Moore G. (1965) Cramming more components onto Integrated Circuits.

• Q1: Briefly summarize the paper.
• Q2: The figure on page 2 graphs relative manufacturing cost per component against the number of components per integrated circuit. Why do the chips become less cost effective per component for both very large and very small numbers of components per chip?
• Q3: One of the potential problems which Moore raises (and dismisses) is heat. Do you agree with Moore's conclusions? Either justify or refute Moore's conclusions.
• Q4: A popular misconception of Moore's law is that it states that the speed of computers increases exponentially, however, that is not what Moore foretells in this paper. Explain what Moore's law actually says based on this paper.

Cocke J.& Markstein V. (2000) The Evolution of RISC Technology at IBM.

• Q1: What were the advantages (if any) and disadvantages (if any) of each of the changes from the 801 to the improved 801? Did each of these changes make the newer processor more or less RISC-like than its predecessor?
• Q2: What were the advantages (if any) and disadvantages (if any) of each of the changes from the improved 801 to the RS/6000? Did each of these changes make the newer processor more or less RISC-like than its predecessor?
• Q3: Software technology had a large impact on the 801 project. Describe both the role of software simulation of the 801 and the 801's compiler in the 801 project.
• Q4: What might Cocke and Markstein's experience with using the 801 PL.8 compiler to generate code for the IBM/370 imply about compiling for today's x86 processors (recall that both IBM/370 and x86 are CISC instruction sets).

Jouppi N. (1998) Improving Direct-Mapped Cache Performance by the Addition of a Small Fully-Associative Cache and Prefetch Buffers.

• Q1: Briefly describe the experiment and/or analysis Jouppi might have performed to generate the data for the graph in figure 2-2.
• Q2: Using what you've learned in class and from the textbook readings, briefly discuss a few interesting similarities or differences in the memory hierarchy described by Jouppi and a typical memory hierarchy for today's processors.
• Q3: Assume that you must choose between adding either a victim cache or a multi-stream buffer to a modern microprocessor. Discuss which one you would choose and why.