CS3183 Performance Evaluation

Course Duration: One Semester

Credit Units: 3

Level: B3

Medium of Instruction: English

Pre-requisites:
CS3102 Operating Systems /or
CS3103 Operating Systems /or
CS3161 Operating System Principles /or equivalent

Pre-cursors:
MA2144 Discrete Mathematics /or
MA2172 Applied Statistics for Sciences and Engineering

Equivalent Courses: Nil

Exclusive Courses: Nil

Part II

Course Aims:

The course explores the theory, techniques and tools in performance modelling and provides students with appropriate examples.

Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs):
(state what the student is expected to be able to do at the end of the course according to a given standard of performance)

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
 

No.	CILOs	Weighting(if applicable)
1.	apply modelling techniques to formulate performance models for specified computer & communication systems;
2.	analyse the performance of queuing system by queuing theories;
3.	evaluate the computer and communication model by simulation techniques;
4	perform system sizing and other system upgrade estimates by using computational algorithms for queuing network.

Teaching and learning Activities (TLAs):
(designed to facilitate students’ achievement of the CILOs)

Teaching pattern:
Suggested lecture/tutorial/laboratory mix:  2 hrs. lecture; 1 hr. tutorial.

The lectures will cover various topics in the syllabus, introducing the theories, techniques, and tools in performance evaluation.  The tutorials are mainly for practices that relate to the applications of the concepts and methodologies learnt in this course.  In addition, tutorials also serve as a forum for students to raise and discuss issues related to selected case studies as well as student projects.  Quizzes may be provided during the sessions to assess how students have addressed each of the learning objectives.

Based on the Course ILOs, the teaching/learning activities of this course may include:
 

ILO No	TLAs	Hours/week(if applicable)
CILO 1       - CILO 4	Project Students have to do a mini-project to carry out systematic performance evaluation of a problem case.  The project supports ILO#1, #3. Interim Progress Meeting and Final Presentation of project Students are required to attend an interim progress meeting and give a final oral presentation of their mini-project.  The teacher will provide appropriate guidance and suggestions during these activities.  Through the discussions, students will become more familiar with the methodology.  These activities support ILO #1, #3. Case Studies Students are required to do some case studies of computer systems.  In the case studies, the students are required to model and evaluate the computer systems, and compare the performances of different system configurations.  These activities support ILO #2, and #4.

Assessment Tasks/Activities:
(designed to assess how well the students achieve the CILOs)

The course ILOs are assessed using the following approach:

ILO No	Type of assessment tasks/activities	Weighting (if applicable)	Remarks
CILO 1	Apply modelling techniques to formulate performance models for specified computer & communication systems. Coursework –  The quality of the students’ mini-project and their interim progress meetings will be used to assess this ILO. Examination –  In final exam, the student will formulate performance models, based on various factors and system/workload parameters, with appropriately selected performance metrics.
CILO 2	Analyse the performance of queuing system by queuing theories. Coursework –  The student will do some case studies to analyse the performance of some complex queuing systems.  The quality of the students’ case study presentations will be used to assess this ILO. Examination –  In final exam, the students will analyses the performance of some simple queuing systems.
CILO 3	Evaluate the computer and communication model by simulation techniques. Coursework –  The quality of the students’ mini-project and their final presentations will be used to assess this ILO. Examination –  Students will write simple programs to simulate some computer and communication models.  They will apply the performance evaluation methodologies to evaluate the models.
CILO 4	Perform system sizing and other system upgrade estimates by using computational algorithms for queuing network. Coursework –  The quality of the case studies will be used to assess this ILO. Examination – In final exam, students will estimate the performance of computer systems base on appropriate performance metrics.

Grading of Student Achievement:

Examination duration: 2 hours
Percentage of coursework, examination, etc.: 30% CW; 70% Exam
Grading pattern: Standard (A+AA-…F)
For a student to pass the course, at least 30% of the maximum mark for the examination must be obtained.

Part III

Keyword Syllabus:

Probability Theory.  Stochastic Process.  Queuing Systems.  Queuing Network.  Modeling Methodologies.  Simulation Techniques.  Computational Algorithms.  Approximate Methods.