CSE 526M: Advanced Computer Systems Architecture

Spring 2004

Instructor Patrick Crowley, Bryan Hall 522-D, pcrowley@cse.wustl.edu
Course web site http://www.arl.wustl.edu/~pcrowley/cse526/
Course newsgroup
wu.cs.class.526
Course Meeting Times Tuesday & Thursday 11:30am-1:00pm in Lab Sciences, Room 301
Office Hours Tuesday 3:00pm-4:00pm & Thursday  2:30pm-3:30pm
Prerequisites CS 521M (or permission of instructor)

Caveat: This syllabus is tentative, and subject to adjustments and changes throughout the semester.

See the course calendar for lecture notes, handout materials, and schedule of classes.

Chip-Multiprocessors: Applications and Architectures

The Spring 2004 offering of CSE 526 will focus on the use and design of  chip-multiprocessors (CMPs): single-chip devices consisting of multiple microprocessors. Consistent and robust increases in semiconductor transistor densities have allowed designers to integrate multiple processors onto single devices. Such devices have recently appeared in numerous commodity microprocessor markets: IBM's Power4 (two complex processors), Intel's IXP network processors (16 simple processors), and Sun's MAJC (4 processors of moderate complexity).

This course will be a blend of practice and study. To motivate our study of the research literature, and to make the subject concrete, groups of students with tackle and solve a medium-sized problem on a contemporary CMP, the Intel IXP2400.

Course Catalog Description

Advanced techniques in computer system design.  Selected topics from: processor design (multithreading, VLIW, data flow, chip-multiprocessors, application specific processors, vector units, large MIMD machines), memory systems (topics in locality, prefetching, reconfigurable and special-purpose memories), system specification and validation, and interconnection networks.  Prereqs: CS 521M or permission of instructor.  3 units.  Same as E71 CS 526M.

Texts & Reading Material

There is currently no official text (although this may change soon). Reading materials will be provided, drawn from the following.

Johnson and Kunze. IXP2400/2800 Programming: The Complete Microengine Coding Guide. Intel Press, 2003. (ISBN: 097178616X).

Hennessy and D. Patterson, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, Second edition, Morgan-Kaufmann, 2003. (ISBN: 1-55860-724-2).

Hill, Joupi and Sohi. Readings in Computer Architecture. Morgan-Kaufmann, 2000. (ISBN: 1558605398).

Grama, Gupta, Karypis and Kumar. Introduction to Parallel Computing, Second Edition. Addison-Wesley, 2003. (ISBN: 0201648652).

We will also read papers from the research literature.

Assignments

There will be 3 types of assignments:

  1. Readings. We will read excerpts from textbooks along with research papers. The course newsgroup will be used to discuss the material.
  2. Presentations. Students (possibly in groups) will organize and lead one 30-minute presentation on a research paper.
  3. Project. Groups of students will do an IXP2400-based project. The instructor will both help in choosing a problem and provide guidance in (approx.) weekly design meetings; the project will involve: problem definition and specification, solution design on the IXP, implementation, performance evaluation and a report collecting the materials developed throughout the semester. Each team will likely make design and final evaluation presentations.

Exam

There will be no exams.

Grading

Participation 10%
Presentations 10%
Projects 80%

Disability Resources

Students with disabilities or suspected disabilities are strongly encouraged to both bring any additional considerations to the attention of the instructor and make full use of the University's Disability Resource Center (http://disability.wustl.edu).

Academic Integrity

(From Undergraduate Programs catalog, p. 16) You are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity and refrain from the forms of misconduct spelled out in the University Academic Integrity Policy, which is published in full in Bearings and elsewhere. Violations will lead to disciplinary action and may result in suspension or expulsion from the University.
Students and faculty have an obligation to uphold the highest standards of scholarship. Plagiarism or other forms of cheating are not tolerated. When a student has violated the standards of the academic community, an instructor may recommend that the student be brought before a disciplinary committee. These are the most frequent areas of violation:
Findings of academic misconduct may result in a written reprimand, failure of an assignment or course, disciplinary probation, withdrawal of merit-based scholarship support, or other sanctions. Severe or repeat offenses may be referred to the University Judicial Board for consideration of suspension or expulsion.