ELEC5614: Real Time Computing (2013 - Semester 1)
| Unit: | ELEC5614: Real Time Computing (6 CP) |
| Mode: | Normal-Day |
| On Offer: | Yes |
| Level: | Postgraduate |
| Faculty/School: | School of Electrical and Information Engineering |
| Unit Coordinator/s: |
Prof Lowe, David
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| Session options: | Semester 1 |
| Versions for this Unit: | |
| Site(s) for this Unit: |
http://www.ee.usyd.edu.au/ugrad/UOS/course_description.php?type=ELEC&code=5614 |
| Campus: | Camperdown/Darlington |
| Pre-Requisites: | None. |
| Prohibitions: | MECH5701. |
| Brief Handbook Description: | This unit is concerned with the theory and practice of real time computer systems as applied to the design of embedded systems and computer control systems in engineering, manufacturing and automation. Some background in programming, object oriented design and system architecture is assumed. A prime aim of this unit of study is to develop a capacity for research and inquiry in the field of real-time and embedded systems. Completion of this unit will facilitate progression to advanced study or to work in embedded systems and industrial real-time computer systems. The following topics are covered. Hard real time and embedded systems, as applied to engineering, manufacturing and automation. Timing and scheduling: periodic vs aperiodic processes, deadlines, rate monotonic, deadline monotonic and earliest deadline scheduling. Management of shared resources. Real-time languages and their features. Real time operating systems. Real time software design. Embedded Systems: overview, signal flow, interfacing. Reliability and fault tolerance in hardware and software. SCADA and DCCS. Some case studies. |
| Assumed Knowledge: | SOFT2130 Software Construction (or SOFT2004 Software Development Methods 1) and ELEC3607 Embedded Computing (or ELEC2601 Microprocessor Systems) |
| Lecturer/s: |
Dr Moisiadis, Frank
Prof Lowe, David |
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| Tutor/s: | Dahai Li - dlai6535@mail.usyd.edu.au | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Timetable: | ELEC5614 Timetable | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time Commitment: |
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| T&L Activities: | Lecture: Lectures Laboratory: Lab work on Real-time Design, real-time operating systems and real-time programming Tutorial: Tutorial exercises to reinforce material covered in class Independent Study: Study project topic and tutorial problems in depth E-Learning: On-line discussions and study of on-line materials and recorded lectures |
Attributes listed here represent the key course goals (see Course Map tab) designated for this unit. The list below describes how these attributes are developed through practice in the unit. See Learning Outcomes and Assessment tabs for details of how these attributes are assessed.
| Attribute Development Method | Attribute Developed |
| Students use and demonstrate design and problem solving skills in labs and in the project. | Design (Level 4) |
| This unit studies advanced discipline specific technological issues relating to real-time computing | Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 5) |
| Students research advanced software issues in labs and the team project | Information Seeking (Level 2) |
| Many real-time systems are safety critical and students study associated issues. | Professional Conduct (Level 2) |
| Students undertake a significant software project in teams. | Project Management and Teamwork (Level 2) |
For explanation of attributes and levels see Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table.
Learning outcomes are the key abilities and knowledge that will be assessed in this unit. They are listed according to the course goal supported by each. See Assessment Tab for details how each outcome is assessed.
Design (Level 4)
1. Ability to design, build and test real-time software to solve a specific and quantifiable problem.
Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 5)
2. Ability to evaluate technical aspects of real-time hardware, interfacing and the reliability of such systems using principles and techniques developed throughout the course.
3. Ability to evaluate software technologies employed in real-time applications, by focusing on timing and scheduling of processes, operating systems and software design methodologies to the extent of the material presented.
Information Seeking (Level 2)
4. Ability to identify information needs and undertake inquiry and knowledge development within the context of various real-time systems.
Professional Conduct (Level 2)
5. Ability to demonstrate an understanding of safety-critical and reliability issues and the way they correlate with professional standards and practice.
Project Management and Teamwork (Level 2)
6. Ability to work in a team by assuming clear responsibilities and showing initiative through contributions, but also being able compromise through receptiveness to others' opinions within the common goal of designing real-time software.
| Assessment Methods: |
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| Assessment Description: |
Final Exam: End of semester exam Project: Project design, build, test and report Lab Skills: Students write and demo real-time software in the laboratory |
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| Grading: |
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| Faculty Policies & Procedures: | Academic Honesty in Coursework. All students must submit a cover sheet for all assessment work that declares that the work is original and not plagiarised from the work of others. Coursework assessment and examination policy. The faculty policy is to use standards based assessment for units where grades are returned and criteria based assessment for Pass/Fail only units. Norm referenced assessment will only be used in exceptional circumstances and its use will need to be justified to the Undergraduate Studies Committee. Special consideration for illness or misadventure may be considered when an assessment component is severely affected. This policy gives the details of the information that is required to be submitted along with the appropriate procedures and forms. Special Arrangements for Examination and Assessment. In exceptional circumstances alternate arrangements for exams or assessment can be made. However concessions for outside work arrangements, holidays and travel, sporting and entertainment events will not normally be given. Student Appeals against Academic Decisions. Students have the right to appeal any academic decision made by a school or the faculty. The appeal must follow the appropriate procedure so that a fair hearing is obtained. Note that policies regarding assessment submission, penalties and assessment feedback depend upon the individual unit of study. Details of these policies, where applicable, will be found above with other assessment details in this unit outline. All university policies can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/policy Various request forms for the Faculty of Engineering and IT can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/forms/ |
| Recommended Reference/s: |
Note: References are provided for guidance purposes only. Students are advised to consult these books in the university library. Purchase is not required.
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| Online Course Content: | http://www.ee.usyd.edu.au/ugrad/UOS/course_description.php?type=ELEC&code=5614 and Blackboard website |
| Note on Resources: |
Notes: available online or in printed form from the University Publishing Service See also the following texts: B P Douglass, "Doing Hard Time: Developing Real-Time Systems with UML, Objects, Frameworks, and Patterns", Addison Wesley, 1999 Bennett S, “Real-time Computer Control: and Introduction”, Prentice-Hall, 1994i |
Note that the "Weeks" referred to in this Schedule are those of the official university semester calendar https://web.timetable.usyd.edu.au/calendar.jsp
| Week | Description |
| Week 1 | Introduction and Outline |
| Week 2 | Real time Software Design : Requirements specification and real-time software construction with UML |
| Week 3 | Real time Software Design : Requirements specification and real-time software construction with UML (Cont.) |
| Week 4 | Real time Issues: Introduction, tasking and scheduling, memory management, interrupts, synchronisation, semaphores, message passing, signals, events, I/O drivers. |
| Week 5 | Real time Issues (Cont) |
| Week 6 | Real-time Operating Systems |
| Week 7 | Real-time Operating Systems |
| Week 8 | Real-time Languages |
| Week 9 | Real-time Languages (Cont) |
| Week 10 | Scheduling theory: Time lines, multitasking, task switching, static vs dynamic, optimal fixed priority scheduling, predictability, rate monotonic and deadline monotonic scheduling |
| Week 11 | Hardware and interfacing: Overview. Signal flow - A/D, D/A, filters, samplers, muxes, signal timing, sampling rates, signal reconstruction, bus systems, interrupts. |
| Week 12 | Introduction to reliability and fault tolerance of real-time hardware and software |
| Week 13 | Review |
| Exam Period | Assessment Due: Final Exam |
Course Relations
The following is a list of courses which have added this Unit to their structure.
Course Goals
This unit contributes to the achievement of the following course goals:
| Attribute | Practiced | Assessed |
| Design (Level 4) | Yes | 41.67% |
| Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 5) | Yes | 50.83% |
| Maths/Science Methods and Tools (Level 3) | No | 0% |
| Information Seeking (Level 2) | Yes | 2.5% |
| Communication (Level 2) | No | 0% |
| Professional Conduct (Level 2) | Yes | 2.5% |
| Project Management and Teamwork (Level 2) | Yes | 2.5% |
These goals are selected from Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table which defines overall goals for courses where this unit is primarily offered. See Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table for details of the attributes and levels to be developed in the course as a whole. Percentage figures alongside each course goal provide a rough indication of their relative weighting in assessment for this unit. Note that not all goals are necessarily part of assessment. Some may be more about practice activity. See Learning outcomes for details of what is assessed in relation to each goal and Assessment for details of how the outcome is assessed. See Attributes for details of practice provided for each goal.
