Parallel Computer Architecture and Programming (CMU 15-418/618)

From smart phones, to multi-core CPUs and GPUs, to the world's largest supercomputers and web sites, parallel processing is ubiquitous in modern computing. The goal of this course is to provide a deep understanding of the fundamental principles and engineering trade-offs involved in designing modern parallel computing systems as well as to teach parallel programming techniques necessary to effectively utilize these machines. Because writing good parallel programs requires an understanding of key machine performance characteristics, this course will cover both parallel hardware and software design.

Basic Info
TIME 9:00-10:20am
LOCATION GHC 4307
Instructors: Todd Mowry and Brian Railing
See the course info page for more info on policies and logistics.
Fall 2016 Schedule
Aug 29
Syllabus
Parallelism Demos
Aug 31
Assignment 1 Out - Sep 1
Sep 2
Sep 5
No Class (Labor Day)
Sep 7
Sep 9
Sep 12
Assignment 1 Due
Sep 14
Assignment 2 Out
Sep 16
Sep 19
Sep 21
Sep 23
Sep 26
Assignment 2 Due
Sep 28
Assignment 3 Out
Sep 30
Oct 3
Oct 5
Oct 7
Exam I
Oct 10
Oct 12
Oct 14
Assignment 3 Due
Assignment 4 Out
Oct 17
Oct 19
Oct 21
No lecture: Fall Break
Oct 24
Oct 26
Assignment 4 Due
Oct 28
Meeting to discuss project ideas
Oct 31
Project Proposal Due
Nov 2
Nov 4
Nov 11
Exam II
Nov 21
Project Milestone Meetings
Project Milestone Due
Assignments and Projects
Sep 1Assignment 1: Analyzing Program Performance on a Multi-Core CPU
Sep 14Assignment 2: A Simple CUDA Renderer
Sep 28Assignment 3: Parallel VLSI Wire Routing via OpenMP
Oct 14Assignment 4: Parallel VLSI Wire Routing via MPI
Oct 17Final Project Overview
weeklyGuidelines and Tips for Making Good Lecture Comments
Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the Intel Corporation, the NVIDIA Corporation, and to DELL for equipment donations and/or financial support for course development. Kayvon has extended the original version of 15-418 and the course follows his vision. Thanks to Matt Pharr for technical assistance with ISPC. Alex Reece, Manish Burman, and Cary Yang developed the course web site.