Theory of Parallel Hardware
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this graduate course on the mathematical foundations behind parallel computer hardware, covering the algorithmic ideas that connect computer arithmetic to physical chip design. Topics include arithmetic circuits, parallel prefix computation, systolic arrays, retiming, clocking methodologies, boolean logic, sorting networks, interconnection networks, hypercubic networks, P-completeness, VLSI layout theory, reconfigurable wiring, fat-trees, and area-time complexity. The course was also taught jointly through the Singapore-MIT Alliance as SMA 5511. Materials include lecture notes and problem sets covering the theoretical underpinnings of how parallel systems are designed and analyzed for efficiency. It suits students with a background in algorithms and discrete math who want to understand the theory connecting circuit design to computational complexity. As with all MIT OpenCourseWare offerings, the materials are free to access with no certificate provided.