Modern computer systems contain parallelism in both hardware and software. This unit covers parallelism in both general purpose and application specific computer architectures and the programming paradigms that allow parallelism to be exploited in software. The unit examines both shared memory and message passing paradigms in both hardware and software; concurrency, multithreading and synchronicity; parallel, clustered and distributed supercomputing models, languages and software tools and development environments. Students will program in these paradigms.
Minimum total expected workload equals 12 hours per week comprising:
(a.) Contact hours for on-campus students:
(b.) Additional requirements (all students):
See also Unit timetable information
FIT4001, CSE4333
Asad I. Khan
Consultation hours: By appointment via e-mail: Asad.Khan@monash.edu
Asad I. Khan
Consultation hours: By appointment via e-mail: Asad.Khan@monash.edu
Monash is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) survey. The University’s student evaluation policy requires that every unit is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.
For more information on Monash’s educational strategy, see:
www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/ and on student evaluations, see: www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/student-evaluation-policy.html
Previous student feedback shows that most students, typically 50 percent or more, rated this unit very highly. There are no significant changes planned based on feedback results.
If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to
https://emuapps.monash.edu.au/unitevaluations/index.jsp
| Week | Activities | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Unit Introduction on Moodle | No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in week 0 |
| 1 | Unit Introduction; Distributed Systems Lecture | No lab and tutorial in week 1 |
| 2 | Inter Process Communications; Remote Procedure Calls | Assessed lab and tutorial work begins in week 2 |
| 3 | Message Passing Library | |
| 4 | Synchronisation, MUTEX, Deadlocks | |
| 5 | Election Algorithms, Distributed Transactions, Concurrency Control | Assignment 1 due Mon 30-March-2015, 2PM |
| 6 | Faults, Distributed Consensus, Security, Parallel Computing | |
| 7 | Parallel Computing Alternatives | |
| 8 | Instruction Level Parallelism | |
| 9 | Vector Architecture | |
| 10 | Data Parallel Architectures, SIMD Architectures | |
| 11 | Introduction to MIMD, Distributed Memory MIMD Architectures | Assignment 2 due Mon 18-May-2015, 2PM. In-lab demonstrations of Assignment 2. |
| 12 | Super Scalar Processing, Exam Revision | In-lab demonstrations of Assignment 2. |
| SWOT VAC | No formal assessment is undertaken in SWOT VAC | |
| Examination period | LINK to Assessment Policy: http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/ academic/education/assessment/ assessment-in-coursework-policy.html |
*Unit Schedule details will be maintained and communicated to you via your learning system.
Examination (3 hours): 50%; In-semester assessment: 50%
| Assessment Task | Value | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1 | 15% | Mon 30-March-2015, 2PM |
| Assignment 2 | 25% | In-lab assessments week 11 and 12, Theory due Mon 18-May-2015, 2PM |
| Tutorial and Laboratory work assessments | 10% | Tutorial and laboratory work will be scheduled throughout the semester with weekly submissions. |
| Examination 1 | 50% | To be advised |
Faculty Policy - Unit Assessment Hurdles (http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/staff/edgov/policies/assessment-examinations/assessment-hurdles.html)
Academic Integrity - Please see resources and tutorials at http://www.monash.edu/library/skills/resources/tutorials/academic-integrity/
It is highly recommended that you attend all lectures.
Attendance at tutorials and laboratory sessions is required. Work in these sessions will contribute to the final unit asssessment.
The work will be assessed on the basis of the quality of the write-up (e.g. easy to read, logical and systematic presentation of concepts, formatting, figures, tables), relevance and accuracy of information, and literature search.
Detailed marking guide will be provided with the assessment. As a general guide to assessing the coding work:
The assessment will be based on the demonstration of work during the lab and evidence of learning in the weekly submissions.
The tutor will monitor individual contributions to the group when allocating marks to members of the group.
Students are strongly advised to attend the lectures. Although the lectures will be recorded, the technology is not perfect and should not be relied upon. Sufficient material will be presented during the lectures and tutorials to enable the examination to be passed, but further reading is advisable. It is not necessary to purchase any books, but the following reading list may be of some use, especially if you have not studied computer architecture. Other recommended reading will be included via links in Moodle.
For Parallel Computing Schemes and Software:
A.S. Tanenbaum, T. Austin: Structured Computer Organization, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall (PEARSON), 2012.
G.R. Andrews: Foundations of Multithreaded, Parallel and Distributed Programming, Addison-Wesley, 2000.
I.T. Foster: Designing and Building Parallel Programs, Addison-Wesley, 1995.
M. Maekawa, A.E. Oldehoeft, R.R. Oldehoeft: Operating Systems Advanced Concepts, Benjamin/Cummings, 1987.
For Parallel Distributed Computing Architectures:
Advanced Computer Architectures: A Design Space Approach, Sima, Fountain and Kacsuk , Addison Wesley Publishers.
W. Stallings: Computer Organization Architecture, 9th Edition, Prentice Hall (Pearson Hall), 2013.
Monash Library Unit Reading List (if applicable to the unit)
http://readinglists.lib.monash.edu/index.html
Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:
Submission must be made by the due date otherwise penalties will be enforced.
You must negotiate any extensions formally with your campus unit leader via the in-semester special consideration process: http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html
Details provided on Moodle.
It is a University requirement (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/student-academic-integrity-managing-plagiarism-collusion-procedures.html) for students to submit an assignment coversheet for each assessment item. Faculty Assignment coversheets can be found at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/. Please check with your Lecturer on the submission method for your assignment coversheet (e.g. attach a file to the online assignment submission, hand-in a hard copy, or use an electronic submission). Please note that it is your responsibility to retain copies of your assessments.
If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, please submit your work via the learning system for this unit, which you can access via links in the my.monash portal.
Please check with your lecturer before purchasing any Required Resources. Limited copies of prescribed texts are available for you to borrow in the library, and prescribed software is available in student labs.
The standard operating environment provided in FIT computer labs is considered adequate for most purposes. However, most of the tutorial exercises require the use of an open source Linux environment, which is provided in the assigned FIT computer laboratory.
Software may be:
Portable personal computer and access to a broadband Internet connection. Lab computers are also available to use during timetabled hours.
Advice about the final examination will be provided.
Monash has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and to provide advice on how they might uphold them. You can find Monash’s Education Policies at: www.policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/academic/education/index.html
Important student resources including Faculty policies are located at http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/students/
The University provides many different kinds of support services for you. Contact your tutor if you need advice and see the range of services available at http://www.monash.edu.au/students. For Malaysia see http://www.monash.edu.my/Student-services, and for South Africa see http://www.monash.ac.za/current/.
The Monash University Library provides a range of services, resources and programs that enable you to save time and be more effective in your learning and research. Go to www.lib.monash.edu.au or the library tab in my.monash portal for more information. At Malaysia, visit the Library and Learning Commons at http://www.lib.monash.edu.my/. At South Africa visit http://www.lib.monash.ac.za/.