CourseSpecifications
Valid as from the academic year 2024-2025

Parallel Computer Systems (E034140)

Course size
Credits 6.0(nominal values; actual values may depend on programme)
Study time 180 h

Course offerings and teaching methods in academic year 2024-2025
A (semester 1)
EnglishGent

B (semester 1)

Dutch

seminarlectureGent

Lecturers in academic year 2024-2025
Eeckhout, Lieven

TW06

lecturer-in-charge

Offered in the following programmes in 2024-2025
crdts
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
6
Master of Science in Teaching in Science and Technology(main subject Computer Science)
6Bridging Programme Master of Science in Bioinformatics(main subject Engineering)
6Bridging Programme Master of Science in Computer Science Engineering
6
Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering(main subject Control Engineering and 6Automation)
Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering(main subject Electrical Power6Engineering)
Master of Science in Bioinformatics(main subject Engineering)
6
Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering(main subject Maritime Engineering)
6
Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering(main subject Mechanical
6Construction)
Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering(main subject Mechanical Energy
6Engineering)
Master of Science in Computer Science Engineering
6
Master of Science in Computer Science Engineering
6offeringAAAAAAAAAABA

Teaching languages
English, Dutch
Keywords
Computer architecture, instruction-level parallelism, data-level parallelism, memory-levelparallelism, thread-level parallelism, superscalar processing, speculative execution, sharedmemory computer systems, cache coherency, memory consistency, multi-core processors,
multi-threading, data centers, supercomputers, system performance fundamentals, impact oftechnology on architecture, power/energy, reliability and fault-tolerant computing
Position of the course
This course continues on the courses 'Computer Architecture' and 'Operating Systems'.
This course describes:• modern high-performance microarchitectural techniques implemented in contemporary• microprocessors for exploiting instruction-level parallelism and for bridging the memory wall;• methods for exploiting thread-level parallelism, including fundamentals of shared-memory• multiprocessors, multicore and manycore processor architectures, multi-threading;• basics of datacenter and supercomputer organization;• impact of technology including power/energy and reliability;• fundamentals in systems performance.
ContentsProcessor architecture(Approved)1• Exploiting instruction-, data- and memory-level parallelism• Superscalar processor architectures• • Pipelining, in-order, out-of-order, speculative execution• • Memory hierarchy
Multiprocessor architecture• Exploiting thread-level parallelism• Fundamentals of shared-memory systems• • Cache coherency, memory consistency, synchronization• Multicore and manycore architectures• Multi-threading (simultaneous, fine-grained, coarse-grained, GPU)• Interconnection networks
Data center and supercomputer architecture• Organization• Cost analysis
Performance, power and reliability issues – impact of technology• Iron Law of Performance, Amdahl’s Law• Dynamic and static power consumption, power- and thermal-aware design• Fault-tolerance, soft and hard errors, redundant computation
Initial competences
It is expected that the contents of the courses 'Computer Architecture' (obligatory) and'Operating Systems' (not obligatory, but recommended) are well understood.
Final competences
1 Understand and be able to describe the architecture and their impact on performance of
1 superscalar processor architectures, shared-memory multiprocessors, multi-threading,
1 datacenters, supercomputers.
2 Understand and be able to describe the impact of technology on parallel computer systems.
Conditions for credit contract
Access to this course unit via a credit contract is determined after successful competences assessment
Conditions for exam contract
This course unit cannot be taken via an exam contract
Teaching methods
Seminar, Lecture
Study material
Type: Syllabus
Name: exercises, exams previous years, articles
Indicative price: Free or paid by faculty
Optional: noLanguage : English
Number of Pages : 250
Available on Ufora : Yes
Online Available : Yes
Available in the Library : NoAvailable through Student Association : No
Type: Slides
Name: theory
Indicative price: Free or paid by faculty
Optional: noLanguage : English
Number of Slides : 1000
Available on Ufora : Yes
Online Available : Yes
Available in the Library : No
Available through Student Association : No
References
Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, Sixth Edition, John. L. Hennessy and David(Approved)

2

A. Patterson, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers
Course content-related study coaching
Assessment moments
end-of-term and continuous assessment
Examination methods in case of periodic assessment during the first examination periodWritten assessment open-book
Examination methods in case of periodic assessment during the second examination period
Written assessment open-book
Examination methods in case of permanent assessment
Assignment
Possibilities of retake in case of permanent assessment
examination during the second examination period is possible
Extra information on the examination methods• During examination period: written open-book exam.
• Second chance: written open-book exam.
• During semester: graded project reports (15% of total score). Second chance: possible.
Calculation of the examination markEvaluation throughout semester as well as during examination period. Special conditions: Acombination of the exam and the project work (15% of the total score). A student only passes
the course if he/she passes the exam.
If the score for the periodic evaluation is lower than 10/20 and the total score is higher than
9/20, the total score will be reduced to 9/20. (Student can only pass the course if the student
passes the periodical evaluation.)(Approved)3