CS 6235 - Parallel Programming for Many-Core Architectures

This courses examines an important trend in high-performance computing, the use of special-purpose hardware originally designed for graphics and games to solve general-purpose computing problems. Such graphics processing unites (GPUs) have enormous peak performance for arithmetically-intensive computations, and at relatively low cost as compared to their general-purpose counterparts with similar performance levels. Technology trends are driving all microprocessors towards multiple core designs, and therefore, techniques for parallel programming represent a rich area of recent study. Students in the course will learn how to develop scalable parallel programs targeting the unique requirements for obtaining high performance on GPUs. We will compare and contrast parallel programming for GPUs and conventional multi-core microprocessors. The course will largely consist of small programming assignments, and a larger term project to be presented to the class. Several of these projects from the past three years' classes were presented in conferences, workshops and poster sessions, and contributed to Masters and PhD research. As this course combines hands-on programming and a discussion of research in the area, it is suitable for Masters students and PhD students who wish to learn how to write parallel applications or are engaged in research in related areas.