Prior study of CESCOM10105-5 Advanced Programming Languages for Computer Systems and CESCOM10214-5 Systems Programming with C++ or suitable alternatives that include appropriate skill sets.

Due to the nature of the taught material textbooks are often outdated. It is expected the notes provided by the staff are current in the areas of Micro-controller and LabVIEW.
C Programming: A Modern Approach, 2nd Edition, K.N. King (2008), W.W.Norton & Company, ISBN: 978-039397503 - Essential reading
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

LabVIEW development environment within an electronics lab to allow external equipment connectivity.
Cross compiler and Hardware for Micro-controller
Simple robotic and transducer interfaces

An assignment weighted at 100% that will consist of a portfolio of work which will be composed of advanced implementation of real life application of a Micro-controller system (C/Assesmbler) and LabVIEW (Graphical) system design, with analysis of safety critical system design. (Learning Outcomes 1-4)

Additional Outcomes of presentation skills through viva may be used to contribute to the Staffordshire Graduate portfolio.

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.

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.

There will be 26 hours of lectures and 52 hours of practicals.

The delivery pattern to be used is a single 1 hour lecture per week and a single 2 hour practical session per week.