This first course in a graduate elective sequence will begin by presenting a general road map of real-time and embedded systems. The course will be conducted in a studio class/lab format with lecture material interspersed with laboratory work. This course will introduce a representative family of microcontrollers that will exemplify unique positive features as well as limitations of microcontrollers in embedded and real-time systems. These microcontrollers will then be used as external, independent performance monitors of more complex real-time systems. The majority of the course will present material on a commercial real-time operating system and using it for programming projects on development systems and embedded target systems. Some fundamental material on real-time operating systems and multiprocessor considerations for real-time systems will also be presented. Examples include scheduling algorithms, priority inversion, and hardware-software co-design.

This first course in a graduate elective sequence will begin by presenting a general road map of real-time and embedded systems. The course will be conducted in a studio class/lab format with lecture material interspersed with laboratory work. This course will introduce a representative family of microcontrollers that will exemplify unique positive features as well as limitations of microcontrollers in embedded and real-time systems. These microcontrollers will then be used as external, independent performance monitors of more complex real-time systems. The majority of the course will present material on a commercial real-time operating system and using it for programming projects on development systems and embedded target systems. Some fundamental material on real-time operating systems and multiprocessor considerations for real-time systems will also be presented. Examples include scheduling algorithms, priority inversion, and hardware-software co-design.

This course provides a general introduction to real-time and embedded systems. It will introduce a representative family of microcontrollers and require students to program on these devices. Fundamental material on real-time operating systems, such as requirements specification, scheduling algorithms and priority inversion avoidance will be presented. The features of a commercial real-time operating system will be discussed and used for course projects.