AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE: The main objective of the course is to give a good understanding of the concepts and mechanisms related to the design of modern high-performance computer systems (HPCS). At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to: describe the architectural features of the HPCS; to explain the principles of design and development of HPCS with different purpose; to explain the ways of organization of HPCS and what determines their productivity; to apply the acquired knowledge to deal with the new challenges of computer design; to use independently specialized contemporary literature on specific topics.
DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE: The course is an introduction to modern computer systems and architecture, their development and the factors influencing the design of their hardware and software elements. Main topics: Trends in the development of architecture - classification of architectural styles. Scalable HPCS. Vector processors. Massively parallel processors (MPP). Clusters of servers and workstations. Symmetric and CC-NUMA multiprocessors; systemic. System communication networks for parallel computers. Parallel GPU architectures. Supercomputers. Analysis and evaluation of productivity - parameters, methods and tools; benchmarks.
