1. Digital Design using VHDL
Knowledge and Understanding:
Digital components and design techniques. Alternative hardware description languages (e.g. Verilog, SystemC). Implementation in VHDL, compare to schematic entry. Finite state machines.
Discipline-related Skills:
Use pipeline design techniques to construct complex arithmetic systems. Practical design with VHDL.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures. Practical VHDL assessment.
Transferable Skills:
Producing a report on digital design, combined with VHDL implementation.
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2. C Programming
Knowledge and Understanding:
Concepts of software design and the techniques of computer programming. Study the C programming language to allow for the understanding of basic programming principles.
Discipline-related Skills:
Programming: assignment including design, implementation and testing, carried out during laboratories.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures, Computer Laboratories. Programming Exercise.
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3. Systems Programming for Embedded Devices
Knowledge and Understanding:
Real-time systems – definition, design and characterisation. Fault-tolerant design. Real-world case examples. Instruction pipelines. Memory systems. CPU architecture.
Discipline-related Skills:
Design of instruction pipeline & cache memories.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures, Practicals. Continuous assessment.
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4. Digital Design Techniques
Knowledge and Understanding:
Advanced digital design methods and techniques. How computation can be mapped on hardware through custom processing units. VHDL for the synthesis of digital circuits.
Discipline-related Skills:
Physical implementation in hardware of a small dedicated processor. Implement complex designs (e.g. a simple processor) from gate level using VHDL.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures, Laboratories. Practical assessment and lab report.
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5. Introduction to MATLAB
Knowledge and Understanding:
Introduction to MATLAB, and its large number of built-in functions. Use of MATLAB to solve engineering problems.
Discipline-related Skills:
Use of MATLAB to carry out simulations, write scripts and solve engineering problems.
Delivery and Assessment:
Practicals. Continuous assessment.
Transferable Skills:
Design and implement simple programs. Test software solutions to practical problems against target specifications.
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6. Introduction to Project Management
Knowledge and Understanding:
Types of project. Role of project manager. Project life-cycles. Tools and techniques for project management. Quality Assurance. Engineering Ethics.
Discipline-related Skills:
Analyse a project & produce specification. Work breakdowns. Critical path analysis & risk.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures. Continuous assessment (Individual project plan and analysis. Report assessed.)
Transferable Skills:
Capturing customer requirements and forming requirement specifications; work breakdown structures; activity matrices; project plan preparation; project charting techniques, Bar Chart, Gantt charts and PERT; critical path analysis; project management techniques, value added; risk management; and ethics.
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7. Computer Networks & Operating Systems
Knowledge and Understanding:
Characteristics, functioning and limitations of a number of prominent computer operating systems for both conventional and Internet and mobile computing devices.
Discipline-related Skills:
Demonstrate understanding of distributed computing environments and the need for security.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures, Practicals. Coursework & Presentation.
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8. Data Communication Techniques
Knowledge and Understanding:
Communication systems and techniques that underpin digital technologies, especially with embedded systems.
Discipline-related Skills:
Understand practical digital communications techniques such as clock embedding and recovery, line coding, DC balancing, serialisation and de-serialisation, buffering and buffer control.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures. Closed-book examination.
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9. Advanced Digital Design
Knowledge and Understanding:
Complete design flow (synthesis, place and route, floorplanning, timing analysis, etc.) required to implement complex designs. Differences in FPGA architectures and how these affect circuit design.
Discipline-related Skills:
Producing advanced digital designs using a VHDL-based design flow. Use post and pre route simulation to verify designs in the presence of faults.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures & Computer Practicals. Continuous Assessment.
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10. Corporate Governance & HR Management
Knowledge and Understanding:
Processes used to develop new products, including: product creation; intellectual property; company structures; mission statements & strategic management.
Discipline-related Skills:
Consider future vision of technology industry. Explore IP protection. Develop business plan.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures. Produce a business plan.
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11. Embedded Systems for FPGA
Knowledge and Understanding:
Embedded microcontroller-based systems through implementation of various embedded systems using FPGA platforms. Varying options and constraints.
Discipline-related Skills:
Design custom peripherals for embedded microprocessors, and connect off-the-shelf peripheral components to an FPGA-based system.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures & Computer Practicals. Continuous Assessment & presentation.
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12. Multimedia Applications
Knowledge and Understanding:
Underlying techniques and practical digital processing of video and audio signals for multimedia systems, including compression, simulation and implementation.
Discipline-related Skills:
Implement and test a significant element of an audio or video compression system.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures & Computer Practicals. Continuous Assessment.
Transferable Skills:
Implementing a mathematical algorithm in an industry standard computer modelling package.
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13. Pervasive Computing
Knowledge and Understanding:
Pervasive (or Ubiquitous) Computing, based on a background overview of Human Computer Interaction and current research trends.
Discipline-related Skills:
Consider future of user interfaces and portable computing. Research a topic for paper & talk.
Delivery and Assessment:
Lectures. Research report.
Transferable Skills:
Working in groups on a joint research paper to international standards, then presenting it at a strictly timed conference.
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14. MSc Project
Discipline-related Skills:
Investigation of a specified problem in Digital Systems Engineering.
Delivery and Assessment:
Small group meetings. Final report. Viva examination. Performance review.
Transferable Skills:
Group working. Interpersonal skills. Time management. Delegation & risk management. Placing individual work in a larger context, as in real-life companies.