CS546 Autumn 1996
PROF:
Thomas Christopher
236 Stuart Bldg., Main Campus
(312) 567-5070
MWF 3-5
tc@charlie.cns.iit.edu
Course organization:
This course will be run as a research/development seminar.
Premise: We have a technology torevolutionize
distributed-memory parallel processing and within one semester, we will
make it available to the world over the Internet. (You don't have to
believe this, but it will make the course a lot more fun if you suspend
disbelief for the duration of the semester.)
The technology is active-message-driven execution (AMDC, for
"active-message-driven computing"). Computation is performed at
abstract locations with structured names distributed over nodes of a
multicomputer. Messages are "active messages," or
"continuations ": they execute procedures when they arrive at
locations. The locationscontain tables of messages that have already
arrived and left themselves there.
Clearly this technology is not an obvious solution to the
problems of parallel processing. Therefore we must make a compelling case
for it. We must provide efficient implementations. We must provide
a reference manual. We must provide tutorials. We must provide
prototype systems written in it. We must provide benchmarks and
timings. We will put all these things up in a web site at IIT.
EDUCATIONALLY:
In the process we will learn how all the other major parallel
processing paradigms relate to AMDC, either by implementing AMDC
in them, or implementing them in AMDC.
Class Notes
Other Class Notes
Reference document on P2 system
C code for P2 system for Encore
C header for P2 system
AMDC & Web Content Created by
Thomas W. Christopher,
George K. Thiruvathukal
&
Virgil Bistriceanu
Web Site Designed and Created by
Lance Larsen
& Emad Shawakfa
