CSE 561M

CSE 561M: Advanced Computer Systems Architecture

Spring 2008

Instructor	Patrick Crowley, Bryan Hall 522-D, pcrowley AT wustl.edu
Course web site	http://www.arl.wustl.edu/~pcrowley/cse/561/
Course newsgroup	wu.cs.class.561
Course Meeting Times	Tuesday & Thursday 4:00PM-5:30PM in Cupples II, Room 217
Office Hours	By appointment
Prerequisites	CSE 560M (or permission of instructor)
Teaching Assistant	Charlie Wiseman, wiseman AT wustl.edu

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 2008 offering of CSE 561 will focus on the use and design of chip-multiprocessors (CMPs): single-chip devices consisting of multiple microprocessor cores. Consistent and robust increases in semiconductor transistor densities have allowed designers to integrate multiple processors onto single devices. Examples have recently appeared in numerous commodity microprocessor markets: both Intel and AMD have released dual-core x86 processors, the IBM/Sony/Toshiba Cell Processor features 9 on-chip cores, and Sun's Niagara server chip consists of 8 4-way multithreaded cores.

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 will write software to solve a medium-sized problem on a contemporary CMP, the Intel IXP2800.

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 560M or permission of instructor. 3 units. Same as E71 CS 561M.

Texts & Reading Material

The course has one official textbook.

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

Additional reading materials may be drawn from the following:

Hooper. Using IXP2400/2800 Development Tools. Intel Press, 2004. (ISBN: 0974364940)
Hennessy and D. Patterson, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, Third 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:

Readings. We will read excerpts from textbooks along with research papers. The course newsgroup will be used to discuss the material.
Presentations. Students (possibly in groups) will organize and lead one 30-minute presentation on a research paper.
Project. Students (possibly in groups) will complete an IXP2800-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. Design and final evaluation presentations will most likely be made to the class.

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:

failure to use adequate means of documentation in written reports or essays, resulting in plagiarism
unpermitted use of either prepared notes or the work of other students while taking a test
alteration of test materials that are submitted for regrading
collaboration with other students in preparing assignments, when not approved by the instructor.

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.