Computer Organisation and Systems Software

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 5
• Convenor: Dr Carl Barton
• Assessment: an online quiz (50%) and two-hour examination (50%)

In this module you will become familiar with the main parts of a computer, their functions and interconnections. You will also learn the main functions of the operating system and how it interacts with the hardware.

Indicative syllabus

• Computer architecture (CA) and operating system (OS) overview
• Processors
• Processes and threads
• Concurrency
• Memory management
• Input/Output and file systems

By the end of this module, you will:

• understand the fundamental components of a computer and how they interact
• understand how operating systems manage and assign computational resources
• understand the basic architectural design consideration for designing computer systems and how design influences performance
• understand the difference between processes and threads and be able to use algorithms for scheduling, synchronisation, communication, allocation
• be able to write and understand simple machine code.