A Parallel Programming Course Based on an Execution Time-Energy Consumption Optimization Problem
Javier Cuenca, Domingo Giménez · 2016
This paper presents an experience of Problem-based learning in a Parallel Programming course. The course includes the basics of Parallel Programming, from methodological and technological aspects to the analysis and design of parallel algorithms. The students work with an optimization problem in the field of Parallel Computing. The execution time and the energy consumption of a simplified master-slave scheme in a simplified heterogeneous system are optimized, so treating it as a bi-objective optimization problem, which is addressed with sequential, shared-memory, message-passing and hybrid parallel programming. In this way, the students follow the various parts of the syllabus of the course by working with a problem in which topics studied in previous courses are combined (green computing, computational systems architecture, optimization, heuristics), and this contributes to a deeper understanding of these topics and motivates the introduction of new concepts.