Postgraduate Course: Parallel Architectures (Level 11) (INFR11024)
Course Outline
| School | School of Informatics |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Informatics |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/teaching/courses/pa |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The aims of this course are threefold: (a) to investigate the various forms of parallelism found in uniprocessors and in multiprocessor and multicomputer systems; (b) to explore the issues which arise in these systems in terms of: (i) ensuring that programs are executed correctly by the hardware; (ii) maximising performance (c) to undertake an in-depth investigation of a specific area of current research in parallel architecture. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | Students MUST NOT also be taking
Parallel Architectures (Level 10) (INFR10016)
|
Other requirements | This course is open to all Informatics students including those on joint degrees. For external students where this course is not listed in your DPT, please seek special permission from the course organiser.
Basic level of programming is assumed and not covered in lectures. The assessed assignment will involve signification programming in a language of your choice.
It is recommended that students have passed Computer Architecture (INFR09009) or equivalent. For students who have not had this opportunity should study the background material provided on the course website. |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2014/15 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Learn enabled: No |
Quota: None |
|
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
12/01/2015 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
76 )
|
| Additional Notes |
|
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
75 %,
Coursework
25 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Parallel Architectures | 2:00 | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
1 - describe the various forms of parallelism found in modern computer systems and the techniques used (a) to ensure that programs are executed correctly by parallel hardware (b) to maximise performance.
2 - assess the effectiveness of techniques used to enhance the performance of computer systems.
3 - record observations of on-line experiments, present this information in a variety of formats and draw conclusions from it.
4 - investigate, explain and comment critically on a specific area of current parallel computer architecture research. |
Assessment Information
Written Examination 75
Assessed Assignments 25
Oral Presentations 0
Assessment
There are three assessed practicals for this module. One of them is a paper & pencil exercise concerned with interconnection networks while the other two involve using and programming simulation models of two different computer systems.
If delivered in semester 1, this course will have an option for semester 1 only visiting undergraduate students, providing assessment prior to the end of the calendar year. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
* Introduction
Parallelism and Performance
Parallelism in Software
* Uniprocessor Parallelism
Vector & SIMD Instructions
Superscalar and VLIW processors
* Interconnection networks
Introduction
Routing Functions
Static Networks
Dynamic Networks
Combining Networks
* Multiprocessor & Multicomputer Systems
Introduction
Shared Memory Systems
Directory-based Coherence Protocols
Memory Consistency
NUMA Systems
Message Passing Systems
*Performance & Scalability
Performance metrics
Scalability
Relevant QAA Computing Curriculum Sections: Architecture, Simulation and Modelling |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
* D.E. Culler & J.P. Singh, Parallel Computer Architecture, Morgan Kaufmann, 1999.
* J.L. Hennessey & D.A. Patterson, Computer Architecture: a Quantitative Approach, 4th Edition, Morgan Kaufmann, 2006.
|
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Lectures 20
Tutorials 0
Timetabled Laboratories 0
Non-timetabled assessed assignments 25
Private Study/Other 55
Total 100 |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Mary Cryan
Tel: (0131 6)50 5153
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Kate Farrow
Tel: (0131 6)50 2706
Email: |
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