CS 686: Special Topic: Intel EM64T and VT Extensions (Spring 2007)

Tue-Thu 7:30pm-9:15pm (Room HRN-235)

Instructor: Allan Cruse
cruse@usfca.edu
Phone: (415) 422-6562
Office: 212 Harney Science Center
Office Hours: (see my homepage)


Many companies do an excellent job of providing information to help customers use their
products... but in the end there's no substitute for real-life experiments: putting together the
hardware, writing the program code, and watching what happens when the code executes.
Then when the result isn't as expected -- as it often isn't -- it means trying something else
or searching the documentation for clues.

-- Jan Axelson, author, Lakeview Research (1998)

Course Synopsis:

This course explores some recently implemented extensions to the world's most popular microprocessor architecture,
dubbed EM64T ("Extended Memory 64-bit Technology", also known as "Intel64") for Intel's enlarged (e.g., up to 1TB)
virtual memory address-space with 64-bit integer arithmetical capabilities, eight extra 'general-purpose' registers, and
VT-x ("Virtualization Technology") for the ubiquitous Intel x86 family of server, workstation, and laptop CPUs.

Planned course-topics include: Throughout the course small software-component prototypes will be written using the GNU/Linux program development
tools (including assemblers and C/C++ compilers). The course is open to graduate students in computer science (and to
qualified undergraduates or non-degree students in cases where the Instructor has granted permission).

Students are assumed to be familiar with Linux or UNIX, and with programming in C/C++, and to be acquainted with the
Intel x86 processor family's registers, instruction-set, and assembly language. The site for meetings of this class will be
the University's Michael D. Kudlick interactive computer classroom (Room 235, Harney Science Center) which affords
convenient opportunities for combining formal instruction with "hands-on" programming exercises. This endowed facility,
a gift of USF alumnus Alfred S. Chuang ('82), opened in Fall 2002 and regularly is upgraded: students who enroll in this
semester's class will have access to new Core-2 Duo platforms that implement the Intel EM64T and VT technologies.

Learning Outcomes: Textbook and Reference:

Resources

Readings

Systems Software

Handouts

Announcements

Last updated on 07/30/2008