A few years ago the book on 'Digital design and Computer Architecture' was published. Since that time readers experience with the book has shown it to be
the only book available that effectively covers both the fundamentals of the entire stack of computer architecture, and the most important parts of the leading edge.
This book has turned out to be one of the most useful books ever written about computers. It covers topics of fundamental interest to Makers, Programmers, EE's and technologists in general
at the deepest levels:
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.
MIPS is a reduced instruction set CPU architecture with an academic heritage. In recent years it hasn't been as popular as the X86 or ARM chips, but because of the academic material available for it and it's simplicity,
it's a better platform for learning about computer architecture fundamentals at the deepest levels.
The MIPS chip company was purchased by Imagination Technologies, a UK company. Imagination Technologies has launched an education program for MIPS chips, in the form of seminars
and a program for University professors. The next 3 seminars will be in Europe, but are being taught by some of the best computer education professors in the world. The seminars involve
building computer components with an FPGA.
