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IBM Sponsored University Research Grant Training

Cell Broadband Processor Programming - 2 days

When: 2 days , September 23 & 24, 2008
Where: Linderman Library Room 302
Who: faculty, staff, students interested in Cell processor architecture and programming
Cost: FREE!
Capacity: limited to 25
Contact: Brandon Leeds (byl405@lehigh.edu) for registration and questions


Cell Programming Class - Class Agenda

Day 1 - Cell Programming Workshop

09:00-09:10 Welcoming session
09:10-09:40 Cell BE - Introduction
09:40-10:20 Cell BE - Architecture
10:20-10:30 Break
10:30-11:00 Cell SDK 3.0
11:00-11:40 Developing code for Cell - Basic programming concepts
11:40-:12:00 Hands-on system check & system exploration
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-13:40 Hands-on - hello world program PPE vs SPE
13:40-14:20 Developing code for Cell - SIMD
14:20-15:00 Hands-on SIMD
15:00-15:10 Break
15:10-15:50 Developing code for Cell - DMA and mailboxes
15:50-17:00 Hands-on_Async-Multithread
15:50-17:00 Hands-on_DMA_get_buffer
15:50-17:00 Hands-on_DMA_get&put_buffer
15:50-17:00 Hands-on_DMA_ControlBlock
15:50-17:00 Hands-on_DMA_SPU-to-SPU

Day 2 - Cell Programming Workshop

09:00-09:20 Developing code for Cell - SPU static timing analysis
09:20-09:50 Hands-on SPU static timing analysis
09:50-10:10 Developing code for Cell - SPU dynamic profiling
10:10-10:40 Hands-on SPU dynamic profiling analysis
10:40-11:00 Break
11:00-11:20 Development tool for Cell-FDPRPRO
11:20-11:40 Developing code for Cell - Cell IDE
11:40-12:00 Developing code for Cell - GCC
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-13:20 Developing code for Cell - XLC
13:20-13:40 Performance tools
13:40-14:10 Developing code for Cell - Software model
14:10-14:30 Hands-on_SPEoffload
14:30-14:40 Break
14:40-15:10 Programming technique - Software managed cache
15:10-15:40 Programming technique - SPE module overlay
15:40-16:10 Developing code for Cell - Programming tips and techniques
16:10-16:50 Developing code for Cell - PortingTips&Techniques
16:50-17:00 Closing session

Hands-on

The hands-on will be performed through a Cell virtual machine and direct access to a QS21. The Cell virtual machine is VMWare-based built with Fedora 7+SDK3.0+IDE+VPA+GCC+XLC+Simulator.

Seminar/Workshop Logistics & Support

Learning tools:
For the teacher, I will use both the Cell virtual machine VMware image (CellVM) and will provide access to a Cell Blade Server QS21/SDK3.0 to teach the class.

For students, they will use the CellVM and access to the QS21 like I do. In addition, they can access to their own PS/3 system or any X-86 cross-platform development system if so desired.

It is recommended that students should bring their own laptop to the classroom so they can remotely logon to the native Cell QS21, and to install the CellVM on their laptop. Otherwise, the classroom should provide workstation for running CellVM and internet access. The workstation could be running either Windows or Linux.

CellVM:
A Cell BE virtual machine appliance is available for the student to install on their laptop whether the host is running under Windows or Linux. The CellVM provides a complete Cell development environment built with Fedora 7, Cell SDK 3.0, IDE, VPA, Visual Assembler, and Hands-on exercices. The image can be run with the license free VMware Player. The CellVM image requires a system running with at least 512 MB RAM and 8GB of free disk space. I will provide the CellVM image on a DVD to be installed on the student's laptop before hands-on starts.