization techniques.
• CEE4.3 - Capability to analyze, evaluate, design and manage system software in supercomputing environments.

Service engineering

• CEE5.1 - Capability to participate in improvement projects or to create service systems, providing in particular: a) innovation and research proposals based on new uses and developments of information technologies, b) application of the most appropriate software engineering and databases principles when developing information systems, c) definition, installation and management of infrastructure / platform necessary for the efficient running of service systems.
• CEE5.2 - Capability to apply obtained knowledge in any kind of service systems, being familiar with some of them, and thorough knowledge of eCommerce systems and their extensions (eBusiness, eOrganization, eGovernment, etc.).
• CEE5.3 - Capability to work in interdisciplinary engineering services teams and, provided the necessary domain experience, capability to work autonomously in specific service systems.

Specific

• CEC1 - Ability to apply scientific methodologies in the study and analysis of phenomena and systems in any field of Information Technology as well as in the conception, design and implementation of innovative and original computing solutions.
• CEC2 - Capacity for mathematical modelling, calculation and experimental design in engineering technology centres and business, particularly in research and innovation in all areas of Computer Science.
• CEC3 - Ability to apply innovative solutions and make progress in the knowledge that exploit the new paradigms of Informatics, particularly in distributed environments.

Generic Technical Competences

Generic

• CG1 - Identify and apply the most appropriate data management methods and processes to manage the data life cycle, considering both structured and unstructured data
• CG2 - Identify and apply methods of data analysis, knowledge extraction and visualization for data collected in disparate formats
• CG3 - Define, design and implement complex systems that cover all phases in data science projects
• CG4 - Design and implement data science projects in specific domains and in an innovative way
• CG5 - To be able to draw on fundamental knowledge and sound work methodologies acquired during the studies to adapt to the new technological scenarios of the future.
• CG6 - Capacity for general management, technical management and research projects management, development and innovation in companies and technology centers in the area of Computer Science.
• CG7 - Capacity for implementation, direction and management of computer manufacturing processes, with guarantee of safety for people and assets, the final quality of the products and their homologation.
• CG8 - Capability to apply the acquired knowledge and to solve problems in new or unfamiliar environments inside broad and multidisciplinary contexts, being able to integrate this knowledge.
• CG9 - Capacity to understand and apply ethical responsibility, law and professional deontology of the activity of the Informatics Engineering profession.
• CG10 - Capacity to apply economics, human resources and projects management principles, as well as legislation, regulation and standardization of Informatics.

Objectives

1. Explain the operation of a von Neumann computer using their own words, including the internal structure in terms of processor subsystems, bus, storage, input/output and execution of a program in machine language, as well as the most important differences between the machine language of RISC and CISC computers.
   Related competences: CT1.1B,
2. Define the conventional numbering system in base b for representing natural numbers, particularly the binary case (b=2), and also the system for representing integers in two's complement (Ca2).
   Related competences: CT1.1B,
3. Explain natural number representation in base 2, 10 or 16 converted to another of these bases.
   Related competences: CT1.1B,
4. Explain a combinational logic circuit and specify the truth table for the basic logic gates (NOT, AND, OR and XOR) and the multiplexer and decoder blocks.
   Related competences: CT6.2,
5. Analyse small combinational circuits (obtain truth tables and propagation time and create operational time schedules).
   Related competences: CT6.2,
6. Synthesise small combinational circuits (obtain logic diagrams with one of the following sets of devices: NOT, AND and OR gates as a sum of minterms or minimum products), a decoder and OR gates, and a ROM and multiplexers.
   Related competences: CT6.2,
7. Apply arithmetic algorithms to basic operations (addition, subtraction, comparison, multiplication and division by powers of two) with vectors of bits representing natural numbers in binary and integers in two's complement.
   Related competences: CT1.1B,
8. Draw the internal logic diagram for combinational blocks (combinational circuits that manipulate n-bit words) that perform basic arithmetic operations on natural numbers represented in binary and on integers represented in two's complement, as well as the internal logic block diagram that performs basic bitwise operations (NOT, AND, OR and XOR).
   Related competences: CT6.2,
9. Explain sequential logic circuits (general Mealy and particular Moore cases) and specify the operation of an edge-triggered D-type flip-flop and depict its internal logic diagram using two multiplexers.
   Related competences: CT6.2,
10. Analyse small Moore sequential circuits (obtain state graphs and minimum cycle time and draw simplified operational time schedules).
    Related competences: CT6.2,
11. Synthesise small Moore sequential circuits (using the minimum number of edge-triggered D-type flip-flops and any of the combinational circuit synthesis techniques studied).
    Related competences: CT6.2,
12. Design specific-purpose processors that manipulate n-bit words generated by a processing unit (designed ad hoc with combinational and sequential blocks) and a control unit (specified by a Moore state graph).
    Related competences: CT6.2,
13. Explain the asynchronous four-phase handshaking communication protocol and apply it to data input/output in specific-purpose processors.
    Related competences: CT6.2,
14. Draw the interconnection diagram for the general processing unit (GPU) at the block level and the internal logic diagram for each block (register bank and arithmetic logic unit).
    
    Related competences: CT6.2,
15. Draw the Moore state graph for a specific-purpose control unit so that it implements specific functions along with the general processing unit (GPU).
    Related competences: CT6.2,
16. Explain the steps necessary to transform a specific-purpose control unit (implementation of a state graph) into a general-purpose control unit which, together with the general processing unit (GPU), will form a simple RISC processor, and explain implicit sequencing and instruction coding.
    Related competences: CT6.2,
17. Justify the need for a large data memory and explain the operation of a block of RAM by means of a schedule of its input and output signals (simplified model).
    Related competences: CT6.2,
18. Depict the internal logic diagram for a simple input/output subsystem with keyboard and printer.
    Related competences: CT6.2,
19. Depict an interconnection diagram for the storage and input/output subsystems with the processor (GCU+GPU) so as to configure a simple RISC computer.
    Related competences: CT6.2,
20. Define, for each instruction to a simple RISC processor (some 20 instructions), format in machine language, syntax in assembly language and semantics (how the computer status is modified).
    Related competences: CT6.2, CT1.1B,
21. Indicate how computer status is modified (register content, data storage and I/O ports) after running small programs (maximum 10 instructions) written in simple RISC computer assembly language.
    Related competences: CT6.2, CT1.1B,
22. Write small programs (maximum 10 instructions) in assembly language for a simple RISC processor.
    Related competences: CT1.1B,
23. Draw the logic block diagram for a simple RISC processor (showing the internal layout of each block and smaller block interconnections to the level of the NOT, AND, OR gates or ROM—showing its content—and edge-triggered D-type flip-flops) for both the single-cycle implementation (each instruction execution requires just a single cycle) and the multicycle implementation.
    Related competences: CT6.2,
24. Indicate the value of certain signals or buses in the processing and control units of a simple RISC processor, before the end of each cycle and during the execution of a sequence of two or three instructions.
    Related competences: CT6.2,
25. Propose suitable modifications to run a new machine language instruction (equivalent to the original instructions in complexity) for single-cycle and multicycle implementation of a simple RISC processor.
    Related competences: CT6.2,
26. Design, analyse and simulate digital circuits using the LogicWorks interactive tool to draw multilevel-block logic circuit diagrams.
    Related competences: CT6.2,
27. Locate and sort information and summarise it in the form of an article (maximum five pages), as a self-directed learning task for a course component for which no documentation is provided. This document should properly list the sources used and should distinguish between the quality of the references.
    Related competences: G6.1,

Contents

1. Introduction
   A brief introduction to digital information, digital information representation and digital circuits, special purpose processors, the Von Neumann machine, machine and assembly languages and their relationship to high-level languages (compilation/translation).
2. Representing natural numbers
   Representation of natural numbers in decimal and binary and generalisation to the conventional system in base b. Hexadecimal. Representation range. Range extension algorithm. Change of basis between conventional systems.
3. Combinational logic circuits
   Definition of a combinational logic circuit. Time schedules. Variables and logic functions. Truth tables. NOT, AND and OR logic gates. Logic circuit diagram. Interconnection rules for constructing valid combinational logic circuits. Logical analysis (from the diagram to the truth table). Synthesis (from the functional description to the truth table and from the truth table to the logic circuit): in sum of minterms with a decoder and OR gates, with a ROM and minimal sum of products using Karnaugh maps. Temporal analysis (time schedules and input-output propagation times).
4. Natural numbers: combinational arithmetic blocks
   Arithmetic algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by powers of two natural numbers represented in binary. Full adder, half adder and full subtractor. Combinational blocks that implement the above arithmetic algorithms with detection results that cannot be represented in n bits. Comparators for equal, less and less or equal. Non-arithmetic combinational blocks (bitwise logical operators and tree multiplexer design). New arithmetic block design.
5. Integers: representation and combinational arithmetic blocks
   Representing integers. Two's complement. Range and range extension algorithm. Changing integer representation between sign and magnitude in the decimal system and two's complement. Arithmetic algorithms and implementing combinational blocks (with detection of results that cannot be represented in n bits): addition, sign change, subtraction, multiplication and division by powers of two and the less and less or equal comparators. Adder/subtractor with results detection that cannot be represented by natural numbers or integers.
6. Sequential logical circuits
   Memory needs and synchronisation. The clock signal. Definition of synchronous sequential circuit. Edge-triggered D-type flip-flops: definition and implementation with two multiplexers, time propagation and time schedules. Interconnection rules for constructing valid sequential circuits. Sequential circuit structures (Mealy and Moore models). Transition tables and output tables. State graphs for the Moore model. Simplified time schedules. Logic analysis: from the circuit to the state graph. Synthesis: from the functional specification to the state graph and from the state graph to the logic circuit diagram with a minimum number of flip-flops. Temporal analysis: critical paths and minimum cycle times.
7. Special purpose processors
   Introduction. Special-purpose processor design, with a processing unit (for n-bit words) and a control unit (generating the control word for each cycle). The processing unit is designed ad hoc using combinational and sequential blocks of n bits and the control unit is specified by a Moore state graph. Examples with synchronous data input/output: add four numbers, calculate the GCD of two numbers with the Euclidean algorithm, etc. Asynchronous communication protocol for data input/output: four-phase handshaking. Examples with asynchronous data input/output.
8. General processing unit
   Introduction: from special purpose to general purpose processors. Register bank with one write and two read buses. Arithmetic logic unit with bitwise functionality for logic operations, arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by powers of two for natural numbers and integers), comparators (equal, less and less or equal for natural numbers and integers) and movement. General processing unit (GPU) structure. Connections between the GPU and the control unit: control word and zero bit condition. Actions to implement in such problems using the GPU. Mnemonics of actions (AND, OR, XOR, NOT, ADD, SUB, SHA, SHL, CMPLT, CMPLE, CMPEQ, CMPLTU, CMPLE, MOV, IN, OUT and NOP) and associated control word bits. Actions with immediate values and actions that do not alter records. Special purpose processor design using the GPU (specifying the control unit via a state graph and the control word via mnemonics). Input/output address spaces and IN and OUT actions. Asynchronous data input/output via the four-phase handshaking protocol. Model designs based on high-level language code that specifies processor functionality (four-bit adder, GCD calculation for the Euclidean algorithm, etc.).
9. General control unit
   Initial implementation of the control unit (just like any other sequential circuit): with a state register, a ROM (where each word is stored in the next two possible states, depending on the Z-bit condition and the control word governing the GPU during a cycle) and a bus multiplexer to select the next state depending on Z. Von Neumann and Harvard computer models. ROM instruction storage. From the state graph to the program in machine/assembly language. Definitive control unit structure with implicit sequencing, 16-bit instructions and an instruction decoder to obtain the 50-bit control word from 16 instruction bits. SISA instructions format (with one, two or three registers) and coding. Uses: arithmetic, logical and comparative, sequence breaking, input-output, movement (register loading with a constant) and addition of a small constant. Examples of passing from graphs (specifying a control unit with specific objectives which executes an algorithm with the GPU) to code snippets in SISA assembly language so as to perform the same function (although usually requiring more cycles).
10. Storage and input/output
    RAM, a simple operational model (read and write schedules, access times for reading and set-up and signal pulse width permission to write scripts). Memory address space. Processor and data memory connections. Read (load: LD) and write instructions (store: ST): semantics, machine language format and assembler syntax. Examples of state modifications for specific load and store computer instructions. Examples of small programs with memory access. Simple input/output subsystem consisting of a keyboard and printer with the side effect of the state register (port) for data reading (keyboard) and data writing (printer) set to zero. Input/output with synchronisation by polling. Examples of small programs with data input/output data.
11. Machine and assembly languages
    General review of SISA machine and assembly language (25 instructions) as per the previous two topics. Exercises on: a) SISA code assembly and disassembly; b) computer state modification after execution of an instruction or small program; and c) writing small programs in assembly language.
12. Single-cycle processors
    Complete single-cycle implementation details (SISC Harvard unicycle) for a processor running programs in SISA machine language (as developed in topics 8, 9 and 10): a) minor GPU ALU modification to execute immediate instructions to move the largest 8-bits in a register to MOVHI; b) single address bus for the input/output space; and c) instruction decoder design to obtain a 46-bit control word from a 16-bit instruction using a small ROM and a small number of multiplexers and gates. ROM content of the instruction decoder. Temporary restrictions on write permission signals for storage and data input/output. Examples of changes to SISC Harvard unicycle design so that it executes a new instruction as well as the more than 25 original instructions. Calculating the critical path and minimum cycle time for a single-cycle computer. Small program run times.
13. Multicycle processors
    Introduction: justification for multicycle implementation (SISC Harvard multicycle) rather than single-cycle implementation (SISC Harvard unicycle). Changes to the processor control unit. Sequential control unit design: state graphs and their implementation. Temporary restrictions on write permission signals for storage and data input/output. Examples of changes to SISC Harvard multicycle design so that it executes a new instruction as well as the more than 25 original instructions. Calculating the critical path and minimum cycle time for a multicycle computer. Small program run times.

Activities

Activity Evaluation act

Teaching methodology

Evaluation methodology

Bibliography

Basic:

• Introducción a los computadores - Navarro, J.J.; Juan, T,
  http://atenea.upc.edu
• Introducción a los computadores: prácticas - Navarro, J.J, CPET, 2012. ISBN: 9788461488162
  https://discovery.upc.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma991003912709706711&context=L&vid=34CSUC_UPC:VU1&lang=ca
• Introducció als computadors: col·lecció de problemes - Navarro, J.J; Muntés Mulero, V.; Llorenç Cruz, J.; Palomar, Ó.; Sánchez Castaño, F.; Solé, M, CPET, 2012. ISBN: 9788461487943
  http://cataleg.upc.edu/record=b1404988~S1*cat

Complementary:

• Principios de diseño digital - Gajski, D.D, Prentice Hall , 1997. ISBN: 8483220040
  https://discovery.upc.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma991001588239706711&context=L&vid=34CSUC_UPC:VU1&lang=ca

Web links

• Curso Moodle "Introducció als computadors" donde se encuentra toda la información de la asignatura incluidos los apuntes de teoría, problemas y prácticas de laboratorio así como los cuestionarios electónicos que deben entregar los alumnos después de cada sesión de clase. http://atenea.upc.edu

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