CS33110 - SMALL REAL-TIME SYSTEMS

Module Identifier	CS33110
Module Title	SMALL REAL-TIME SYSTEMS
Academic Year	2002/2003
Co-ordinator	Dr Mark B Ratcliffe
Semester	Semester 1
Other staff	Mr Jem Rowland
Pre-Requisite	CS21120 , CS22210 , CS25510 normally required
Mutually Exclusive	CS23110
Course delivery	Lecture	20 lectures
Assessment	Semester Exam	2 Hours	100%
	Supplementary Exam	2 Hours Will take the same form, under the terms of the Department's policy.	100%

Learning outcomes

A student who successfully completes the course will be able to:

identify the wide, and increasing, use of small embedded systems in domestic, office, transport and industrial process control applications;
specify the desired behaviour of an embedded system, including its real-time operation and quality requirements;
make a justified selection from appropriate interfaces, both analogue and digital, that are used for input and output in embedded systems;
select a hardware and software design taking account of their joint influence on system performance and dependability;
define required characteristics of multi-tasking software, for use with real-time executive or kernel;
evaluate the strengths and limitations of methods for the design of real-time systems;
design a small real-time system in MASCOT;
discuss the implications and risks of using an embedded system in a safety-related application.

Brief description

A real-time computer system operates on a timescale that is governed by the application for which it is designed; in other words the computer must not only perform the function for which it is designed but it must do so on a specified timescale. One manufacturer of real-time products uses the appropriate catchphrase "the right answer late is wrong". Examples of real-time systems include washing machine controllers, engine management systems, industrial controllers, avionic systems and many more. All of these are also examples of embedded systems, computer systems that are designed exclusively for a specific application and may not be immediately recognisable as a computer. In all of these cases the computer interacts with the equipment that it monitors and controls via sensors and actuators, in contrast with the I/O facilities typically associated with conventional computers. The course introduces the ideas of real-time embedded systems, the special requirements that they place on the design process and some of the methods used for their design and implementation.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
J. E. Cooling. (1991) Software Design for Real-time Systems.. Chapman and Hall ISBN 0442311745
** Reference Text
David Budgen. (1996) Software Design. Addison Wesley ISBN 0-201-54403-2
Alan Burns, Andy Wellings. (2001) Real-Time Systems and Programming Languages: Ada 95, Real-Time Java and Real-Time POSIX. 3rd. ISBN 0201-72988-1
(1987) The official handbook of MASCOT : Version 3.1. Royal Signals and Radar Establishment