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EC 535 – Introduction to Embedded Systems – Spring 2020
Instructor: Prof. Ayse Coskun
Email
Work Phone
617-358-3641
Office Location
PHO 338
Office Hours
Wednesdays 2:30-3:30pm
OR by appointment
TA:
Anthony Byrne
abyrne19@bu.edu
Office Hours
Check Blackboard for most up-to-date schedule.
** TA will be holding the office hours in the lab (PHO 307 or PHO 305).
Lecture Schedule: Tuesday and Thursday, 9am-10:45am
Labs: Friday, 10:10am-11am
Location: PHO 307
Course Description:
The growing popularity of modern embedded systems calls for a new generation of electrical
and computer engineers who can easily cross the boundary between hardware and software.
The course is designed to help breed such engineers by introducing students to a balanced,
integrated view of software and hardware in designing electronic systems. The lectures will
survey a broad array of subjects including system specification languages, embedded
processors, memory architecture, communication architecture, real-time operating systems,
scheduling, energy efficiency in hardware and software, hardware-software co-design
techniques, debugging and verification techniques, and embedded systems security. The
concepts will be reinforced with homework and project assignments that involve system design,
modeling and validation. The assignments will involve C/Linux programming, ARM/Linux-based
evaluation boards, and optionally other microprocessor or FPGA-based boards.
Prerequisites:
Experience in C/C++ programming and Linux
EC413, Computer Organization or equivalent
*Prior C/C++ programming knowledge is a hard requirement. Please discuss with the
instructor if you have any questions.
References:
There are no mandatory textbooks for this class, but we will be reading papers and chapters
from books from time to time. Any required reading will be listed on Blackboard.
A few reference books for this course:
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Jonathan Cobert, Linux Device Drivers, Third Edition, O’Reilly, 2005. (online version
Robert Love, Linux Kernel Development, Second Edition, Novell Press, 2005.
Frank Vahid, Tony Givargis, Embedded System Design: A Unified Hardware/Software
Introduction, John Wiley & sons, Inc. 2002.
Christopher Hallinan, Embedded Linux Primer: A Practical Real-World Approach, Second
Edition, Prentice Hall, 2010.
Edward A. Lee and Sanjit A. Seshia, Introduction to Embedded Systems, A Cyber-Physical
Systems Approach, http://LeeSeshia.org, ISBN 978-0-557-70857-4, 2011.
Grading:
Homework Assignments: 20%
Lab Assignments: 20%
Project: 30%
Participation: 10%
Exam: 20%
Assignments:
Homework and labs are typically assigned in class. Deadline is strictly enforced, and late
submissions will be penalized according to the following policy:
5% reduction of the grade every 6 hours. Submissions that are delayed for more than 48
hours after the deadline are not accepted.
We will use PHO 307 (or PHO 305) for the labs.
Academic Honesty:
All students are responsible for reading Boston University’s academic conduct policy. If you are
unclear about any item related to academic honesty, you should immediately ask the professor
or the TA. Dishonesty in representing one's academic work is a serious ethical violation, and will
be reported according to university policy.
Course Website and Communication:
You are required to periodically check the course website on BU Blackboard (learn.bu.edu) and
your e-mail. Blackboard will have the course schedule, slides, links to reading materials,
assignments, announcements, and a discussion board.
You encouraged to use the discussion board on Blackboard for your class-related questions.
When you email the instructor or the TAs, please put "EC535" in the subject line to ensure a
timely response.
