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DAT278 / DIT056 DAT278 / DIT056 Sustainable computing lp2 HT25 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Computer Science and Engineering

Contact details

Schedule

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Aim

The aim of the course is to make students aware of the importance of sustainability in computing and to show techniques to achieve it at the different levels of a computer system.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding:

  • describe the key aspects in sustainable computing and how computer systems can be used to improve sustainability
  • describe techniques used in large data-centers to improve efficiency and sustainability
  • describe the electrical mechanisms that cause power to be dissipated
  • describe circuit techniques for reducing power dissipation and the impact on performance
  • describe computer architecture, memory, and secondary storage techniques for reducing energy consumption
  • describe techniques at the operating system, runtime, and application for reducing energy consumption
  • explain what affects the energy consumption of computer systems especially concerning their architecture

Competence and skills:

  • use specific devices to directly measure energy consumption of the whole system
  • use performance counters to measure the energy consumption of certain components in the system
  • use simulation tools to estimate the energy consumption of different system configurations
  • ability to cooperate in diverse group compositions with team members with different skills, cultural and educational backgrounds, gender and nationality

Judgement and approach:

  • identify key trends in research and industry that lead to more efficient and sustainable systems
  • identify the strengths and weaknesses of different classes of computer system components (e.g. processor, memory), with respect to energy efficiency
  • evaluate and compare different architecture and system techniques in terms of the energy efficiency
  • explain the methods for evaluating and reporting the energy consumption in computer systems and how these can be used to optimize the system
  • judge the importance of energy consumption from societal and ethical perspectives
  • interpret requirements on the architecture of computer systems to meet societal needs for sustainability
  • judge different energy-efficient system designs identifying potential barriers for users with limited technological access or different physical capabilities 

Content

The course is intended to give an overview of the energy efficiency aspects of computer systems and computing, from the electronic circuits up to the applications for systems ranging from small IoT devices to large data centers. For instance, students will learn about approaches to measuring and estimating the energy consumption of different architectural components as well as architecture and software techniques to save energy in the system.

Organization

The course consists of lectures, reading assignments and group discussion sessions, as well as laboratory assignments. In the group discussion sessions, student groups discuss their readings and present their view of the work to the class, This is followed by a critical discussion of the technology focusing on both energy efficiency and sustainability. With the laboratory assignments the students explore the theoretical concepts from the lectures through experiments on real hardware.

Literature

  • Stefanos Kaxiras and Margaret Martonosi. 2008. Computer Architecture Techniques for Power-Efficiency (1st ed.). Morgan and Claypool Publishers.
  • Magnus Själander, Margaret Martonosi, Stefanos Kaxiras. 2014. Power-efficient Computer Architectures: Recent Advances. Morgan and Claypool Publishers.
  • Articles from the research literature and trade magazines.

Examination including compulsory elements

The course is examined by an individual written exam done in an examination hall and approved lab exercises. The lab work is done in groups of students.

Grade

The final grade is based on the results of the exam, to which bonus points can be added for higher grades (see below). For grade 3, at least 40% of the total score on the exam is required. For grade 4, at least 60% of the total score on the exam is required and for grade 5, at least 80% of the total score on the exam is required. You can receive 4 bonus points if you complete the optional extra tasks of the lab assignments. You can receive an additional 2 bonus points if you submit short summary reviews of the guest lectures. These bonus points are added to the result on the exam and can be used for higher grades but not to pass the course. To be approved on the entire course, the labs (1.5 ECTS) and the exam (6 ECTS) must be approved. The grade of the entire course is the same as the grade of the exam.

Links to the syllabus on Chalmers and GU pages:

 

Course summary:

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