This unit is being replaced by FIT4001. This monatar entry is incomplete, lacking fields under Reasons For Introduction; lack of a Handbook Summary; lack of Lecture, Tute and Lab Requirements; and Software Requirements. Amendments to assessment were approved for Semester 2, 2008. Please refer to the most current version of the unit FIT4001.

ASCED Discipline Group classification: 020103 Programming.

Modern computer systems contain parallelism in both hardware and software. This unit covers parallelism in both general purpose and application specific computer architectures and the programming paradigms that allow parallelism to be exploited in software.

The unit examines both shared memory and message passing paradigms in both hardware and software; concurrency, multithreading and synchronicity; parallel, clustered and distributed supercomputing models and languages. Students will program in these paradigms.

Reading material including research papers, programming manuals and system specifications, will be distributed electronically or in hardcopy.

Reference Material:

G.R. Andrews: Foundations of Multithreaded, Parallel and Distributed Programming, Addison-Wesley, 2000.

I.T. Foster: Designing and Building Parallel Programs, Addison-Wesley, 1995.

M. Maekawa, A.E. Oldehoeft, R.R. Oldehoeft: Operating Systems Advanced Concepts, Benjamin/Cummings, 1987.

Sima, Fountain and Kacsuk, Advanced Computer Architectures: A Design Space Approach, Addison Wesley Publishers }

Assessment will include four assignments as follows: Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 = 50%, Assignment 3 and Assignment 4 = 38%, and Lecture based quizzes = 12%

Programming assignments ensure objectives 2, and 5 are met; directed reading and research assignments ensure objectives 1 and 3 are met; and all assignments contribute to the meeting objective 4.

• Software Title:
• Vendor:
• Version:
• OS: MS Windows XP ( ) and/or LINUX ( )
• License Details: (A valid software license certificate/s or Vendor permission must be available upon request if the software is to be installed for teaching)
• Are we currently licensed: Yes ( ) or No ( ) (If unsure, please check with your local IT support )
• If (Yes), who is the contact person for this software?:
• If (No), will the software license be arranged by: Staff member requesting the software ( ) or Technical Services* ( ) ? *If the latter is selected, please discuss your requirement/s with myself ASAP, prior to finalising your request, as there could be financial or resourcing implications.
• Is the software to be installed and accessed from a: Client/Workstation ( ), or Server ( ) ?
• Type of license: Site License ( ), Freeware ( ), FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) ( ), Shareware ( ), Lab based ( ) # of Licenses needed ____
• In what week will you commence using the software in class? Semester 1 (Week ___ ) and/or Semester 2 (Week ___ ):
• Nominated Staff For Acceptance Testing Software: (Name) (Phone) (Email)
• Additional Information: Special Requirements, Software Configuration/Installation Requirements, etc:

Faculty of Information Technology