Course Policy for SI 486L (AY16)
Instructor: Dr. Carl Albing,
Michelson 327, x36805, albing@usna.edu.
Required Text: Grama, Gupta, et al., “Introduction to Parallel Computing”, 2nd Ed., Pearson A-W, 2003
Course Website: http://www.usna.edu/Users/cs/albing/courses/s16si486l
internal: http://zee.cs.usna.edu/~albing/courses/s16si486l/
Learning Objectives
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Develop a vocabulary for describing HPC issues and architectures and for distinguishing between parallel and distributed
computing.
Understand the factors that contribute to application performance (or lack thereof) at the processor and inter-processor levels.
Implement a simulation/application using MPI on an HPC system.
Know and use the basics of MPI, OpenMP and OpenACC for parallel applications.
Demonstrate effective communication orally, in writing, and via multimedia.
Labs
Labs will generally be started during lab period, completed outside of class, and due the following lab period. This is the main work of the
class. Students should expect to spend time outside of weekly meetings to complete labs. It is important that each lab is completed, even
if late, as future labs may depend on the results from the earlier lab.
Grace
You can work from a budget of “late days”. Every day that any assignment is late deducts from your budget. Your budget is for the entire
semester. You begin with 4 late days. Don't spend them too soon as you may need them later in the semester. What about special
situations? As with most of life, speak up! If you know you will have a problem meeting a deadline, it is better to ask early for some
leeway than to task after the fact. When in doubt, ask. Don't abuse the privilege.
Speakers/Visits
An important component of this class involves presentations from guest speakers on site or on field trips. This may involve meetings at
times and places outside of the normal classroom settings and hours, e.g., during the lunch hour. Attendance at these lectures is
mandatory and classroom times will be compensated accordingly. Please make every effort to attend and let the instructor know if there
is a conflict. Material presented in these lectures is included on the exams. Finding out that material is the responsibility of the student
who misses a lecture.
Exams
The first exam will be held during class on Wednesday, 17-Feb-2016.
The second exam will be held during class on Wednesday, 06-Apr-2016.
The final exam date is TBD/TBA but sometime during the first eight days of May.
Any requested absence for these dates must be submitted as soon as possible, and at least one week in advance.
Students will be allowed to bring individually prepared "study sheets" with anything hand written on it (1 for the in-class exams, 2 for the
final). Study sheets will be turned in with the exam. The final exam is cumulative.
Extra Instruction
The instructor has an "open door" policy in regards to EI – come whenever you can; if I'm in then I'm usually willing to talk. To schedule
an appointment, send an email requesting a time; give an alternative or two if possible. Students are asked to avoid Tuesdays for EI
appointments if possible, as that time is set aside for research.
Honor
The guidance (available from http://www.usna.edu/CS/Resources/honor.php) provided in the Brigade Honor Program, and in the
published policies concerning graded academic work (USNAINST 1531.53, and COMPSCIDEPTINST 1531C) applies to this course.
Lab Assignment Collaboration Policy*
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All programming assignments must be the sole work of the student.
You may not collaborate on any programming or lab assignment without instructor permission.
You may not receive or copy program code from other students.
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You may not share your program code with other students.
You may not view another student's program code.
You may not view solutions to program assignments from other semesters, other classes at USNA or elsewhere, or from any
other sources, such as the Internet.
You must be prepared to explain any program code you submit.
All submission are subject to automated plagiarism detection.
Lab Assignment Discussion Policy*
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You may discuss any assignment with other students in a abstract, problem solving way, and you are encouraged to do so.
However, discussion should not violate the collaboration policy as stated above, for example, you may not view other students'
solutions or share your code with other students.
You may ask an instructor for help, show an instructor your code, and use any code provided by an instructor in your
submission. However, you may not share program code (or pseudocode) provided to you by an instructor with other students
unless authorized. Doing so would violate the collaboration policy of viewing other students' solutions or sharing your code
with other students.
If you received any assistance in completing an assignment through discussions with another student or instructor, you are
required to acknowledge that assistance in your README file.
While discussion based assistance is allowed, it in no way implies that the assisted and assisting student will submitting
identical program solutions. As indicated by the collaboration policy, all programming assignments must be the sole work of the
student, and it is highly unlikely, even with assistance, two students' independently programmed solutions would be identical.
Section Leader
The duties of the section leader include:
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Calling the class to attention at the beginning and end of class;
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Reporting any absences to the instructor;
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Assisting the instructor as needed in collecting and distributing graded work;
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Promptly notifying the instructor of any abnormalities, omissions, or technical problems with the course website;
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Contacting the department main office (x36800, MI 346) if the instructor is 10 minutes late; and
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directing the class in productive work in the instructor's absence.
Classroom Decorum
Beverages are permitted in classrooms and labs provided that they are in closed containers. No food or smokeless tobacco is permitted in
classrooms or labs. No profanity or swearing are permitted in the classrooms and labs. Everyone in the class should show appropriate
respect to everyone at all times.
Final Grade
Your final grade will be computed as follows:
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Category
30%
Labs and other assignments
25%
Exam 1
25%
Exam 2
20%
Final exam
100%
TOTAL
______________________________
Dr. Carl Albing,
Dist. Visit. Prof., Instructor
* from Aviv, IC221, with minor modifications
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CDR Mike Bilzor, Ph.D.,
Department Chair