CIS 534/Multicore Programming & Architecture

(Introduction to Parallel Processing)

CIS 534 fulfills a seminar 600-level course requirement, - www.cis.upenn.edu/grad/gradhandbook.shtml#PHD-General - for doctoral students.

(enrollment requires instructor permission; email either mfelker@cis.upenn.edu, or milom@cis.upenn.edu)

Prerequisites: CIS 371 or CIS 501, and significant programming
experience.
Course description:
This course is a pragmatic examination of multicore programming and the the hardware architecture of modern multicore processors.  Unlike the sequential single-core processors of the past, utilizing a multicore processor requires programmers to identify parallelism and write explicitly parallel code.  Topics covered include: the relevant architectural trends and aspects of multicores, approaches for writing multicore software by extracting data parallelism (vectors and SIMD),
thread-level parallelism, and task-based parallelism, efficient synchronization, and program profiling and performance tuning.  The course focuses primarily on mainstream shared-memory multicores with some coverage of graphics processing units (GPUs).  Cluster-based supercomputing is not a focus of this course.  Several programming assignments and a course project will provide students first-hand experience with programming, experimentally analyzing, and tuning multicore software.  Students are expected to have a solid understanding of computer architecture and strong programming skills (including experience with C/C++).

CIS 700/003/Special Topic:

Distributed Systems meet Social Networks

This graduate seminar covers advanced topics in distributed systems, with a particular focus on systems that span multiple administrative domains. These systems are operated by multiple individuals or organizations with potentially conflicting interests; examples include
peer-to-peer systems like BitTorrent or Skype, as well as federated systems like the Internet. In addition to the classical challenges of distribution, these systems face new challenges (but also provide new opportunities) that arise from the social relationships between their users and operators.

The purpose of this seminar is to familiarize students with current research in this area. The seminar will begin with an overview of distributed systems fundamentals, and will then proceed to topics
such as incentives, accountability, Byzantine fault tolerance, privacy, online social networks, reputation systems, and social defenses against Internet crime.

The seminar includes paper readings, discussions, and a term project.
The reading list consists of research papers from systems and networking conferences.

Andreas Haeberlen www.cis.upenn.edu/~ahae/

COURSE DESCRIPTION
GAS 610 is a writing course designed for Ph.D. students whose native language is not English. The features of academic writing used in American universities will be explored. This will be done by analyzing sample texts, papers in various academic disciplines, and the students' own writing. A variety of rhetorical patterns will be practiced. Attention will be paid to organization, development of ideas, clarity, coherence, style, and grammar and mechanics.

Weekly writing assignments will be given throughout the first half of  the term. These short assignments will build upon the skills taught in class. They will be analyzed and edited. The students will be free to adapt the topics to their own disciplines and areas of interest.

During the second half of the term, the students will choose a topic for their final writing project. They can combine this project with a paper that they are working on for another course. After the spring break, work on the final paper will be the main focus of the class. Editing and revising will be ongoing throughout this period.

COURSE TIMES
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00-10:30 AM

ELIGIBILITY AND REGISTRATION
This course is open to Ph.D. candidates only. Registration is by permit. Interested students should contact Ms. Joanna Ghosh by e-mail at _jghosh@sas.upenn.edu _
Joanna J. Ghosh
Manager, University-Based Programs, English Language Programs, University of Pennsylvania,
Fisher Bennett Hall Room 110, 3340 Walnut Street,   215-746-4131

Please note - this course does not count as credit towards the CIS/doctorate, so students must have advisor approval to register.