CSCE 230: Computer Organization
Spring 2026

Instructor

Jeffrey Falkinburg
Computer Science and Engineering
368 Avery Hall
jfalkinburg2@unl.edu
Office Hours:
TBD via Zoom
and by appointment.

Teaching Assistants

Undergraduate TAs:
See Canvas
Office Hours:
TBD

Course Information

Lecture: Monday/Wednesday/Friday Lecture: 9:30am-10:20am in Kiewit Hall A253
Recitation: Tuesday or Wednesday 3:30pm-4:20pm in Avery 19
Laboratory: Tuesday or Wednesday 4:30pm-6:20pm in Avery 21

For more detailed information on this course please see the course syllabus.

Course Description

Computer Organization (4 cr) Lecture 3 hours, recitation 1 hour, laboratory 2 hours. Introduction to organization and structure of computer systems. Boolean Logic, Digital Arithmetic, Processor Organization, Machine Language Programming, Input/Output, Memory Organization, System Support Software, Communication, and Ethics.

Course Canvas Pages

Assignments

See the course schedule below for reading assignments and the general topics covered in the course.

Week of...
Week #
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
12 Jan
Week 1
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
12 Jan
 Chapter 1: Binary Numbers
Number Systems and Conversions



13 Jan


Lab 1 Start

14 Jan
 Chapter 1: Binary Numbers
Addition/Subtraction of
Signed/Unsigned Numbers
Lab 1 Start

15 Jan




16 Jan
 Chapter 1: Binary Numbers
Multiplication/Division and
Zero/Sign Extension


19 Jan
Week 2
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
19 Jan


MLK Day! - No Class
20 Jan

Lab 2 Start
Lab 1: Due at Midnight

21 Jan
 Ch 2 & App B: Basic Assembly Lang
Assembly Language Basics

Lab 2 Start

22 Jan




23 Jan
 Ch 2 & App B: Basic Assembly Lang
Arithmetic and Branching Instructions



26 Jan
Week 3
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
26 Jan
 Ch 2 & App B: Basic Assembly Lang
Logic, Move, Shift, and Rotate Instr

Lab 2: Due at Midnight
Homework 1: Due Midnight Sunday
27 Jan


Lab 3 Start

28 Jan
 Ch 2 & App B: Basic Assembly Lang
Load/Store Instr and Directives

Lab 3 Start

29 Jan




30 Jan
 Ch 2 & App B: Basic Assembly Lang
Subroutine Instr and Stack



2 Feb
Week 4
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
2 Feb
 Ch 2 & App B: Basic Assembly Lang
Nested Subroutines

Lab 3: Due at Midnight

3 Feb


Lab 4 Start

4 Feb
 Ch 3 & App B: I/O Assembly
Polling

Lab 4 Start

5 Feb




6 Feb
 Ch 3 & App B: I/O Assembly
Interrupts



9 Feb
Week 5
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
9 Feb
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
Logic Gates, Logic Rules, & Synthesis

Lab 4: Due at Midnight
Homework 2: Due Midnight Sunday
10 Feb


Lab 5 Start

11 Feb
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
K-Maps and VHDL Intro

Lab 5 Start

12 Feb

Exam 1 at DLC



13 Feb

Exam 1 at DLC



16 Feb
Week 6
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
16 Feb
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
VHDL Intro, Data Types, and CSAs

Lab 5: Due at Midnight
Advising/Counselings Start
17 Feb


Lab 6 Start

18 Feb
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
VHDL Intro Part 2

Lab 6 Start

19 Feb




20 Feb
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
Sequential Circuits



23 Feb
Week 7
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
23 Feb
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
Flip-Flops, Registers, & Seq Circuits

Lab 6: Due at Midnight
Advising/Counseling Week 2
24 Feb


Lab 7 Start

25 Feb
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
FSM Design

Lab 7 Start

26 Feb




27 Feb
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
FSM Analysis



2 Mar
Week 8
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
2 Mar
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
VHDL Concurrent vs Sequential


Advising/Counseling Week 3
3 Mar




4 Mar
 App A: Logic circuit and VHDL
VHDL Synthesis and VHDL FSMs



5 Mar




6 Mar
 Ch 5: Processor Design & Nios Proc
Nios CPU Overview & Reg File



9 Mar
Week 9
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
9 Mar
 Ch 5: Processor Design & Nios Proc
Arithmetic Logic Unit

Lab 7: Due at Midnight
Homework 3: Due Midnight Sunday
10 Mar


Lab 8 Start

11 Mar
 Ch 5: Processor Design & Nios Proc
Nios Instruction Set & Arithmetic
Instructions
Lab 8 Start
Last week of Advising/Counseling
12 Mar

Exam 2 at DLC

13 Mar
 No Class/Lecture

Exam 2 at DLC
Advising/Counseling Sessions Due!
16 Mar
Week 10
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
16 Mar

Spring Break! - No Class

17 Mar

Spring Break! - No Class

18 Mar

Spring Break! - No Class

19 Mar

Spring Break! - No Class

20 Mar

Spring Break! - No Class

23 Mar
Week 11
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
23 Mar
 Ch 5: Processor Design & Nios Proc
Logic, Data Copy, & Control Transfer
Instructions
Lab 8: Due at Midnight

24 Mar


Lab 9 Start

25 Mar
 Ch 5: Processor Design & Nios Proc


Lab 9 Start

26 Mar



27 Mar
 Chapter 5: Datapath




30 Mar
Week 12
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
30 Mar
 Chapter 5: Datapath


Group Lab 1: Due Midnight Sunday

31 Mar




1 Apr
 Chapter 5: Control Signals




2 Apr




3 Apr
 Chapter 4: Assembler
Assembler and Processor Example



6 Apr
Week 13
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
6 Apr
 Chapter 8: Memory
Sequential Building Blocks &
Memory Types
Lab 9: Due at Midnight
Homework 4: Due Midnight Sunday
7 Apr




8 Apr
 Chapter 8: Memory
Memory Hierarchy & Cache Memory



9 Apr




10 Apr
 Chapter 8: Memory
Cache Write Requests, Cache Design,
& Replacement Algorithms


13 Apr
Week 14
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
13 Apr
 Chapter 8: Memory
Virtual Memory

Group Lab 2: Due Midnight Sunday

14 Apr




15 Apr
 Ch 11 & App A: Logic Arrays




16 Apr




17 Apr
 Chapter 6: Pipelining




20 Apr
Week 15
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
20 Apr
 Exam Review



Homework 5: Due Midnight Monday
21 Apr


Group Lab 3: Due at Midnight

22 Apr
 Exam Review




23 Apr

Exam 3 at DLC

24 Apr
 No Class/Lecture

Exam 3 at DLC

27 Apr
Week 16
 Date
Lecture
Topic

Lab
Homework
27 Apr
 No Class/Lecture


Group Lab 4: Due Midnight Sunday

28 Apr




29 Apr
 Final Exam Review and Board Turn-in




30 Apr




1 May


Group Lab 5 Final Report: Due at Midnight
4 May
Week 17
 Date
Topic
4 May
Finals Exam at DLC
5 May
Finals Exam at DLC
6 May
Finals Exam at DLC
7 May
Finals Week
8 May
Finals Week

Lab Kit / Equipment List

You will be working with the following item listed below. You may purchase one for yourself, but you will be loaned one for the duration of the course.