George Mason University

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

 

CS 773 Real-Time Systems Design and Development

 

Fall 2011

 

Monday 4:30 – 7:10 PM
Innovation Hall Room 206


 

Instructor: Dr. Hakan Aydin

 


 


Description: With the growing emphasis on timing guarantees, Real-Time technologies are increasingly marking the design and operation of various computer and communication systems, in the areas of embedded systems, avionics, command-and-control, multimedia networking, e-commerce, sensor networks, mobile computing, to name a few. Recent initiatives to incorporate Real-Time extensions to general purpose operating systems (Windows, Linux, Solaris)  justify and strengthen its status as a major enabling technology. In addition, Embedded Computers are part of larger and special-purpose systems that interact with the environment in real-time (e.g., sensor networks).  As such, they typically involve control and monitoring of critical functions, with real-time operation requirements.

 

This course is intended to provide the background and skills needed to design, analyze, and develop real-time applications. Real-time scheduling theory and its implications for design of real-time applications will receive special emphasis. Through the paper presentations and discussions, the students will be exposed to the latest research trends in the area. As such, the course is particularly suitable for Ph.D. students and advanced M.S. students.

Topics:

 

Prerequisites: Graduate-level Operating Systems (CS 571) and at least undergraduate-level Data Structures/Algorithms Courses. On the Operating Systems side, the students should be familiar with basic concepts such as processes, scheduling, semaphores, interrupts, memory management. If in doubt, please contact the instructor.

 

Grading:

 

Course Format: During the first part of the course, the instructor will present the fundamentals of Real-Time Embedded computing and main research problems in the area. The  written examination will be given at the end of the first part (there is no final exam). In the second part, the students will present articles from recent conference/workshop proceedings and journals. A list of suggested papers will be provided; however, the student suggestions are welcome. The (in-class) paper presentations will include a critical evaluation and discussion of the paper. The students will be required to read, and submit a brief summary/evaluation of the papers presented in class.

Term Project: Each student is expected to complete a term project and submit a research paper/report by the end of the term. A list of potential projects will be provided; but the students may define their own project as long as the project has sufficient scope/complexity and the instructor's approval is obtained. PhD students are encouraged to discuss with the instructor the possibility to choose a term project topic related their research interests. A term project may be in any of the following forms:

 

Book: Real-Time Systems, Jane W. S. Liu. Prentice-Hall, 2000, 624 pp., ISBN 0-13-099651-3.
This is the main textbook; in addition, articles from recent issues of journals and conference proceedings will be made available in class.
Hard Real-Time Computing Systems (by G. Buttazzo, Springer, 2005) and Soft Real-Time Systems (by G. Buttazzo et al., Springer, 2005) are recommended (optional) books that provide in-depth coverage of some of the topics that will be discussed in class.

Office Hours: Monday 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM, Thursday 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM, and by appointment.

Violations of GMU Honor Code will result in an F.