CIS5930-07 Parallel Computing

Fall 2001, 3 Credit hours

Instructor: Ashok Srinivasan

Room 102C, Carothers Hall

Phone: 644-0559

asriniva@cs.fsu.edu

Course URL: http://www.cs.fsu.edu/~asriniva/courses/parcomp/

Office Hours: T 3:15 pm - 4:15 pm W 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm or by appointment Room 102C, Carothers Hall

Class Hours: TR 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm, LOV 103

Text book: Designing and Building Parallel Programs, by Ian Foster. Available online at: http://www-unix.mcs.anl.gov/dbpp

Prerequisites:

Course rationale:

Course objectives:

Course description:

In the first part of this course, we will discuss the following topics from Foster's book: parallel machine and programming models, parallel algorithms, performance models, and parallel languages and tools (including MPI and OpenMP). In the second part of the course, we will discuss papers on topics such as graph partitioning, parallel Monte Carlo, sorting, etc. You are encouraged to suggest topics of interest to you. You will also work on a project.

Grading criteria:

Course policies:

• Deadlines: Assignments should be submitted by 3 pm the day they are due. If you are late, you will get a 20% reduction in points for up to one day late, and no points after that. Please do not depend on our watches being exactly synchronized; do submit a few minutes early.
• Cheating: You should not collaborate with anyone in any way while working on the assignments. Students are expected to uphold the academic honor code published in "The Florida State University Bulletin" and the "Student Handbook". Please read the provisions of the Academic Honor Code: http://www.fsu.edu/Books/Student-Handbook/codes/honor.html.
• Attendance: You should not miss more than three classes. You will lose 2% of the total grades for the course for 4-5 absences, and 5% for more. In rare cases (such as jury duty and sickness), an absence may be excused with appropriate documentation. You should let me know in advance, when possible, and submit the required documentation. Attendance will be taken when class begins, and so you will be marked absent if you come late. You will also be marked absent if you leave before class ends! Furthermore, you are responsible for making up for any materials missed due to absences -- excused or unexcused. A missed exam can be made up only in extremely rare circumstances, and you should discuss it with me well ahead of time.
• ADA: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Center, and (2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class. This syllabus and other class materials will be made available in alternative format upon request.

What I expect from the student:

• I am particularly strict about deadlines and following instructions. Please read instructions carefully, and schedule your activities so that you submit assignments well in time. You should check your email and the class web page regularly, and note other announcements, online and in class.
• I expect you to complete any reading assignments when you come to class, since I will assume you have learned the material.
• You should participate in the class by asking questions, suggesting ideas, etc.
• In exams, I test knowledge, understanding, and creativity. When you learn some topic, you should not just try to understand the material, but also analyze what would happen if some things were different. For example, if we are studying heaps, it is not sufficient to understand why the heap algorithms have the time complexity that they have, but you should also wonder about why we need the "min-tree" property, etc.

Lecture plan:

Useful links:

• MPI: www-unix.mcs.anl.gov/mpi/
• NCSA: www.ncsa.uiuc.edu
• SDSC: www.sdsc.edu
• OpenMP: www.openmp.org/
• Linux clusters: www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-2000-03/lw-03-clustering.html