Module Descriptors
REAL TIME AND SAFETY CRITICIAL SYSTEMS
COCS60614
Key Facts
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Sciences
Level 6
30 credits
Contact
Leader: George Sunley
Email: George.Sunley1@staffs.ac.uk
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 72
Independent Study Hours: 228
Total Learning Hours: 300
Assessment
- ASSIGNMENT weighted at 50%
- EXAMINATION - UNSEEN IN EXAMINATION CONDITIONS weighted at 50%
Module Details
Module Indicative Content
This module explicitly focuses on significant elements required for the achievement of STAFFORDSHIRE GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES.
Classification of real-time systems. Safety-critical embedded and distributed real-time systems. Hard/soft taxonomy. Periodic/ Aperiodic demands. Process synchronisation, mutual exclusion, process communication. Safety and liveness properties. Reliability, redundancy, performance and other non-functional requirements. Scheduling strategies.
Review of concurrent methods, methodologies, operating systems and languages used, analysing their strengths and weaknesses. HCI considerations. Systematic approach to conceptualisation, specification and design of real-time systems using structured & object-oriented approaches, comparison of approaches. Most of the principles will be illustrated using Real world examples from globally recognised companies. Hardware interfacing, interrupts and polling, transformers and transducers.
Categorisation and impact of formal approaches, role of proof, model checking.
Characterisation of safety, safety culture, risk and its management, cost of failure. Current standards and safety life-cycle. Fault tolerance.
Static & Dynamic Testing techniques and environment modelling.
Classification of real-time systems. Safety-critical embedded and distributed real-time systems. Hard/soft taxonomy. Periodic/ Aperiodic demands. Process synchronisation, mutual exclusion, process communication. Safety and liveness properties. Reliability, redundancy, performance and other non-functional requirements. Scheduling strategies.
Review of concurrent methods, methodologies, operating systems and languages used, analysing their strengths and weaknesses. HCI considerations. Systematic approach to conceptualisation, specification and design of real-time systems using structured & object-oriented approaches, comparison of approaches. Most of the principles will be illustrated using Real world examples from globally recognised companies. Hardware interfacing, interrupts and polling, transformers and transducers.
Categorisation and impact of formal approaches, role of proof, model checking.
Characterisation of safety, safety culture, risk and its management, cost of failure. Current standards and safety life-cycle. Fault tolerance.
Static & Dynamic Testing techniques and environment modelling.
Module Additional Assessment Details
Design and Programming Assignment 50% Outcomes 3 & 4, 3000 words
2 Hour Examination 50% Final Assessment. Outcomes 1 & 2
2 Hour Examination 50% Final Assessment. Outcomes 1 & 2
Module Learning Strategies
The direction and key elements of the module will be covered in lectures. You will be required and encouraged to investigate topics on your own or in small groups in independent study time. The practical side of the course will involve you in developing models addressing aspects of the theory taught in the module, again in independent study time. Software tools and hardware elements will be provided, as appropriate, for the practical work.
48 hours of lectures and 24 hours of practicals.
48 hours of lectures and 24 hours of practicals.
Module Texts
Formal object-orientated specification using Object Z, Roger Duke and Gordon Rose, 2000, Macmillan, ISBN: 0-333-50123-7
Practical Design of Safety Critical Computer Systems, William Dunn, Reliability Press, 2002, ISBN: 0971752702
Functional Safety. David J. Smith & Kenneth G. L. Simpson. Elsevier, 2010. ISBN 0080967817
Real-time Systems and their Programming Languages, 4e, Burns A & Wellings A. (2009), Addison & Wesley, ISBN: 978-0-321-41745-9
Real Time Systems & Software, Alan C. Shaw, John Wiley (2001) ISBN 0-471-35490-2
Real Time Systems Development, Rob Williams. Butterworth-Heinemann (2006) ISBN 0-7506-6471-1
Practical Design of Safety Critical Computer Systems, William Dunn, Reliability Press, 2002, ISBN: 0971752702
Functional Safety. David J. Smith & Kenneth G. L. Simpson. Elsevier, 2010. ISBN 0080967817
Real-time Systems and their Programming Languages, 4e, Burns A & Wellings A. (2009), Addison & Wesley, ISBN: 978-0-321-41745-9
Real Time Systems & Software, Alan C. Shaw, John Wiley (2001) ISBN 0-471-35490-2
Real Time Systems Development, Rob Williams. Butterworth-Heinemann (2006) ISBN 0-7506-6471-1
Module Resources
Laboratory containing LabView, C and National Instruments Data Acquisition cards. Lecture Theatre containing C and Labview
Module Special Admissions Requirements
Prior study of CESCOM10075-4 Hardware and Computer Systems or equivalent