The field of computer engineering is at the interface between computer science and electrical engineering, where engineers design systems that must meet software application requirements within hardware technology constraints. Digital logic and computer organization form the heart of computer engineering: \IT{digital logic} transforms low-level circuits into hardware blocks dedicated to processing, storing, and moving digital data, while \IT{computer organization} transforms these hardware blocks into programmable computing systems capable of executing high-level software. This course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practice of digital logic and computer organization. The course will demystify how computer hardware works and at the same time serve as a foundation for more advanced courses in embedded systems and computer architecture.

The course lectures are structured into two parts. In the first part of the course, students will learn about digital logic (e.g., digital circuits, combinational logic, Boolean algebra, combinational building blocks, number systems, sequential logic, finite-state machines, and sequential building blocks). In the second part of the course, students will then apply their understanding of digital logic to explore computer organization (e.g., instruction set architecture, single-cycle processors, multi-cycle processors, pipelined processors, caches, and integrating processors with caches).

The course includes hands-on discussion sections and a series of four laboratory assignments for students to put the principles they have learned into practice. These laboratory assignments will make extensive use of the Verilog hardware description language. Students will use open-source tools to model and simulate hardware using Verilog, before using commercial tools to synthesize their Verilog designs to field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) in the lab. Throughout the semester, students will design, implement, test, and evaluate a two-function calculator, music player, and programmable processor capable of running simple RISC-V assembly programs.