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Printable Version |
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iCSC2008
Towards Reconfigurable High-Performance Computing
Details of all lectures
Basics |
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Monday 3 March |
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10:30 - 11:25 |
Lecture 1 |
Basics
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Iris Christadler |
This lecture will give an overview of the state-of-the-art,
developments and research topics in High-Performance
Computing.
Important topics:
The motivation of alternative architectures to commodity
platforms for HPC users will be addressed. |
Audience
The lecture targets all participants with interest in
HPC. |
Pre-requisite
No prerequisite is necessary.The Data Analysis Process
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Monday 3 March |
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11:35 12:30 |
Lecture 2 |
Multicore Architectures |
Andrzej Nowak |
Multicore Architectures
This lecture will explain why multi-core architectures have
become so popular and why parallelism is such a good bet for
the near future.
Important topics:
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Scalability and parallelism
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General multi-core architecture
characteristics
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Multi-core caveats and trade-offs
In particular, the changes in computing
landscape will be discussed, as well as the impact that
modern hardware has on software. |
Audience - Pre-requisite
Listeners don't need to have advanced knowledge about
parallel computing. |
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Monday
3 March |
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14:00 - 14:55 |
Lecture 3 |
Platforms I: Advanced
Architectural Features |
Andrzej Nowak |
This lecture describes some advanced architectural features
of modern and upcoming CPU designs. It also addresses the
problems of effective coding, especially for parallel and
distributed environments.
Important topics:
The highlight of
this lecture is the way that software relates to hardware,
especially when new computational hardware comes into play. |
Audience
Lecture 3 targets listeners who need to follow developments in the
hardware and compiler domains. |
Pre-requisite
It is recommended that the listeners follow Lecture 2 before
attending this one, but it is not required. |
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Monday
3 March |
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15:05 16:00 |
Lecture 4 |
Platforms
II: Special-Purpose Accelerators |
Andrzej Nowak |
This lecture
aims to familiarize the listeners with special-purpose
hardware accelerators and processing units which have become
popular in recent times. Important topics:
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Hardware
acceleration concepts and philosophy
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GPUs and
gaming hardware
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Future
directions for hardware accelerators, future scenario
discussion
This lecture
will stress the tradeoffs which users face when reaching for
ultra-fast special purpose hardware, such as GPUs. |
Audience
Lecture 4 targets listeners who are interested in hardware
acceleration using off-the-shelf hardware. |
Pre-requisite
It is advisable to follow Lecture 3 before
attending this one.
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Monday 3 March |
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16:30 - 17:25 |
Lecture 5 |
Multicores at work: The CELL
Processor |
Iris Christadler |
This lecture will give
a deeper insight into one of the special-purpose
accelerators, the CELL processor, that is actively being
investigated for HPC. Important topics:
This lecture will show
the basic steps to CELL programming in a simple and easy to
follow manner such that no prerequisite is necessary to
follow the lecture. |
Audience -
Pre-requisite
The aim is to show the practical realization of theoretical
concepts introduced in lectures 2, 3 and 4. |
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Tuesday 4 March |
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09:00-09:55 |
Lecture 6 |
Platforms III - Programmable
Logic |
Manfred
Muecke |
This lecture
introduces programmable logic from a hardware point of view
(with a bias towards their potential use in HPC).
Important topics:
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Introduction to
FPGAs.
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Hardware
Description Languages.
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Understanding FPGA
performance figures.
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Gap between
potential computing performance and programmer
productivity.
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Audience -
Pre-requisite
The lecture is designed for students with no prior knowledge
in programmable logic.
It does not build upon any of the preceding lectures. It is
however the basis for all further lectures and is highly
recommended to all students including ones having prior
knowledge in programmable logic. |
Reconfigurable HPC I - Introduction
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Tuesday 4 March |
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10:05-11:00 |
Lecture 7 |
Reconfigurable HPC I -
Introduction |
Iris Christadler |
This lecture
introduces Reconfigurable High-Performance Computing. The
reason behind the limited numbers of Reconfigurable
Computing (RC) systems in HPC is discussed. It shows the
fields where RC is mostly used and the lessons that can be
learned. Important topics:
Participants should
have attended Lecture 4, Platforms II - Special Purpose
Accelerators, and Lecture 6, Platforms III Programmable
Logic, or have equivalent knowledge. |
Audience -
Pre-requisite
Participants should have attended Lecture 4, Platforms II -
Special Purpose Accelerators, and Lecture 6, Platforms III
Programmable Logic, or have equivalent knowledge. |
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Tuesday 4 March |
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11:30-12:25 |
Lecture 8 |
Reconfigurable HPC II - HW
Design Methodology,
Theory & Tools |
Manfred
Muecke |
This lecture will
first focus on existing tools for making use of FPGAs as
number crunchers and will give examples of existing
solutions. It will then discuss limitations and how they
could be overcome.
Important topics:
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Old attempts and
current tools
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About levels of HW
abstraction
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What is
higher-level synthesis?
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Examples from HPC
and HEP
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Audience
This lecture is intended for students seeking
deeper understanding of hardware design description issues
in general and when using FPGAs as number crunchers –
understanding of programming languages and basic compiler
technology will be helpful. |
Pre-requisite
This lecture builds upon the preceding lectures "6.
Platforms III - Programmable Logic" and "7. Reconfigurable
HPC I - Introduction".
While not necessarily being a required prerequisite for
lecture 9 and 10, it motivates why going beyond existing
tools is important. |
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Advanced and
Emerging Parallel Programming Paradigms
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Tuesday 4 March |
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14:00-14:55 |
Lecture 9 |
Advanced and Emerging Parallel
Programming Paradigms |
Manfred
Muecke |
This lecture will
present some parallel programming paradigms and will explain
why they map so well on reconfigurable hardware. It will
then focus on hardware-independent programming and motivate
why this is important and how it can be achieved. Current
developments will be discussed.
Important topics:
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Explicit and
implicit parallelism
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On granularity of
parallelism and matching hardware architectures
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On cross-compiling
of HPC applications (prospects and issues)
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Parallel
programming languages in the making
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Audience
This lecture is more theoretic than preceding
lectures and is thought for students seeking a more general
understanding on how a programming paradigm affects
implementation and performance of languages and tools for
reconfigurable HPC. |
Pre-requisite
As this lecture is based on issues and conclusions collected
from all preceding lectures, having followed as many as
possible is certainly helpful.
The most helpful prerequisites are possibly
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lecture
"6. Platforms III - Programmable Logic" and
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lecture
"8. Reconfigurable HPC II - HW Design Methodology,
Theory & Tools"
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Summary:
Hybrid Platforms, Hybrid Programming?
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Tuesday 4 March |
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15:00-16:00 |
Lecture 10 |
Summary: Hybrid Platforms,
Hybrid Programming? |
Iris Christadler |
This lecture will
address future prospects of hybrid platforms. It will
specify what is necessary to make Reconfigurable HPC a
success.
Important topics:
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Existing hybrid
platforms
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Existing hybrid
programming models
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Future programming
models
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Necessary tools
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Audience and Pre-requisite
This lecture is both a summary and an outlook. It addresses
participants who attended Lectures 7 and 8 about
"Reconfigurable HPC"
and Lecture 9, Advanced and Emerging Parallel Programming
Paradigms |
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Transition
between HPC and Data Analysis themes:
Using HPC concepts in Data Analysis software
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Tuesday 4 March |
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15:10-16:25 |
HPC
Theme closing |
Using HPC concepts in data analysis software |
Alfio Lazzaro |
A short session (15
minutes) to connect to the
data analysis software and techniques lecture
Some possible applications of parallel processing
in data analysis code are briefly presented (e.g. how to speed up Maximum Likelihood fits).
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Audience and
Pre-requisite
Attendees are expected to have some experience in
data analysis.Having
followed part of the HPC theme will help |
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