CS388P: Parallel Algorithms

CS388P: Parallel Algorithms (#54110), Fall 2013

The University of Texas at Austin
Department of Computer Sciences
August 28, 2013

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Time and Place. MW 11-12:30, GDC 4.516

Professor. Vijaya Ramachandran (vlr"at"cs), GDC 4.430, 471-9554.
Office Hours. MW 2-3.

Textbook. Joseph JaJa. Introduction to Parallel Algorithms, Addison-Wesley, 1992.
The textbook will be supplemented with other material as needed.

Prerequisites. Graduate standing, and a theory algorithms course such as undergraduate CS331 or graduate CS388G.

COURSE OUTLINE. This is a graduate diversity course in a theory thread . We will cover the following topics.

Introduction to parallel algorithms: Time/work optimality; some basic results	One week
Introduction to parallel models: Distributed memory: networks; routing; BSP. Shared memory: Caching; multicores.	One week
Efficient PRAM computations: Prefix sums; merging; merge-sort; bitonic sort; list ranking; tree computations; graph connectivity; ear decomposition; lower bounds.	Four to five weeks
Parallel complexity: RNC, maximum matching; NC, Boolean circuit families; logspace, space complexity, parallel computation thesis; P-completeness.	Four weeks
Network, BSP, and multicore algorithms: Randomized routing on hypercube; EREW emulation on BSP; multicore scheduling.	Two weeks

There is no programming component to the course.

Class Meetings. We will meet at the regularly scheduled class timings with the following exceptions.

There will be three tests during the semester, and these will be scheduled outside class hours.
The class on Wednesday, November 27 (the day before Thanksgiving) is cancelled.

Proposed Dates and Times for the 3 Tests.

The proposed dates and times for the three tests are:
- Thursday, October 10, 5-7 pm
- Thursday, November 14, 5-7 pm
- Thursday, December 5, 5-7 pm
Any student with a conflict with any of these 3 time-slots should report to me by September 13. Alternate conflict-free time-slots will be chosen in consultation with all students.
Please make a note of the dates --- there will be no make-up dates once they are finalized.

Course Grade. The course agrade will be based on the following:

Three tests, worth totally 70 points.
Problem sets, worth totally 10 points.
Paper presentations and class participation, worth totally 20 points.

Scoring of Tests. The total of 70 points is distributed over the three tests as follows.

30 points each for the two higher scoring tests.
10 points for the lowest scoring test.

Blackboard/Canvas/Piazza. Course material will be posted on Piazza or Canvas (accessible through Blackboard through UTDirect).

Students with Disabilities. Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd

If you require any assistance or accommodations from me, please let me know by September 13.

Accommodations for Religious Holidays. By UT Austin policy, you must notify the instructor of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class or an examination in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time before or after the absence, provided proper notification is given.

If you intend to make use of such accommodations, please let me know by September 13.

Statement on Scholastic Dishonesty. Anyone who violates the rules for the problem sets or who cheats in the in-class tests or final exam is in danger of receiving an F for the course. Additional penalties may be levied by the Computer Sciences department and the University. See http://www.cs.utexas.edu/academics/conduct/

Course URL. http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~vlr/courses/f13.388p/index.html

A daily schedule will be available, and periodically updated, on the course schedule page: http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~vlr/courses/f13.388p/sched.html