Digital Logic & Computer Organization

Course Description

Digital Logic & Computer Organization takes students from Boolean logic gates up to a working mental model of how a simple processor executes instructions. Weekly labs build circuits — first on paper, then in a simulator — so the material stays concrete rather than purely diagrammatic.

Learning Outcomes

Design combinational circuits from a Boolean specification.
Explain how sequential circuits store and update state.
Trace instruction execution through a simplified processor model.
Connect logic-level concepts to the performance of real programs.

Weekly Topics

Examines boolean algebra from a practical angle, using a case drawn from real systems to motivate the concepts.

Builds directly on the previous week to extend logic gates, with an emphasis on where the earlier techniques stop working.

Combines a short lecture on combinational circuits with an in-class exercise students carry into the week's assignment.

Focuses on common mistakes and misconceptions around sequential circuits, using student work from the previous assignment as material.

Introduces registers & memory and immediately puts it to use in a small design or implementation task.

Situates number systems & arithmetic circuits within the broader arc of the course, showing how it connects to what comes next.

Uses a guest dataset or scenario to explore mid-semester review in a setting closer to professional practice.

Introduces instruction sets through short lectures and worked examples, building the vocabulary the rest of the course relies on.

Works through the fetch-decode-execute cycle in a lab-driven session, with guided exercises students complete and discuss in small groups.

Covers simple processor design in depth, connecting the underlying theory to a concrete example the class builds together.

Examines memory hierarchy basics from a practical angle, using a case drawn from real systems to motivate the concepts.

Builds directly on the previous week to extend simulator project, with an emphasis on where the earlier techniques stop working.

Combines a short lecture on revision with an in-class exercise students carry into the week's assignment.

Assessment

Assignments — 15%

Practical Work — 30%

Mid-Semester — 15%

Final Examination — 40%

Prerequisite Map

Related Courses

Core200 Level

CSC205

Computer Architecture

Computer Architecture builds on the digital logic foundation from CSC108 into a full picture of how a modern processor and memory system deliver performance, and where that performance breaks down. Students come away able to explain why two functionally identical programs can run at very different speeds.

Samuel Berger 3 cr