COSC 6384 Real-Time Systems (M W 2:30pm - 4:00pm) - Spring 2013

Dr. Albert M. K. Cheng
Office: 534-PGH
Office hours: MW 4:00pm-5:00pm and by appointment

Required textbook:
Real-Time Systems: Scheduling, Analysis, and Verification by Prof. Albert M. K. Cheng (Publisher: John Wiley & Sons), 2nd printing, 2005.
TA: TBA

Synopsis:
The monitoring and control of physical processes and systems are increasingly performed by computers. These real-time embedded systems must satisfy stringent timing and reliability constraints in addition to functional correctness requirements. Examples of these embedded systems include the new generation of airplane avionics, the planned Space Station control software, high-performance network and telephone switching systems, medical monitoring instruments, multimedia tools, virtual reality systems, robotic controllers, PDAs, wireless phones, and emerging cyber-physical systems. This course introduces a formal framework and powerful techniques for the design and development of this class of systems. These theoretical foundations are followed by hands-on practice in employing these advanced techniques to build, analyze, and verify different modules of actual real-time systems. Scheduling tools and RTOSs (such as VxWorks) are introduced. Tornado development tools are used in projects. Programming in real-time/rule-based languages such as Ada, EQL, MRL, and OPS5 is described. Specification and verification tools such as Statechart, Modechart, and Estella are used to help design experimental real-time systems. Embedded programming techniques are studied. The course also serves as a forum for discussing state-of-the-art research topics in real-time systems design.

Course outline:
Introduction to real-time and Embedded systems
System decomposition and scheduling techniques
In-depth study of Rate-Monotonic Scheduler (RMS), EDF, LLF, and other schedulers
Programming language and operating systems support
Wind River VxWorks RTOS and Tornado Development Tools
Formal specification, analysis, and verification techniques
Embedded programming techniques
Real-time rule-based expert systems
Fault detection, fault recovery, and reliability issues
Time-critical distributed systems and communication networks

Recommended prerequisite:
Operating Systems or equivalent

Course requirements and grading:
several (3 to 4) homework assignments (25%), one open-book exam (no final exam) (35%), one project report (25%), and one project presentation (15%).