Hyde, R., Write Great Code: Thinking Low Level, Writing High-level v.2, No Starch Press, 2005, ISBN: 1593270658

Scarpino, M., Programming the Cell Processor: For Games, Graphics and Computation, Prentical Hall, 2008, ISBN: 978-0136008866

Yang, L.T., Guo, M., High Performance Computing: Paradigm and Infrastructure, Wiley, 2005, ISBN: 047165471X

High performance PCs and Games consoles

Prior study of Games Programming and C++.

The module presents contextual and explanatory material, together with recommended reading and research in lectures. Practicals will implement this theory and students will develop a portfolio of practical work which will be assessed in the test and exam. There will normally be 1 lecture and 1 practical per week.
(1:n)1 (1:20)1

A practical assignment weighted at 70% assessing Learning Outcomes 1 and 2.
A test length 45 minutes weighted at 30% assessing Learning Outcomes 1 and 3.

- Survey of Hardware platforms (general-purpose computer, game console, handheld device): features and programming constraints.
- Low-level concepts such as pinelining / SIMD and MIMD execution / register banks and usage / floating point operations / bus architecture and operation (CPU/DMA control).
- Memory systems (scratchpad, cache and local memories).
- Embedding low-level code in high level source code.
- Performance issues: bottlenecks, profiling techniques, code optimisation.
- Multithreading and multiprocessor programming in particular for game consoles such as Playstation or Xbox.
- Graphics and audio hardware.
- Interfacing with peripherals for input and output.