Undergraduate Course: Parallel Architectures (Level 10) (INFR10016)
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 10 (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 twofold: (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. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Computer Architecture (INFR09009)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | Students MUST NOT also be taking
Parallel Architectures (Level 11) (INFR11024)
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Other requirements | Successful completion of Year 3 of an Informatics Single or Combined Honours Degree, or equivalent by permission of the School. |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
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 - use web-based simulation models of computer systems to investigate hardware/software performance trade-offs.
4 - record observations of on-line experiments, present this information in a variety of formats and draw conclusions from it. |
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
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.
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| 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 Amos Storkey
Tel: (0131 6)51 1208
Email: A.Storkey@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Kate Weston
Tel: (0131 6)50 2701
Email: Kate.Weston@ed.ac.uk |
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