CP431,CP631 Parallel Programming, FALL 2018, WLU

Course Description

Parallel computers, or supercomputers or high-performance clusters are ubiquitous today in Science and Engineering. Parallel programming requires inventing new algorithms and programming techniques. This course will cover the fundamental paradigms of parallel programming, with an emphasis on problem solving and actual applications. The parallel programming concepts and algorithms will be illustrated via implementations in OpenMP and MPI (Message Passing Interface), as well as serial farming.

Important Course Information

Prerequisites

CP217 (proficiency in C)

Instructor

Dr. Ilias S. Kotsireas, Office 2076A, Office Hours 24/7 and by appointment, Phone 884-0710 ext. 2218# E-Mail: ikotsireATwlu.ca

Course Topics

Historical overview and evolution of parallel computing
Fundamental concepts of parallelism
Parallel computer memory architectures: shared memory, distributed memory, hybrid distributed-shared memory
Parallel computer system architectures: Multi-Core, SMP, Clusters, Supercomputers, Flynn's Taxonomy
Performance, Speedup, Scalability, Amdahl's law, Gustafson-Barsis's law, Karp-Flatt metric, Isoefficiency relation
Load balancing: static, dynamic, termination detection
Abstractions for parallel programming: Data Parallelism, Task Parallelism, Reduce and Scan, work assignment, Pipelining
Programming paradigms for parallel computing: OpenMP, MPI, MapReduce/Google, Cilk, Cilk++, CUDA/GPU, Implicit Parallelism (Serial Farming)
Applications: parallel sorting, parallel matrix-vector multiplication, parallel matrix multiplication, parallel searching, Floyd's algorithm, Sieve of Eratosthenes, Circuit Satisfiability

Class Schedule, Fall Semester Timetable

            |     Mon     |     Wed     |     Fri     
            | 09:30-10:20 | 09:30-10:20 | 09:30-10:20
            |    BA209    |    BA209    |    BA209       
____________|_____________|_____________|_____________
            |             |             |             
Week 0:     |   ------    |   ------    |   Sep 07
Week 1:     |   Sep 10    |   Sep 12    |   Sep 14   
Week 2:     |   Sep 17    |   Sep 19    |   Sep 21
Week 3:     |   Sep 24    |   Sep 26    |   Sep 28
Week 4:     |   Oct 01    |   Oct 03    |   Oct 05
____________|_____________|_____________|______________
            |
Study Break |  October 8-12  N o  C o u r s e s
____________|__________________________________________
            |             |            |
Week 5:     |   Oct 15    |   Oct 17   |    Oct 19
Week 6:     |   Oct 22    |   Oct 24   |    Oct 26 (M)
Week 7:     |   Oct 29    |   Oct 31   |    Nov 02
Week 8:     |   Nov 05    |   Nov 07   |    Nov 09
Week 9:     |   Nov 12    |   Nov 14   |    Nov 16
Week 10:    |   Nov 19    |   Nov 21   |    Nov 23
Week 11:    |   Nov 26    |   Nov 28   |    Nov 30 
Week 12:    |   Dec 03    |   Dec 05   |    ------
____________|_____________|____________|______________
            |             |            |

Course Requirements/Student Evaluation

The course final grade is computed based on the 4 components: A1, A2, M, TP, explained in more detail below.
A1, A2, TP, are groupwork. Students are required to form groups (of 3 or 4 students each) to work on A1 A2 TP collaboratively.
The course final grade is computed as: A1*(20/100) + A2*(20/100) + M*(30/100) + TP*(30/100)
(A1) Assignment 1: 20%, due date: TBA.
(A2) Assignment 2: 20%, due date: TBA.
Important Information regarding groupwork submission:
- Late submissions will be marked with 0.
- All assignment submissions will be on MyLS only.
- All assignment submissions must be typeset (LaTeX, Word).
- All assignment submissions must be by .pdf file attachment only.
- Please upload one .pdf file only, for the entire assignment.
- Use the following naming schemes, for your .pdf files:
  CP431-A1-GroupID.pdf CP431-A2-GroupID.pdf CP431-TP-GroupID.zip
  or
  CP631-A1-GroupID.pdf CP631-A2-GroupID.pdf CP631-TP-GroupID.zip
  (these are dash characters, not underscores)
- Your submissions should have a cover page, all pages should be numbered and on each page include a header with your GroupID, course code, submission date, and A1/A2
- Submissions that violate any of the above requirements, will not be accepted/marked.
(M) Midterm: 30%, Friday, October 26, 2018 (in class).
(TP) Term Project: 30%, due date: TBA.
All students will be required to prepare a Term Project, details in class. Each group will have to deliver a project document and conduct a project demonstration.

Term Project Demonstrations Schedule

(You are strongly advised to upload your presentation materials on the classroom computer beforehand, and/or test your laptop with the classroom console beforehand, to avoid unexpected delays, arising due to technical difficulties, during your presentations)

Group IDs, for A1, A2, TP, listed in a FIPPA-compliant manner, i.e. anonymized

FIPPA == Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

Term Project Presentations Schedule: Monday December 03 2018 Group 1: SDS 9:30-9:45 NW LA NH Group 2: MultTable 9:45-10:00 XX JX RD YZ Group 3: MultTable 10:00-10:15 SP FW SM EZ Term Project Presentations Schedule: Wednesday December 05 2018 Group 4: Julia 9:30-9:45 TN BN AY Group 5: Julia 9:45-10:00 TA JR JN

Research resources

University and Course Policies (senate approved)

Special Needs: Students with disabilities or special needs are advised to contact Laurier’s Accessible Learning Centre for information regarding its services and resources. Students are encouraged to review the Academic Calendar for information regarding all services available on campus.
Plagiarism: Wilfrid Laurier University uses software that can check for plagiarism. If requested to do so by the instructor, students are required to submit their written work in electronic form and have it checked for plagiarism.
Academic Integrity: Laurier is committed to a culture of integrity within and beyond the classroom. This culture values trustworthiness (i.e., honesty, integrity, reliability), fairness, caring, respect, responsibility and citizenship. Together, we have a shared responsibility to uphold this culture in our academic and nonacademic behaviour. The University has a defined policy with respect to academic misconduct. As a Laurier student you are responsible for familiarizing yourself with this policy and the accompanying penalty guidelines, some of which may appear on your transcript if there is a finding of misconduct. The relevant policy can be found at Laurier's academic integrity website along with resources to educate and support you in upholding a culture of integrity. Ignorance is not a defense.
Classroom Use of Electronic Devices: Read WLU policy 9.3 Classroom Use of Electronic Devices.
Late Assignment Policy: late assignments will be marked with 0.
Final Examinations: Students are strongly urged not to make any commitments (i.e., vacation) during the examination period. Students are required to be available for examinations during the examination periods of all terms in which they register. Refer to the Handbook on Undergraduate Course Management for more information.
Foot Patrol, the Wellness Centre, Student Food Bank.