This course covers the concepts and examples of advanced computer systems, especially scalable parallel computers. Topics include memory-system design, advanced processor design techniques, pipelined, vector, shared memory, and distributed-memory computer systems, parallel algorithms, and software and architectural issues for efficient parallel processing.

Students shall be able to demonstrate:

1. Students shall demonstrate an understanding of the architecture and organization of modern computer systems including CPU and memory design;
2. Students shall demonstrate an understanding of instruction level parallelism including instruction sequencing, forwarding, data interlocking, interlocking, speculation, and dynamic scheduling;
3. Students shall demonstrate an understanding of thread-level parallelism and data-level parallelism in SIMD and GPU architectures;
4. Students shall demonstrate an understanding of the history and possible future of the field necessary for staying at the forefront of computing systems development.

Professor Haidar M. Harmanani

haidar@lau.edu.lb • http://vlsi.byblos.lau.edu.lb • http://harmanani.github.io

Office Hours:

Block A • Room 810

Tuesday, Thursday • 3:00pm – 4:30pm • 8:00pm – 9:30pm or by appointment

January 16, 2017: Spring classes begin

February 20, 2017:  Last day for early withdrawal (WI)

March 7, 2017: Midterm Examination

March 27, 2017: Last day for withdrawal from courses (WP/WF)

April 26, 2017: Spring classes end

Lecture 01: Fundamentals of Quantitative Design and Analysis

Lecture 02: Instruction Set Architectures

Lecture 04: Instruction Level Parallelism and Out of Order Execution

Lecture 05: More on Instruction Level Parallelism and Out of Order Execution

Lecture 06: Tomasulo’s Algorithm

Lecture 07: Memory

Lecture 08: VLIW

Lecture 09: Thread-Level Parallelism

Lecture 10: Vector Machines

Lecture 11: GPU

Lecture 12: Warehouse-Scale Computers to Exploit Request-Level and Data-Level Parallelism L8

1. Assignment 1: TBA   Solutions
2. Assignment 2: TBA   Solutions
3. Assignment 3: TBA   Solutions
4. Assignment 4: TBA   Solutions

Proposal is due on February 6, and should consist of a two-page PDF write-up with title, co-authors, and a description of the problem you're attacking, what has been done previously, what your new approach is, what resources you'll use to complete the project.  The last month of the course will be mostly presentations that will tackle project status and updates. The final project presentation will count for 10% of your final grade, and will be 25 minutes long with additional 5 minutes for questions. The final project paper should be a 10-page PDF paper in two-column conference format, and is due by the final date.

All students are expected to take exams during the scheduled time slots. With the permission of the instructor, you may be allowed to take an exam at an alternate time. However, you must request this rescheduling at least 2 weeks prior to the exam date. Exceptions will naturally be made for sudden problems such as serious illnesses/injury. Since the exam schedule is being published at the beginning of the semester, scheduling conflicts (e.g., job interviews, GREs, etc.) are not legitimate reasons to miss an exam.

Midterm Exam

The midterm exam is scheduled for March 7, 2017: Midterm Examination. The midterm exam will be a closed book exam. In principle, all topics discussed in class (whether on the lecture notes or not) and in the assigned readings are a legitimate source for exam questions.

Midterm Grades

Final Grades

Course Grades

Modern Microprocessors: A 90-Minute Guide!

Dynamic Scheduling

TBA