Originally developed to support video games, graphics processor units (GPUs) are now increasingly used for general-purpose (non-graphics) applications ranging from machine learning to mining of cryptographic currencies. GPUs can achieve improved performance and efficiency versus central processing units (CPUs) by dedicating a larger fraction of hardware resources to computation. In addition, their general-purpose programmability makes contemporary GPUs appealing to software developers in comparison to domain-specific accelerators. This book provides an introduction to those interested in studying the architecture of GPUs that support general-purpose computing. It collects together information currently only found among a wide range of disparate sources. The authors led development of the GPGPU-Sim simulator widely used in academic research on GPU architectures. The first chapter of this book describes the basic hardware structure of GPUs and provides a brief overview of their history. Chapter 2 provides a summary of GPU programming models relevant to the rest of the book. Chapter 3 explores the architecture of GPU compute cores. Chapter 4 explores the architecture of the GPU memory system. After describing the architecture of existing systems, Chapters 3 and 4 provide an overview of related research. Chapter 5 summarizes cross-cutting research impacting both the compute core and memory system. This book should provide a valuable resource for those wishing to understand the architecture of graphics processor units (GPUs) used for acceleration of general-purpose applications and to those who want to obtain an introduction to the rapidly growing body of research exploring how to improve the architecture of these GPUs.

This introductory textbook provides students with a system-level perspective and the tools they need to understand, analyze and design digital systems. Going beyond the design of simple combinational and sequential modules, it shows how such modules are used to build complete systems, reflecting real-world digital design. All the essential topics are covered, including design and analysis of combinational and sequential modules, as well as system timing and synchronization. It also teaches how to write VHDL-2008 HDL in a productive and maintainable style that enables CAD tools to do much of the tedious work. A complete introduction to digital design is given through clear explanations, extensive examples and online VHDL files. The teaching package is completed with lecture slides, labs and a solutions manual for instructors. Assuming no previous digital knowledge, this textbook is ideal for undergraduate digital design courses that will prepare students for modern digital practice.